VZCZCXRO3616
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1237/01 1121541
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211541Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6945
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 001237 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SBU 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM ECON EAID SOCI IZ
SUBJECT: EPRT BAGHDAD 2 AT YEAR ONE; SUCCESS STORIES 
 
¶1.  (U) This is a Baghdad 2 BCT E-PRT reporting cable drafted 
by Team Leader Eric Whitaker. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary:  Over the past year, Baghdad 2 E-PRT has 
undertaken a variety of activities in the areas of local 
governance, community reconciliation, economic growth and 
development, and essential social services as elements of the 
broader U.S. counter-insurgency strategy.  Working closely 
with our U.S. Army brigade combat teams, the E-PRT has 
achieved several measures of success, launched a number of 
projects in numerous sectors of Iraqi society, and 
established that this model of civil-military cooperation can 
be very productive.  Key to success was easy access to 
programmatic funds through QRF, CERP among others.  End 
summary. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Background:  Founded in April 2007, the Baghdad 2 
Embedded-Provincial Reconstruction Team (E-PRT), one of the 
ten charter E-PRTs, covers the political districts of Karada, 
Rusafa, and 9 Nissan.  During its first year, the E-PRT 
worked closely with Brigade Combat Teams from the 2nd 
Infantry Division and, since January 2008, the 10th Mountain 
Division.  Embedded within the civil affairs component, the 
E-PRT helped assess the operating environment, agreed on a 
Joint Common Plan to guide activities, and developed a wide 
range of local Iraqi contacts both within and outside the GOI 
and its institutions.  Most importantly, the E-PRT launched a 
number of concrete activities organized in four key areas or 
"lines of operation":  local governance, economic growth and 
development, essential social services, and community 
reconciliation.  These activities and projects can be seen as 
elements of a broad counter-insurgency strategy designed to 
restore normalcy at the level of the Iraqi family.  This 
report seeks to illustrate some of the team's principal 
accomplishments, including those that used the Quick Response 
Fund (QRF) program as leverage to achieve results. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
QRF:  A Tool for Engagement and Revitalization 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Despite only having access to QRF resources for the 
past six months, the E-PRT has developed and implemented 
seven grants totaling roughly $1.12 million as well as 71 
micro-purchases also amounting to approximately $1.12 
million.  These projects sought to address areas not covered 
by CERP, USAID, or other funding sources or ongoing programs. 
 Among the E-PRT's criteria for projects were sustainability, 
value for funds invested, and impact.  For each project, 
E-PRT members met with local vendors, contractors, and other 
Iraqi parties to ensure the project addressed unmet needs in 
an economical manner. 
 
¶A.  (SBU) Grants ) the seven grants cover:  a center for 
children with Down's Syndrome, a legal services referral 
center, specialized training in heavy equipment operation and 
generator repair for public works employees, renovation of 
the Baghdad Al-Jadida Market, the Al-Bashaer program of 
grants and loans administered through two of the district 
council halls, job skills training for vulnerable 
populations, and post-trauma programming for children in 
areas of conflict. 
 
¶B.  (SBU) Micro-Purchases ) the 71 projects covered several 
sectors, including public health, humanitarian assistance, 
adult literacy courses, school supplies and facility 
renovations, community reconciliation, conflict mitigation 
workshops, environmental sanitation, agriculture, economic 
growth and development, youth and sports, public works 
capacity development, district council hall standardization, 
NGO capacity building, trade show participation, and business 
skills development courses. 
 
--------------- 
Success Stories 
--------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Some of the E-PRT's success stories are as follows: 
 
¶A.  (SBU) Agriculture ) The E-PRT formed an agricultural 
cooperative from rural sheikhs and farmers residing along the 
Diyala and Tigris Rivers in 9 Nissan and Zafaraniya, and 
assisted them in obtaining mini-greenhouse plastic sheeting 
for vegetable growing and winter seed to increase 
agricultural incomes.  Combined with graveled mud roads, 
these QRF-supported measures have assisted them in increasing 
productivity and in getting more farm produce to market. 
 
