UN, Kurdistan sign 3-year agreement
The UN will provide technical and financial support to the Region.
The United Nations and the government of Kurdistan Region signed an agreement on October 13 in which the UN will provide technical and financial support to the Region for three years.
Signing the agreement was David Shearer, deputy to the UN Secretary-General's top envoy to Iraq, Staffan De Mistura. "According to this agreement, the UN will provide technical and some financial support to Kurdistan Region, particularly in the fields of electricity, health, energy, agriculture, and road construction."
Shearer added that the UN will also provide technical and financial support to renovate the historical Erbil citadel. Currently, UNESCO and a number of foreign companies are renovating the site.
Called Qala in Kurdish, the citadel is believed to have been built around 5,000 years ago, making it one of the most ancient cities in the world. It was expanded by the Assyrians for their religious capital.
Unique to this historic site is that it is the oldest continually inhabited city in the world; hundreds of families currently live there. Some parts of the citadel were destroyed by harsh weather and rain, compelling officials to put forth efforts to renovate it as a national treasure.
At the start of renovation in November 2006, the government relocated citadel residents to a new area, known as the new Qala neighborhood, on the Erbil outskirts.
The UN office in Kurdistan released information saying that it will spend US$98 million on Kurdistan Region in 2008.
Dr. Dindar Zebari, KRG coordinator to the UN, said that the UN's works in the region will be more organized and strategic now that the agreement has been signed.
He clarified that this agreement came after the UN had signed a similar agreement with Baghdad one month ago.
"Since Kurdistan Region has a special situation and its own government, the UN has decided to sign a similar agreement with the KRG," said Dr. Zebari.
Full story: http://www.kurdishglobe.net/displayArticle.jsp?id=C29FD9441787902ECB714EFDA895448F
