The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Roundtable on Iraqi Marshland Management

(Overview and Evaluation)

September 22, 2004

1. The roundtable meeting was hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Amman, Jordan from September 21 to 22. The members in attendance included Executive Director Klaus Toepfer of UNEP, Minister of Environment Mishkat Moumin of the Republic of Iraq, Minister of Environment Alia Hattough-Bouran of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. From Japan, Minister of the Environment Yuriko Koike as head of the delegation, and Counsellor Kiyoshi Koinuma of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended the meeting.
   
   
2. At the meeting, the presentation was given on the role of UNEP in reconstruction assistance to Iraq. In particular, the significance of the role taken on by the UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) located in Japan (Osaka and Shiga) was pointed out. Furthermore, a report was given on the status of measures of the Ministry of Environment of Iraq, the recipient country. In addition, active measures were introduced that are being taken by international agencies including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), donor countries such as Canada, Italy, the United States and others, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Iraq Foundation, which are engaged in activities concerning the wetlands region in various fields such as agriculture, education, health and others.
   
   
3. The Japanese side conveyed its willingness to consider hosting an experts' meeting on the issue of the Marshlands in Iraq at an appropriate time in Japan. Furthermore, Japan shared its view on the importance of the coordination mechanism among the international agencies and on the significance of integrated measures to be taken, including the Third Donor Committee meeting and Expanded meeting of the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) to be held in Tokyo on October 13 and 14. In addition, the Japanese side noted the importance of continuous cooperation among the countries in order to realize these goals and gained high appraisal from other participating members.
   
   
4. This meeting was the forerunner to the assistance project on the management of the Iraqi Marshlands conducted through the UN under the initiative of and supported by Japan. Participants in the roundtable meeting confirmed the importance of advancing this project in coordination with international agencies and other donor countries. At the same time, much emphasis was given to the development of a systematic structure within the Iraqi government to receive such assistance and that prerequisites should be ownership of the Iraq government and by the residents of the Marshland region themselves. Confirmation was also attained on the absolute need for consideration of the culture of local residents and for human resources development based on this consideration. The meeting also called for efforts to implement a project that would truly benefit the local community, while taking note of the abovementioned points.