¶B.  (SBU) Industry ) The E-PRT assessed dozens of industries 
in major manufacturing areas of 9 Nissan and Zafaraniya to 
assist them in developing markets for their products.  One 
success is the National Chemical and Plastic Industries, 
 
BAGHDAD 00001237  002 OF 003 
 
 
which KBR awarded its first state-owned enterprise contract 
on March 1, 2008, for plastic bags.  This pilot sale is 
expected to lead to further sales in the areas of dinnerware 
and trays.  The E-PRT also targeted the State Company for 
Vegetable Oil for potential sales to KBR for liquid laundry 
detergent. 
 
¶C.  (SBU) Small Business Development ) The E-PRT sponsored 
the training of 278 individuals, including 52 women, in the 
Small Business Development Center (SBDC) training programs. 
The SBDC is designed to enhance community business 
relationships and to assist those who seek to open, re-open, 
or expand a small business by training them in business plan 
formation, marketing, inventory, basic accounting, and using 
a computer for budgeting. 
 
¶D.  (SBU) Sewing Center - with QRF, the E-PRT facilitated the 
opening of a women's sewing center in February 2008 in the 
Baghdad Al-Jadida, 9 Nissan district.  The sewing center is 
managed by an Iraqi women's NGO in a poor area with many 
widows and single parents requiring job skills necessary to 
support their families.  The goal is to train classes of 15 
women for four to six weeks on the use of sewing machines 
until they can pass proficiency tests, and enable them to 
start their own small businesses or work with local 
seamstresses. 
 
¶E.  (SBU) Commerce ) With QRF, the E-PRT sponsored the 
participation of eight local businesses in the November 2007 
Kurdistan International Trade Show in Sulaymaniya, which 
resulted in the signing of 12 business contracts to date. 
Thereafter, it sponsored the participation of 25 firms ) 22 
state-owned enterprises and 3 private firms ) in the 
February 2008 Business-2-Business Trade Show in Baghdad.  The 
event, which adopted the E-PRT's economics motto, "Buy 
Iraqi," garnered extensive media coverage, VIP visits, and 
more than 9,000 attendees, provided local firms with business 
contacts and enabled them to demonstrate their goods and 
services to a broad community.  The event also included a 
women's association booth, which marketed handicrafts and 
other items produced by women from within our community 
seeking income generation opportunities. 
 
¶F.  (SBU) Education ) Due to the conflict and years of 
inattention to education, Baghdad's literacy rate has 
declined significantly.  Realizing that employees need basic 
Arabic reading and writing skills to seek employment, the 
E-PRT assisted in establishing an adult literacy program in 
mid-2007.  The program involved 700 students attending class 
five evenings a week for six months in six elementary schools 
in the 9 Nissan district, with four classes for men and three 
for women.  The Ministry of Education provides unemployed 
instructors to teach the classes.  The program is designed to 
prepare students for follow-on training at vocational and 
technical training schools. 
 
¶G.  (SBU) Community Reconciliation ) The E-PRT works with 
three districts, each with substantial Christian, Sunni, and 
Shia populations.  Due to the five-year conflict, the social 
fabric of Baghdad has been torn.  We engage in ongoing 
dialogue with Sunni and Shia political party representatives, 
local government officials, Iraqi Security Forces officers, 
and other members of civil society to rebuild trust in the 
community through reconciliation.  The E-PRT has also 
supported the rehabilitation of a "sheikh hall," where 
traditional leaders meet and confer to manage local 
conflicts. 
 
(SBU) The E-PRT also used QRF to support a series of 
community reconciliation events during Ramadan in October 
2007, wherein Sunni mosques held open-house iftars.  The 
events involved non-governmental organizations organizing 
events with signs and banners, a theme and agenda, speakers 
and a program, and an iftar meal.  Sunni community leaders 
invited Christians and Shia to each event, seeking to rebuild 
trust and a spirit of brotherhood within the community, 
helping catalyze our reconciliation objective. 
 
