Empowering citizens Engaging governments Rebuilding communities

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“ Many colleagues have told me that Awni gave IRD a lot of credibility in that region of the world” —Dr. Arthur B. Keys 1 Box 2 Awni Quandour: IRD’s original elder statesman (continued) Building community trust At the time, aside from foreign military, they were the only non-Iraqis around. Quandour’s experience and familiarity with the country, however, proved crucial in getting ICAP and IRD’s regional operations established quickly. “Dr. Keys said that he wanted to go to the poor areas of Baghdad first, before the others,” Quandour said. “I told him that all the areas were poor.” Quandour and Keys knocked on doors and talked to the residents, and they learned that in some areas people were sleeping on their rooftops because their houses were flooded with sewage. With trash and debris everywhere, and with sewage backed up as high as a foot or more on some roads, “we determined that just cleaning the streets would be our first project, after listening to people talk about how they were living.” In the matter of a few weeks, Quandour and ICAP’s chief of party, Terry Leary, hired their staff, created a training plan, began street-cleaning and trash-removal operations, and started organizing ICAP’s first community action group. “People were desperate and wanted some type of sign that life would improve,” Quandour said. “We gave them hope.” Quandour’s first position with IRD was as ICAP’s community outreach director. Before long, he became the program’s deputy chief of party before assuming the chief of party role. He hired and trained IRD’s initial Iraqi staff, many of whom still work with IRD almost a decade later. He played a critical role in adapting the ICAP model on a wider scale-up when IRD began implementing CSP in 2006. In Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, and other locations, Quandour helped hone IRD’s project work in unstable environments, and many current staff credit him with being the founding father of IRD’s community development and stabilization programs. “Many colleagues have told me that Awni gave IRD a lot of credibility in that region of the world,” Keys said. “His relationships with local communities were invaluable to making the Iraq programs work. Local staff looked up to Awni as an elder statesman. He was ready to go back to Iraq, saying that when he regained his strength, he would return to that country.” While Quandour never had the opportunity to return to Iraq, his legacy and his work live on through the organizational strategy he helped craft and through his own personal ties—his daughter Zain and his niece Farah both work on IRD projects in Jordan. (box 2). According to Quandour, as the community groups flourished, tension developed between IRD and local political leaders, some of whom accused Quandour of “causing problems” and subsequently used their power to delay the approval of projects. “There was some rivalry between the council members and the community action groups,” he said, “because the CAGs suddenly had the ability to create projects that weren’t part of the council’s administrative structure.” 12
The first few years of ICAP projects directly benefited more than 20 million Iraqis and generated 23,000 long‐term jobs and 5,600 short-term jobs With the help of these community groups, IRD completed almost 2,400 ICAP projects over 2003–06, at a value of more than $73 million. The program required that 25 percent of project funds be in-kind donations from local Iraqi communities, but this number was exceeded by almost $10 million— another sign of local citizens’ eagerness to be part of the planning and development of their communities. Establishing services, assisting civilians, creating jobs Once a community action group formed, IRD mobilizers would provide basic training on rules and procedures and a condensed form of the appraisal process. With this introductory training complete, members began writing bylaws to guide their work. Again, the mobilizers oversaw and helped run this activity. Throughout the program, IRD provided training to community groups on computer skills, core business skills, first aid, and conflict mitigation. This training incentivized members to continue their participation while bolstering the groups’ ability to create quality reports and applications and recommend grant candidates to IRD. Once trained, group members helped shepherd community projects through three main program areas: • Economic and social infrastructure projects to build and repair roads and public buildings as well as restore essential services. • Business development grant support to micro, small, and medium businesses. The first few years of ICAP projects directly benefited more than 20 million Iraqis and generated 23,000 long-term jobs and 5,600 short-term jobs. 4 “ICAP was a unique program, at least in Iraq because it was community-based,” al-Juboori said. “We’d reach out to the grassroots level, and at that time, no one was representing anyone. There was no effective local government. Even though neighborhoods had a lot of needs, nobody was reaching out to those people. There was no government. There was nobody.” According to al-Juboori, even after the rudimentary Baghdad councils had been established, the basic needs of ordinary citizens were often overlooked due to the rampant nepotism or favoritism that had become ingrained in Iraqi political and social structure. “Local leaders were not paying attention to everyday people,” she said. “They would focus on their relatives or close friends. It wasn’t the real people in need. And with ICAP we went directly to the people in need.” A chance for citizens to rebuild basic services Many of those people in need lived in the Sadr district, one of the poorest and most violent neighborhoods in Baghdad. With little access to basic services, residents in two districts encompassing roughly 25,000 people formed the Al Bir community action group. In its first year, the group completed 15 projects ranging from the administration of small business grants to the creation of public parks and playgrounds on vacant lots. The group also organized neighborhood cleanups and public health campaigns. In a very short time, the Al Bir group became a vocal advocate for its citizens, and, in doing so, formed a critical link between individuals and their municipal government leadership. 1 Building community trust • Assistance to civilian victims and communities injured, impaired, or otherwise negatively affected by coalition forces. As part of its effort to boost the local infrastructure and business environment, the Al Bir community group reached out to create a dialogue with its neighborhood 13
Page 1: Empowering citizens Engaging govern
Page 4 and 5: Copyright © by International Relie
Page 6 and 7: In memory of Awni Quandour, whose r
Page 8 and 9: Overview General David Petraeus, co
Page 10 and 11: what made CSP stand out was the clo
Page 12 and 13: By the end of the program, the busi
Page 14 and 15: 1 Building community trust through
Page 16 and 17: “ The community believed in what
Page 18 and 19: Community action groups stood at th
Page 22 and 23: IRD’s health advisor referred Oma
Page 24 and 25: IRD placed a premium on diversity
Page 26 and 27: Whenever harm befell a community ac
Page 28 and 29: Scheduled to wind down in 2012 afte
Page 30 and 31: 2 A complete stabilization package
Page 32 and 33: As planning for CSP unfolded, the s
Page 34 and 35: “ There were no similar programs.
Page 36 and 37: the most successful projects were t
Page 38 and 39: “ You are the future of Ramadi. Y
Page 40 and 41: “[Colonel John Charlton] was the
Page 42 and 43: 3 Successes and setbacks in a count
Page 44 and 45: CSP helped create a sense of normal
Page 46 and 47: the renovation of the Mosul Social
Page 48 and 49: By combining his personal savings w
Page 50 and 51: Ninety-eight percent of grantee bus
Page 52 and 53: Dr. Noor Abdul Aziz Baqir’s grant
Page 54 and 55: all the training centers renovated
Page 56 and 57: IRD embarked on its own job placeme
Page 58 and 59: CSP’s youth activities component
Page 60: most Iraqi citizens had an overwhel
Page 63 and 64: “We had challenges, but with the
Page 65 and 66: CSP was unprecedented in scale, but
Page 67 and 68: “ Without security, there is no d
Page 69 and 70: IRD’s staffing woes could be brok
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Many key tactical lessons have alre
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Epilogue
Page 76 and 77:
Acronyms ACV CAG Assistance to Civi
Page 80:
This report details IRD’s impleme
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Empowering citizens Engaging governments Rebuilding communities

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