The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has governed itself for 17 years—following the establishment of the No Fly Zones in 1992. Of those years, 11 were under various types of local, regional and international sanctions; for 4 years, the Region was embroiled in regrettable civil war; the 6 years following were marked by the governance of 2 relatively dysfunctional administrations—which eventually united into one large and overly-bureaucratic body. So what does this add up to? The answer is simple—the safest, most stable and increasingly prosperous part of Iraq!
Although these numbers don’t seem to make sense—particularly for a region marked by strife, conflict, setbacks and a recent national war—the evidence is all there for the world to see. And today, the KRG took a step to provide greater clarity for the global community and for the people of the Kurdistan Region, so that everyone can be confident in how far the Kurdistan Region has come, what its accomplished, and where it is headed.
Earlier this afternoon, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani announced the government’s strategy for Good Governance and Transparency—a multi-year project developed with assistance from PricewaterhouseCoopers to introduce best governance practices and transparency and ultimately improving how our government serves its people. Compliant with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, it represents a bold step, one that goes further than any regional government in the world, and even some large democracies.
We’ve made our region safe and secure. We’ve overcome our internal conflicts. We’ve established a system to provide improved services for our citizens. Now we’re moving to guarantee that all of this progress is maintained and built upon—because there is no doubt in our minds that there remains so much more for the Kurdistan Region to accomplish.
The KRG’s Good Governance and Transparency Strategy represents tangible evidence that we are not only aware of our shortcomings, but that we are actually doing something about them! While we work to address these shortcomings, we should not lose sight of how much progress has been made in a remarkably short, yet tumultuous period of itme. Today's step forward gives me hope that the next 17 years has even greater potential.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Kurdistan's Journey towards Transparency
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Kak Qubad,
ReplyDeleteSorry for spamming your blog, but I've tried to receive a response from KRG official regarding their "transparency strategy", but I guess everyone's too busy.
Let me start by responding to your often quoted line: "the safest, most stable and increasingly prosperous part of Iraq!". We commend our brave Peshmerga for Kurdistan's outstanding security, but we also need to keep in mind that the true reason for security in Kurdistan is the ever watchful eye and support of our impoverished population.
However, the KRGs actions over the past 17 years - between their "civil" war over control of resources and smuggling routes, to their current incompetency in governance - is risking alienating the population, that has to this day stood by their side.
The deficiencies in governance and decision-making are most evident in our disastrous failures in Baghdad. The stability you mention can, and will, fracture within an instant. And where is this stability we speak of, when Turkey and Iran bomb our villages continuously, met with absolutely no political response? I won't even start about Kirkuk and Khanaqeen.
We need serious respresentatives who have some semblance of competency, and at least a minimal amount of pride in their cause. Most importantly, we need people who understand history - a leopard never changes its spots, and mark my words, neither will your new partners in this "new Iraq".
As for "prosperous" - go to Barzan and meet the hundreds of children with disabilities receiving no healthcare, or to Balesan where people are suffocating and going blind due to their exposure to chemical weapons, or to 250 families living in the squalid refugee camp hidden outside Koya, or to our people in Halabja, who's name we've taken in vain so many times.
Now tell me - will PriceWaterhouseCoopers solve these problems for you?
Kind regards,
Ali