National Development Strategy 2005 - 2007.

To set out strategic priorities for Iraq’s reconstruction and development, the Government produced the first National Development Strategy 2005-2007. It is a document that presents a national development plan to be implemented in three years.
The Vision behind the Strategy is to transform Iraq into a peaceful, unified federal democracy and a prosperous, market oriented regional economic powerhouse that is fully integrated into the global economy. The core element for achieving sustainable development is the active participation of the population in production activities and creation of wealth, which requires abandoning the centralized system of economic management and using regional governments to contribute to the formulation and implementation of development projects (also through the establishment of Regional Development Authorities (RDA’s), distributing investment funds equitably between the regions and urging donors to adhere to the regional distribution of foreign resources.
The National Development Strategy is established on four interactive major pillars, as follows: (i) Strengthening the foundations of economic growth; (ii) Revitalizing the private sector; (iii) Improving the quality of life; and (iv) Strengthening good governance and security. Pillar 1 requires maintaining a stable macroeconomic environment, improving the performance of the oil sector and creating a diversified economy to combat the de-industrialization of the national economy, the volatility of this sector and the phenomenon of unemployment developing the agriculture, industry and tourism sectors which help to create jobs directly through farming, fishing and the supply chain associated with delivering agricultural goods to market as well through jobs in agro-industries and transportation. Pillar 2 aims at creating a pro-business investment climate for both domestic and foreign business, for small and large enterprises, for agriculture as well as manufacturing and services. Pillar 3 is focused primarily on health matters, considering that healthy citizens tend to be productive citizens, and concerns themes like access to clean water and sanitation, access to medical care, affordable housing units, education and social safety net programs for the poor and vulnerable. Pillar 4 deals with the strengthening of good governance including corruption, respect for human rights, rule of law and participatory dialogue to drive forward peace-building and nation-building. The objectives identified in each of the four pillars are to be achieved by the development of detailed sector plans and investment programs by relevant Ministries.
To help eliminate hunger and food insecurity, the Strategy promotes exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of infant life and partial breastfeeding for a further six months so the unscrupulous marketing and promotion of breast-milk substitutes must be monitored and prevented and any reliance on external food supplies must be counter-balanced by medium-term strategies to promote household food security, where possible through the consumption of locally available and culturally appropriate foods.
In order to make agriculture and fisheries more productive and sustainable, main actions are directed to rebuilding the sector through: (i) the country's seed supply, in particular high quality seed, mainly wheat, rice and barley, as well as vegetable seed, root crops, and seeds for replanting degraded pastures; (ii) facing the salinity problems caused by inappropriate water management practices and restructure the irrigation management schemes and introduce more salt-tolerant crop varieties from international breeding programs and gene banks; (iii) reorganizing the nation's agricultural institutions into a centralized body that can provide realistic planning and budgeting, and also link up to international agricultural research organizations and the private sector; attracting investments to re-establish a national seed production system and rebuild Iraq's gene bank, agricultural research library and its major research laboratories; (iv) restoring the irrigation infrastructure as well as the grain marketing infrastructure for handling, storing and distributing agricultural inputs and outputs; and (v) reviving marshlands through the development of animal assets, especially raising buffalo and the development of fish wealth. The Strategy also illustrates a series of interventions in the water sector, relevant to both the development of agriculture and, in general, the improvement of the quality of life, such as: (i) provide financial and technical support to water, sewage, and solid waste sectors including increasing access to potable water by both urban and rural areas and raising sanitation coverage by 10% in urban areas; (ii) reconstruct and establish new sanitation plants in urban and rural areas to ensure full coverage of all regions of Iraq and reduce inequality between urban and rural areas; (iii) improve water quality and upgrade the water distribution networks; (iv) provide adequate crude water resources for all regions of Iraq; and (v) achieve the required environmental standards for processed water.