VZCZCXRO5409
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2647/01 2210426
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 090426Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2695
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002647 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: PROVINCIAL DEVELOPMENMT STRATEGY IN MUTHANNA - A 
SUCCESS STORY 
 
 
¶1. This is a PRT Muthanna cable. 
 
¶2. Summary: On July 25 and 26, Muthanna Province held the 
first public meeting in the long process of creating a 
Muthanna Provincial Development Strategy (MPDS). It was 
similar to a New England town council meeting, where citizens 
candidly articulated what they wanted their government to do 
for them. This is seen as a major milestone for the province 
in making the transition from the Saddam era where the 
direction came from the central government, to developing 
local government in Iraq that is representative to the needs 
of its citizens. The next step will be to use the MPDS to 
create a budget that will be presented to the central 
government, which ultimately is the source of funding for 
provincial public development. With no oil or other high 
value natural resources, the people of Muthanna must rely on 
the land, the central government, and their human resources 
to develop their province. The conference received extensive 
local media coverage. End Summary. 
 
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Background 
---------- 
 
¶3. Muthanna is an overwhelmingly Shi'ite province, with no 
known oil reserves, and with an economy based primarily on 
agriculture. As such, it was neglected during Saddam 
Hussein's rule. During that time, local government was 
directed from above on what to do, how to do it, and given 
funds to do it. Since the overthrow of Saddam, it has not 
exhibited the same prevalence towards violence that has been 
displayed in other provinces, including the predominantly 
Shi'ite province of Basra. For this reason Muthanna Province 
was the first to "go PIC" (Provincial Iraqi Control). 
 
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The MPDS Process 
---------------- 
 
¶4. The MPDS process and document are designed to assess the 
needs of the citizens, articulate goals, and to identify 
capital projects to achieve those goals. The funding for 
these projects comes from the central government ministries; 
therefore the MPDS is also a tool for requesting the funding 
to achieve their goals.  Since November, 2006, PRT Muthanna 
has worked with the provincial government to form Sector 
Working Groups (SWG) in order to create a blueprint for 
Muthanna's future development. The SWGs - composed of PRT 
members, government officials, academics, and NGO 
representatives - develop plans within the various sectors 
that are generally represented by the ministries' directors 
general (DG). SWGs met repeatedly at Iraqi Army bases, Tallil 
Air Base where the PRT is based, the Provincial Council 
building in Samawah, and at several conferences hosted by the 
British Department for International Development (DFID) 
outside of Iraq. The end products of the SWGs were combined 
into the draft MPDS. 
 
------------------ 
The Public Meeting 
------------------ 
 
¶5. On 25-26 July, the open conference was held at the PC 
building for discussion of the final draft MPDS. Conference 
participants included PRT and SWG members, and local 
representatives of the provincial districts and 
sub-districts. PRT members had been working for months to 
bring more of these local representatives into the process, 
but this was the first event where all were present. The 
ensuing discussion reflected true representative government. 
Comments ranged from, "Why are there no road projects for my 
district," to, "There is no vision to develop the Iraqi 
people." At times the discussion became heated, and sometimes 
very pointed: when the Housing DG was asked why his ministry 
wasn't building houses in some districts, he responded, "Some 
local councils insist on deciding who will get the bid," to 
which people demanded, "Who, which ones?" 
 
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What's Next 
----------- 
 
¶6. The final product from the conference was a list of 
comments and complaints from the representative participants, 
which will be reviewed by the full PC. The final MPDS is 
scheduled to be voted on by the PC next week, thereby 
completing a long and sometimes arduous process. The next 
step will be to connect the MPDS to the budget development 
and execution process. Muthanna PRT, in connection with RTI, 
has already started this process and completed a computerized 
template for the provincial budget. 
 
 
BAGHDAD 00002647  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶7. Comment: Completion of the development strategy marks a 
significant milestone for Muthanna province (and the PRT) not 
only for the development strategy itself, but also for the 
manner in which it was presented to the public for debate and 
comment. The conference received extensive local media 
coverage, including local television. Equally important has 
been the commitment shown by local officials to take 
ownership of the development strategy process. What began as 
a PRT/DFID sponsored initiative ended as a truly locally 
driven process. End Comment. 
CROCKER