Sections:
Freedom of Information Act 2000, request no.
F2008/033
Date of release: 3 March 2008
Iraq Political Participation Fund
Details of contracts and recipients under the Iraq Political Participation
Fund.
Details are as follows:
Iraq Civil Society and Media Support
DFID has provided funding to support the development of Iraqi civil society and media.
The existence of strong independent media and vocal civil society is crucial to enable the Iraqi people to hold their elected officials to account, both nationally and locally. DFID provided funding through The Civil Society Fund (CSF) and Political Participation Fund (PPF), which ran from June 2004 to May 2007. They were set up to support a range of partnerships between international and Iraqi NGOs, which would build a new generation of leaders who can engage with government and contribute to policy-making and address improved service delivery. Both these programmes had some notable achievements through support to trade unions, women's groups, humanitarian organisations and Kurdish community groups.
The British Council was awarded the contract to manage and distribute both these funds. The funds were operated independently of one another, with funding disseminated by the British Council either directly to Iraqi or through international civil society organisations. The information below is a list of those civil society organisations whom DFID is aware received funding through the CSF and PPF.
Political Participation Fund (PPF) Project recipients
Radio al Nass
Council of Minorities
INSAN
Najaf Human Rights Centre
Widows of Iraq
Legal and Cultural Association, Basra
Huda Womens Organisation
Kirkuk Centre for Democratic Studies
Civil Society Fund (CSF) Project recipients
HelpAge International
Save the Children UK
Christian Aid/ REACH
Iraq Salvation and Humanitarian Org
Salvation Army UK
Trade Union Rights Centre
UNISON / IFTU
Women for Women International
Womens National Commission intern
MAG/IHSCO
DFID funding has been used to develop an independent media in Iraq, including £1 million on training for 182 journalists in international journalism, photojournalism, news feature writing and news security training.
DFID's £10 million programme to strengthen community broadcasting has also led to the creation of independent radio and TV stations, which in 2005 began the first ever independent broadcasts in the south.