The Netherlands to train Iraqi civil servants in water management

UNESCO-IHE will provide postgraduate education and training to 16 Iraqi professionals in Hydrological Engineering, Water Resources Management and River Basin Management, selected by the Iraqi Ministries of Water Resources, Public Works and Environment as the front-line professionals to lead the country’s policy development and reconstruction efforts in the water sector.

While Jay Garner, retired US general and head of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, was in charge of the day-to-day situation in Iraq, he promised to work all-out to repair the damage done to basic infrastructure, beginning with water and sanitation services. Jay Garner said his priority was to ensure that water supply, water treatment plants and sewage services would be fully operational in the shortest timeframe possible.

Under this scenario and within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 16 Iraqi civil servants from the Ministries of Environment, Public Works and Water Resources entered the Master degree programmes at UNESCO-IHE in October this year.

The UNESCO-IHE and USACE collaboration aims for co-operation in water resources management for developing countries in the fields of flood control, infrastructure development, environmental engineering, consensus building, water policy and educational methods and systems.

The main activity foreseen for the short term was to select 20 to 25 participants originating from conflict areas to obtain a Masters degree. UNESCO-IHE will provide the education and USACE will take responsibility for the required funding. The Ministers of the aforementioned Ministries selected a number of their staff to acquire water-related knowledge in Delft, the Netherlands. Despite the very difficult situation in Iraq, 16 participants managed to submit all required information to be academically admitted to UNESCO-IHE.

The group of Iraqi’s consists of civil, irrigation, environmental and agricultural engineers, all male with an age between 26 and 47 years. At UNESCO-IHE, they will specialize in Hydraulic Engineering & River Basin Development, Environmental Planning & Management, Environmental Science & Technology, Water Resources Management, Surface Water Hydrology, Water Supply Engineering and Water Quality Management.