(SBU) Additional momentum in community reconciliation arises 
from a series of conflict mitigation workshops being 
implemented by the U.S. Institute of Peace.  Each district 
has three, three-day workshops, with iterations focusing on 
different target groups ) district council members, civil 
society officials, and opinion shapers.  While the target 
number was for 270 persons to be trained in conflict 
mitigation, the courses grew and well over 300 people 
attended these programs. 
 
¶H.  (SBU) Health - The E-PRT gained acceptance for a QRF 
grant to develop a first-ever rehabilitation center for young 
children with Down's syndrome.  The program will involve 
training in basic life skills, leading up to helping them to 
 
BAGHDAD 00001237  003 OF 003 
 
 
enter the Iraqi educational system.  Dealing with children 
who have typically been kept in seclusion, the program's goal 
is to develop abilities and social skills to each child's 
maximum capacity. 
 
¶I.  (SBU) Social/Cultural - The E-PRT assisted the 
Palestinian community by placing traffic barriers at key 
points near its compound, installing a security wall, 
supplying a nearby pharmacy, rehabilitating a clinic, 
providing emergency water supplies, supporting a trash 
removal program, forming a Community Action Group to advocate 
for local issues by building consensus and prioritizing 
needs.  These have significantly improved the quality of life 
for the community, which does not have the benefit of Iraqi 
citizenship or representation in a neighborhood council, 
despite many of its more than 5,000 residents living there 
since settlement waves in 1948 and 1967. 
 
(SBU) Widows and Orphans - In February 2008, the E-PRT used 
QRF to support a six-day conference to address issues of 
widows, orphans, divorces, and victims of terrorism. The 
conference involved 40 widows participating in an event 
facilitated by local NGO "Mariam."  Participants shared their 
experiences and built relationships with others with similar 
life stories. 
 
¶J.  (SBU) Water - Potable water shortages are a serious 
problem in 9 Nissan, where breakouts of acute diarrheal 
diseases occurred in the late summer of 2007.  The E-PRT 
identified an underutilized water treatment plant at the 
National Chemical and Plastic Industries facility, and worked 
to form a linkage between it and Baghdad city hall so that 
the excess water supply could be introduced into the 
municipal water system. 
 
¶K.  (SBU) Electricity - The E-PRT worked with battalion and 
local government officials to establish a plan and award a 
contract for micro-generator system installation at the 
Kamaliya Industrial Park in 9 Nissan political district to 
furnish bulk power to local industries. 
 
¶L.  (SBU) Governance - The E-PRT is challenged in developing 
working partnerships with three political districts:  Karada, 
Rusafa, and 9 Nissan.  At the time of the arrival of the 
E-PRT, a ban against Coalition Forces presence at district 
council meetings was in effect in 9 Nissan.  The E-PRT 
negotiated entry, and was able to initiate a number of 
projects to improve local conditions. 
 
-- (SBU) District Hall Standardization - To ensure adequate 
local governance facilities, the E-PRT worked with the 
Baghdad PRT and the Brigade to standardize the three district 
council halls.  This included structural integrity of the 
buildings, functioning utilities, and offices equipped to 
carry out the basic functions of local government. 
 
-- (SBU) Intergovernmental Relations - Recognizing that 
district councils represent the legislative branch of 
government and need balancing by the executive branch, the 
E-PRT worked to develop relationships between them and the 
four service districts.  By building bridges between these 
branches of government, we have gained the participation of 
public works officials in the essential services committees 
of the district councils. 
 
-- (SBU) Specialized Public Works Training - The E-PRT 
organized the participation of public works officials from 
across the city in a specialized training program for heavy 
equipment operation and generator repair in Erbil.  This 
unique program permitted them to develop an increased 
capacity for carrying out public works projects, becoming 
less dependent upon outside contractors. 
 
BUTENIS