U.S. says hopes to raise in excess of $2 billion in aid for Iraq
The United States expects to raise more than $2 billion this week for war-torn Iraq during a pledging conference in Washington, a senior State Department official said on Monday. "We're hoping to raise in excess of $2 billion in what has been a roughly six-and-a-half-week pledging effort," the official told reporters ahead of the main […]The United States expects to raise more than $2 billion this week for war-torn Iraq during a pledging conference in Washington, a senior State Department official said on Monday.
"We're hoping to raise in excess of $2 billion in what has been a roughly six-and-a-half-week pledging effort," the official told reporters ahead of the main pledge session for donor countries on Wednesday.
The Iraq donor meeting of 24 countries is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan, Kuwait and the Netherlands.
A broader meeting on a U.S.-led campaign to fight Islamic State militants will be held on Thursday.
The conference is seeking to raise fresh funds to help Iraqi communities get back on their feet once their towns have been recaptured from Islamic State, as well as assist with the clearing of unexploded munitions preventing people from returning home, the official said.
The funds will mainly help deal with Iraq's humanitarian crisis, where more than 3.3 million people have been displaced by conflict, the official added.
