VZCZCXRO7747
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3526/01 2970913
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 240913Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3997
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003526 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PINR PINS IZ
SUBJECT: BAGHDAD PROVINCIAL COUNCIL CONNECTS NATIONAL AND 
PROVINCIAL PRIORITIES 
 
¶1.  (U) This is a PRT Baghdad reporting cable. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  The Baghdad Provincial Council passed a 
major milestone October 10 when it completed a Provincial 
Development Strategy and presented it to the Ministry of 
Planning.  Provincial officials describe the Provincial 
Development Strategy as the single-most important mechanism 
to connect provincial and national priorities.  The plan 
outlines more than 950 proposed projects for Baghdad province 
between 2008 and 2012, which will require an estimated total 
investment of over 6.5 Billion USD.  As the Provincial 
Council puts together its budget in the coming years, it will 
draw on this strategy to explain and justify provincial 
funding priorities in its budget submissions to the Ministry 
of Finance.  Moreover, the Ministry of Planning must now 
evaluate the Baghdad strategy in light of other provincial 
development strategies, and place it in the broader context 
of the Ministry's own National Development Strategy.  This 
process will enable provincial and national leaders to 
compare priorities, coordinate joint projects, and 
'de-conflict' existing ventures.  Significantly, the Baghdad 
Provincial Council created the Provincial Development 
Strategy through an extensive and unprecedented consultative 
process, and under very difficult security and political 
conditions.  The USAID Local Governance Program, with support 
from the Baghdad PRT, implemented an intensive program of 
capacity development and facilitation to assist the 
Provincial Council throughout the planning process.  The 
Local Governance Program will continue to provide technical 
assistance and capacity building support during the upcoming 
implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Connecting Provincial and National Priorities 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The completion of a Provincial Development Strategy 
(PDS) for Baghdad marks the culmination of over one year's 
worth of steady and progressive work by the Provincial 
Council's Strategic Planning Committee under very difficult 
security and political conditions.  Provincial officials 
describe the PDS as the single-most important mechanism to 
connect provincial to national priorities.  As the Provincial 
Council (PC) puts together its budget in the coming years, it 
will draw on the PDS to explain and justify provincial 
funding priorities in its budget submissions to the Ministry 
of Finance.  Moreover, the Ministry of Planning (MoP) must 
now evaluate the Baghdad PDS in light of other provincial 
development strategies, and place it in the context of the 
MoP's own National Development Strategy.  This process will 
enable provincial and national leaders to compare priorities, 
coordinate joint projects, and 'de-conflict' existing 
ventures. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The PDS is the product of an integrated development 
planning process and is based on a long-term view of Baghdad 
province's future needs.  Drawing on the Ministry of 
Planning's National Development Strategy (NDS) 2007-2010, MoP 
officials primarily initiated the PDS process in order to 
provide provincial stakeholders with a framework to 
prioritize, identify and develop projects within their 
provinces.  Provincial strategic plans spell out sectoral 
priorities intended to guide provincial departments as they 
address citizens' needs.  Baghdad's PDS outlines more than 
950 proposed projects for Baghdad province between 2008 and 
2012, which will require an estimated total investment of 
over 6.5 Billion USD. 
 
¶5.  (U) Since September 2006, the USAID Local Governance 
Program (LGP) has facilitated five PDS regional conferences 
throughout Iraq to guide the PDS process.  These conferences 
focused on five priority areas of governmental intervention: 
essential service and social service delivery; economic 
development; employment creation; social and human 
development; justice and crime prevention; and efficient 
public administration and good governance. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Consultation with Officials at the National Level 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The Provincial Council led an unprecedented 
consultative process in drafting the PDS.  PC members met 
with elected representatives, government officials, private 
sector organizations and business leaders from the national, 
provincial, district and even neighborhood levels.  The 
Chairman of the PC Strategic Planning Committee (SPC), Mazen 
Makkiyah (former Dawa Party member), told PRToff October 22 
that he personally consulted about the PDS with Speaker of 
the Council of Representatives (CoR) Mahmoud Mashadani, a 
 
