Mosul, March 20, 2018 - Home to a very ethnically and religiously diverse population, Mosul is a symbol of interreligious coexistence and cultural diversity in modern Iraq. During Daesh occupation, the damage inflicted deliberately on the city and the surrounding areas within the Governorate of Nineveh has been unprecedented.
The World Bank has been supporting the Government of Iraq (GOI) in reconstruction efforts, restoration of access to basic services, building trust, and revitalizing the return of displaced persons into the liberated areas of Nineveh, particularly Mosul city.
The World Bank has been supporting the rehabilitation of three vital bridges in Mosul, namely the Mosul Al Hadid first bridge, Mosul fourth bridge and Al-Muthana second bridge, as part of the overall Iraq Emergency Operation for Development Project (EODP) of US$750 million.
This collaboration between the World Bank and the federal Ministry of Housing, Reconstruction and Public Works on the restoration of the three bridges is part of a broader joint plan that will target 14 bridges in the liberated areas to be completed by 2020. The selection of these bridges came through a consultative process between the World Bank, GOI, the Nineveh Governorate, and the Iraq Reconstruction Fund.
The restoration of the three bridges has benefited more than one million Iraqi people mainly through restoring contacts between the two parts of Mosul city and with other parts of Iraq, allowing the speedy movement of the population, improving the economic cycle and helping restore normalcy of social interaction.
The World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Region Mr. Hafez Ghanem said in his first visit to Mosul today “The World Bank, through its projects in Mosul, and in close coordination with GOI, aims to bring back hope, energize the economy by creating jobs, and promote social cohesion. The restoration of these bridges is a symbol of re-connecting what was been broken. The World Bank reiterates its commitment to support the people of Iraq in the reconstruction and development process.”.
On his side, the Nineveh Governor Mr. Nawfal Hamadi Al Sultan added “The needs of Mosul are very large, yet the rehabilitation of the three vital bridges by the GOI, with support from the World Bank, has helped to bring life back to Mosul and has contributed to the stabilization of returnees after the liberation of Mosul”.
This World Bank project to rehabilitate infrastructure is complemented by another set of projects in the process of being launched aimed at addressing the social aspects of the reconstruction process, namely the Emergency Social Stabilization and Resilience Project in the liberated areas which aims to improve the livelihood and generate job opportunities, in addition to the Social Fund for Development, which aims to improve access to basic service and increase short term employment opportunities, in targeted communities across Iraq.
