aid update

The numbers continue to be squidgy. They just don't match up in places. Bpost likes names, dates, facts and figures. We'll keep looking though.

Humanitarian Assistance

Company Air Serv
Award $2.1 million
Agency USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Date of RFP
Pre-planning
Date of Award March 30, 2003
Nature of work Provide air logistical support for humanitarian personnel and emergency relief commodities in Iraq
Reference

Company The Cuny Center
Award $40,629
Agency USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Date of RFP
Pre-planning
Date of Award prior to March 19, 2003
Nature of work Research and educational institute that studies and develops practical solutions to address the needs of societies affected by disasters and complex emergencies
Reference

Company Development Alternatives, Incorporated (DAI)
Award $473,253
Agency USAID Office of Transition Initiatives
Date of RFP
Pre-planning
Date of Award
Nature of work Rehabilitating and repairing small-scale infrastructure, improving livelihoods and providing skills training, and encouraging inter-ethnic and inter-religious cooperation within communities
Reference

Company International Dispensary Company
Award $711,850
Agency USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Date of RFP
Pre-planning
Date of Award April 7, 2003
Nature of work To provide chronic pharmaceuticals to address diabetes, hypertension, and asthma
Reference

Company International Medical Corps
Award $4.2 million
Agency USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Date of RFP
Pre-planning
Date of Award
Nature of work Offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk
Reference
USAID and US Department of State Funding Summary #16 pdf

Company International Rescue Committee
Award $3 million
Agency USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Date of RFP
Pre-planning
Date of Award
Nature of work Water, sanitation, primary health care and child protection assistance, humanitarian assistance programs for refugees and displaced persons and helps refugees permanently resettle.
Reference
Reference

Company Internews
Award $160,359
Agency USAID Office of Transition Initiatives
Date of RFP
Pre-planning
Date of Award
Nature of work Fosters independent media in emerging democracies, trains journalists and station managers in the standards and practices of professional journalism, produces innovative television and radio programming and Internet content, and uses the media to reduce conflict.
USAID and US Department of State Funding Summary #16 pdf

Company Mercy Corps
Award $5 million
Agency USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Date of RFP
Pre-planning
Date of Award March 31, 2003
Nature of work To provide emergency humanitarian relief assistance to up to 250,000 displaced and/or conflict-affected persons in Iraq for a 6-month period
Reference

Company Save the Children
Award $4.9 million
Agency USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Date of RFP
Pre-planning
Date of Award prior to March 19, 2003
Nature of work To provide health care, food, water and sanitation, and shelter for the displaced and refugee women and children.
Reference
Reference

Company World Vision
Award $2.5 million
Agency USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Date of RFP
Pre-planning October 2002
Date of Award April 15, 2003
Nature of work Christian aid group. Initial relief response would include food, blankets, kitchen sets and water containers for refugees, shipping supplies of medicine, water containers and clothes to Jordan for use in a possible crisis. Staff have been in place since October.
Reference

Note: Bpost has not included the line item "Administrative Costs" included on the Funding Summary as part of the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.

Pending

Iraqi National Congress: $97 million was originally awarded to the INC in a previous contract as a result of the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act. There is conflicting information on how much is remaining or is currently allocated in total. The previous contract had an exclusion from permitting the use of funds inside of Iraq. A waiver to redirect the funds is being sought to correct this now that the INC are inside Iraq.

Company Iraqi National Congress
Award $3.1 million
Agency US Department of State
Date of RFP ILA 1998
Pre-planning
Date of Award April 10, 2003
Nature of work To support activities of the leadership of the Iraqi opposition in Iraq. Subject to congressional notification.
Reference

Update on liability insurance:

Liability is now covered under a memorandum issued by President Bush on April 4, 2003. (bpost missed the memo during the first go round.)

1. You are authorized for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to exercise authority under Public Law 85-804, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.), to the same extent and subject to the same conditions and limitations as the head of a department or agency listed in section 21 of Executive Order 10789 of November 14, 1958, as amended, with respect to one contract identified in subparagraph (a) of this memorandum and solely for the purpose identified in subparagraph (b).

(a) The contract is for repair and reconstruction in Iraq and is awarded on or before September 30, 2003.

Research information on Humanitarian Assistance:

Here are some useful sources to follow how the humanitarian aid is being spent. (For reconstruction contracts and military spending bpost relies on the mainstream media and government announcements.)

The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs manages a website the Humanitarian Information Center that coordinates the ongoing aid process. It's loaded with information. Much of it is intended to inform other humanitarian groups of progress and needs. The bad part is, you won't know what a report says, or what language it's in, until you download it. Oh well. The info is really helpful. The reports are great. And yes, they are very busy over there and you'll get more out of one their reports than you'll get in 3 hours of CNN (but you knew that already!)

Relief Web also has a lot of great information including a Financial Tracking System that lists donors by country. The main page has great links to other sites. It's a very easy site to use and navigate. Also check out these pages on their site:
Iraq on Relief Web
Humanitarian Aid Financial Tracking System

If you'd like to read a policy paper on humanitarian assistance complete with a list of the most common international aid groups download the pdf Humanitarian Policy Group Report

Links to US government agencies involved in the relief effort:

At the USAID Assistance for Iraq you can download a pdf version of the current Funding Summary. Left hand column. Click here for an online sample from April 15. Everything is in initials so look for the accompanying press release or Fact Sheet to help translate what it is saying. Most of the time, you can figure out what the initials stand for just by looking at who has been named as a recipient. For instance ICRC is the International Committee of the Red Cross. Bpost has had to rely on google uncle sam to figure out some of the others.

USAID Assistance for Iraq
USAID Food for Peace
Fact Sheets and Situation Reports from the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
USAID Office of Transition Initiatives
US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
US Department of State Refugee Assistance Links

Based on the most recent Funding Summary #20, the above should bring things up to date. But we'll keep looking all the same 'cause that's just the way we are. (...and mercury is going retrograde so we know we're going to have to be double checking our info!)