BAGHDAD 00003526  002 OF 003 
 
 
Sunni member of the Iraqi Islamic Party.  (NOTE: Makiyyah 
mentioned only Mashadani when asked by PRToff which CoR 
members he and the SPC consulted.  END NOTE.)  Makkiyah said 
that the SPC also sought input from Adil Zahra Al-Sadi, an 
adivsor to the Prime Minister for essential services, and 
from Engineer Riyadh Filahi, Co-Director of the Joint 
Planning Commission (JPC), which is led by the office of 
Deputy Prime Minister Salam Al-Zubai.  Crucially, according 
to several PC members and employees of the USAID Local 
Governance Program, the SPC also sought input from Directors 
General in 18 ministries. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Connecting Provincial and Local Priorities 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  At the provincial and local level, SPC planners 
consulted officials in the Baghdad Amanat (City Hall), staff 
members in the Governor's Office, and members of the District 
and Neighborhood Councils.  When planners realized that they 
lacked knowledge in a particular field, they generally sought 
input from Baghdad's experts.  They consulted with 
professional organizations such as the Baghdad Chamber of 
Commerce and the Iraqi Businesswomen's Association.  They 
spoke to business owners in construction and contracting, 
agriculture, media, and banking.  To gather input from civil 
society, planners spoke to representatives of institutions as 
diverse as the Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform and the 
Beekeepers Association, in addition to organizations focused 
on women, education, and youth.  This intensive engagement 
process helped planners to identify which problems in Baghdad 
currently prevent effective essential service delivery and 
private sector development. 
 
------------------------------ 
Developing the Ability to Plan 
------------------------------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU) During this planning process, the PC recognized a 
severe lack of available data necessary for planning 
purposes.  To address this information deficit, members of 
the SPC created three new databases to provide the necessary 
information required to carry out their work.  SPC members 
then reached out to district and neighborhood councils to 
conduct regular brainstorming meetings with their respective 
planning committees.  Through these interactions, the SPC 
considered existing projects being funded and implemented in 
the districts through the Provincial Reconstruction 
Development Committee, MND-B CERP projects, and other donor 
initiatives in the province. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The SPC also screened all projects submitted by 
district and neighborhood councils to create cost estimates 
that factor in potential security, supply and transportation 
problems.  They sought thereby to create realistic project 
tables and the basis for sound budgetary planning. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The USAID Local Governance Program, with support 
from the Baghdad PRT, provided targeted technical assistance 
and capacity building to the SPC by facilitating 
stakeholder's conferences and workshops; providing training 
based on modern strategic development theory and SWOT 
Analysis (a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the 
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats); and 
sharing case studies, lessons learned and best practices from 
neighboring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia 
and United Arab Emirates. 
 
------------------------------ 
Next Phases in the PDS Process 
------------------------------ 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The Ministry of Planning and Development will 
provide comments on the PDS to the Provincial Council in the 
coming weeks.  This feedback will be used by the PC to 
incorporate the PDS into the National Development Strategy, 
as well as future provincial and national annual budgets. 
During this same period, the PC will finalize the development 
of the PDS implementation plan, and design and execute a 
monitoring and oversight function within the PC. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) By completing a Provincial Development Strategy 
through a broadly consultative process, provincial officials 
in Baghdad demonstrated a growing capacity to govern, and at 
the same time improved their ability to do so.  Provincial 
Council members also took an important step toward preparing 
for the eventual withdrawal of USG project money by taking 
 
BAGHDAD 00003526  003 OF 003 
 
 
more responsibility for investing in the future development 
of Baghdad.  If successfully implemented, the PDS may 
contribute to creating an attractive business climate that 
could spur private sector development.  Notably, the plan 
includes an important focus on maintenance which may help to 
make it more sustainable.  End Comment. 
CROCKER