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| Flag of Iraq | A three-day meeting on "Iraq and the Region after the War" was organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), in cooperation with the World Bank, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies (LCPS), and concluded on 11 July with a call for a stronger UN role in Iraq's economic, social, cultural and humanitarian reconstruction and development.
Held at the UN House, Riad El-Sohl Square, in Beirut, Lebanon, the meeting aimed to highlight the views of experts in the region as it considered the impact of the war on both Iraq and the Middle East. Participants also discussed alternative courses of action that could be taken by Governments and peoples, as well as how intellectuals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) could become proactive agents in the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.
Participants reached consensus on four comprehensive recommendations: first, Arab States should be encouraged to play a role in reconstruction; second, Iraqi human resources should be fully involved in the planning and implementation of reconstruction plans; third, rehabilitation and reform should go beyond administrative and governmental structures and proceed at the grass-roots level, in cooperation with civil society and NGOs, to encompass Iraqi society; and, finally, UN participation should be extended to the political and socio-economic spheres of Iraq's rehabilitation.
An extensive report on the meeting is available on the ESCWA website, as well as several documents and analyses authored by the Commission regarding the multifarious impacts of the crisis on development in the region, including: "The Impact of the Lack of Stability in the Western Asia Region on Economic and Social Development: Iraq Case Study"; "Economic and Financial Situation in Iraq: Institutional Arrangements, Financial Obligations, Reconstruction Issues"; "Environmental Impact of War on Iraq"; and "Housing and Physical Infrastructure in Iraq: A Brief Note on the Current Conditions."
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