The meeting in Baghdad of the Working Group on Stabilization of the Global Coalition against Daesh is another milestone in the fight against ISIS. Together with our Iraqi partners, we want to lay the groundwork for a bright future. This will require patience – as we work, among other things, to consolidate what has been achieved with regard to stabilisation, create conditions to enable the return of all displaced Iraqis and make progress toward the sustainable reconstruction of the country under Iraqi leadership.

Funding gaps must still be closed, especially for those areas of the country that were held by ISIS for a very long time. Germany will therefore contribute 40 million euros. The money will go to the United Nations Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS), which is used to rehabilitate infrastructure that has been destroyed, promote employment, build up the local government, and finance reconciliation projects.

It is the ongoing task of the Iraqi Government to assume political and, increasingly, financial responsibility. Moreover, it is increasingly promoting private-sector investment. Germany and our partners in the Global Coalition against Daesh, along with the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, are supporting all of these efforts and the associated necessary reforms.