Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management 2010 2 1

doi: 10.3850/S179392402009000374

Post-project Evaluation of UNEP-IETC’s Iraqi Marshlands Restoration Project

Toshiyasu Suzuki^a and Mikiyasu Nakayama^b Department of International Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, 5-1-1, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, 277-8563, Japan. ^atoshiyasu.s @hotmail.co.jp ^bnakayama@k.u-tokyo.ac.jp

ABSTRACT

The Marshlands Restoration Project implemented in the southern part of Iraq was among the major assistance activities given by the Japanese government for post-conflict Iraq. The marshlands were on the verge of destruction due to drainage carried out by Saddam Hussein’s regime. The Japanese government provided funding for the United Nations Environment Programme International Environmental Technology Center (UNEP-IETC) in Shiga, Japan, to implement the project. The project faced many operational difficulties, as unrest in the country prevented non-Iraqi project staff from visiting or working in the country. Accordingly, the project proceeded through a combination of technical assistance provided remotely and in-country by Iraqi counterparts. This study revealed the utility of an Iraqi national coordinator and the lack of consideration for socio-economic factors in the project implementation. Lack of collaboration between UNEP-IETC and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) let them implement similar training courses. Inflexibility of the budget, which did not match the implementation structure of this project, resulted in difficulties. UNEP-IETC, however, succeeded in enhancing its capacity through this project.

Keywords: Iraq, Project evaluation, Marshlands, Japanese assistance, Post-conflict.

---

Back to TOC

FULL TEXT(PDF)