*** joint statement by the Federal Foreign Office and Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development ***

Federal Foreign Office and Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development: 100 million euros of additional support for Iraq and Syria – stabilisation after the end of ISIS rule remains priority task.

The Federal Government is also this year making a substantial contribution to stabilise the areas in Iraq and Syria which have been liberated from the control of the terrorist organisation ISIS.

In Iraq, this includes restoring electricity networks, repairing water and waste water systems, roads and bridges as well as helping to remove rubble and rebuild urban areas.

After all, only when critical infrastructure is up and running and there has been investment in elementary services is it possible to create the prerequisites for longer-term reconstruction and development.

At the meeting of the Stabilisation Working Group of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS in Washington, DC on 17 October, Germany is thus making available funding of 90 million euros for Iraq through United Nations channels. The aim is to enable displaced Iraqs to return, to lay the foundations for the reconstruction process and counter the re-emergence of violence and extremism.

The Federal Government has pledged a further 10 million euros for the Syrian provinces of Raqqa and Deir ez Zor to be used to re-establish basic services. The areas in question are not controlled by the Syrian regime. The Federal Government is not supporting any projects in areas controlled by the regime at bilateral level.

Background information:

17 October marks the first anniversary of the liberation of the city of Raqqa which ISIS had declared its capital.

The United Nations Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS) in Iraq was set up in June 2015 at the request of the Iraqi Government with major support from the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS. The projects supported aim firstly to enable the Iraqi Government to support the areas liberated by Iraqi security forces and secondly to work with the Government to support the transition from stabilisation to reconstruction.

Germany and the United Arab Emirates co-chair the Stabilisation Working Group of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS.