Status of Ministerial Capacity Development in Iraq

Abstract

Iraq's governing capacity has suffered from years of centralized control that led to the decay of core functions in many key institutions and ministries. Government systems and processes weakened in such areas as strategic and policy planning, finance, information technology, and human resources management. For almost 30 years, the central government neglected to develop a professional civil service, which fostered poor management practices. After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, governing capacity continued to deteriorate during the formation of multiple governments. The current government, in office for about 7 months, must deal with the ongoing sectarian strife and increased violence that continues to impede Coalition nation-building and related capacity-development efforts. This audit examined the status of the ministerial capacity-development initiatives in Iraq as of December 2006. The objectives of this audit were to determine whether U.S. Government organizations had plans and programs in place for capacity development in the Iraqi government ministries. Specifically, we addressed the following questions: (1) Have U.S. Government organizations, such as the Department of State and USAID, assessed the competency of the responsible Iraqi ministries for the long-term management of essential government functions and services?; (2) What are their programs for addressing the identified shortcomings?; (3) What performance indicators or metrics will be used to measure progress, and who has overall responsibility for measuring progress?; (4) Have U.S. Government organizations identified adequate funding?; and (5) Is the U.S. Government working with other donor nations and institutions to coordinate, fund, and develop solutions for a comprehensive capacity-development program in future years?

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 30, 2007
Accession Number
ADA510323

Entities

People

  • Clifton Spruill
  • Glenn Furbish
  • Joanne M. Brignolo
  • Joseph T. Mcdermott
  • Karen L Bell
  • Patrick A. Dickriede
  • Waheed Nasser

Organizations

  • Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Business Administration
  • Commerce
  • Congress
  • Department Of State
  • Financial Management
  • Government Procurement
  • Governments
  • Human Resources
  • Information Systems
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Public Administration
  • Task Forces
  • Training

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • International Relations and Conflict Resolution
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.