Crisis: Iraqi Reconstruction
In the Topic Synopsis, you should have seen how the USSR approached reconstruction. Here, we will briefly examine Iraq to see a more current example of the reconstruction of a nation. I find this topic extremely relevant given the implementation of actual United Nations solutions.
To provide some extremely limited context, Iraq is actively handling reconstruction following the Iraq War (2003-2011). Domestic and international efforts have been conducted to try and help reduce the problem, but there is still a ways to go.
Reconstruction in Iraq is slow. Years have passed and developments have been made, but not nearly enough has been done to repair all of the damage done during the war. Namely, more than half of the planned rebuilding of homes in the Nineveh governate and Mosul has yet to begin ("UN-Habitat Promoted Urban Recovery and Resilience in Bartella/Nineveh Plain through Rehabilitation of 100 Significantly Damaged House [EN/ER]").
Iraq has been receiving a significant amount of support from organizations like the United Nations, which even has a branch called UN Iraq that "works at the request of the government of Iraq to support national developmental efforts on political, electoral, and humanitarian levels" ("About UN in Iraq"). Bearing this in mind, how has progression remained so slow?
A Sky News report claims that the United Nations and the NGOs supporting its efforts confess to unforeseen variables negatively affecting their projects (Whiteside). Factors like community wealth, popular beliefs within neighborhoods, local access to clean water, the amount of people returning to their home areas, and the nature of the relationships between the natives and those suppling aid are all proving difficult in these reconstruction efforts and are by no means easy feats to overcome.
It is clear that the state of Iraq in terms of rebuilding and repairing post-war is better now than it has been leading up to this point. Unfortunately, the implications of the many hardships in reconstruction could mean a bit of a defeat for the United Nations, whose development programme in Iraq's quarterly report stated that lack of additional funding could lead to stabilization work in Iraq not being able to be carried out as planned ("Funding Facility for Stabilization: 2018 Q3 Report").
If you take anything away from this case of reconstruction, let it be the importance of thorough solutions. I have no doubt that the United Nations made their best effort to plan for Iraqi relief, yet the reality of the situation revealed complexities that hadn't been foreseen by those making solutions when drafted. In committee, when you are faced with a problem to address, keep in mind the ways in which the initial situation may progress or diverge from expectations so that you may best attempt to create as close to an exhaustive solution as possible.
Works Cited
"About UN in Iraq." United Nations Iraq. Accessed 11 Feb. 2019.
"Funding Facility for Stabilization: 2018 Q3 Report." United Nations Development Programme in Iraq. Accessed 11 Feb.
2019.
"UN-Habitat Promoted Urban Recovery and Resilience in Bartella/Nineveh Plain through Rehabilitation of 100 Significantly Damaged House [EN/ER]." ReliefWeb. 12 Mar. 2018. Accessed 11 Feb. 2019.
Whiteside, Phillip. "How is the reconstruction of Iraq going?" Sky News. 31 Jan. 2019. Accessed 11 Feb. 2019.
To provide some extremely limited context, Iraq is actively handling reconstruction following the Iraq War (2003-2011). Domestic and international efforts have been conducted to try and help reduce the problem, but there is still a ways to go.
Reconstruction in Iraq is slow. Years have passed and developments have been made, but not nearly enough has been done to repair all of the damage done during the war. Namely, more than half of the planned rebuilding of homes in the Nineveh governate and Mosul has yet to begin ("UN-Habitat Promoted Urban Recovery and Resilience in Bartella/Nineveh Plain through Rehabilitation of 100 Significantly Damaged House [EN/ER]").
Iraq has been receiving a significant amount of support from organizations like the United Nations, which even has a branch called UN Iraq that "works at the request of the government of Iraq to support national developmental efforts on political, electoral, and humanitarian levels" ("About UN in Iraq"). Bearing this in mind, how has progression remained so slow?
A Sky News report claims that the United Nations and the NGOs supporting its efforts confess to unforeseen variables negatively affecting their projects (Whiteside). Factors like community wealth, popular beliefs within neighborhoods, local access to clean water, the amount of people returning to their home areas, and the nature of the relationships between the natives and those suppling aid are all proving difficult in these reconstruction efforts and are by no means easy feats to overcome.
It is clear that the state of Iraq in terms of rebuilding and repairing post-war is better now than it has been leading up to this point. Unfortunately, the implications of the many hardships in reconstruction could mean a bit of a defeat for the United Nations, whose development programme in Iraq's quarterly report stated that lack of additional funding could lead to stabilization work in Iraq not being able to be carried out as planned ("Funding Facility for Stabilization: 2018 Q3 Report").
If you take anything away from this case of reconstruction, let it be the importance of thorough solutions. I have no doubt that the United Nations made their best effort to plan for Iraqi relief, yet the reality of the situation revealed complexities that hadn't been foreseen by those making solutions when drafted. In committee, when you are faced with a problem to address, keep in mind the ways in which the initial situation may progress or diverge from expectations so that you may best attempt to create as close to an exhaustive solution as possible.
Works Cited
"About UN in Iraq." United Nations Iraq. Accessed 11 Feb. 2019.
"Funding Facility for Stabilization: 2018 Q3 Report." United Nations Development Programme in Iraq. Accessed 11 Feb.
2019.
"UN-Habitat Promoted Urban Recovery and Resilience in Bartella/Nineveh Plain through Rehabilitation of 100 Significantly Damaged House [EN/ER]." ReliefWeb. 12 Mar. 2018. Accessed 11 Feb. 2019.
Whiteside, Phillip. "How is the reconstruction of Iraq going?" Sky News. 31 Jan. 2019. Accessed 11 Feb. 2019.
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