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Donors talk big $ on Iraq reconstruction, but Mosul residents go it alone

Happy cries of children on reopened fairground rides in east Mosul echo out across the placid expanse of the Tigris River while Muhunnad, 27, stands on top of the ruins of his former home in west Mosul's Old City. Last week at a Baghdad press conference, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi talked about Iraq’s “readiness for […]

Tom Westcott writes for IRIN:

Happy cries of children on reopened fairground rides in east Mosul echo out across the placid expanse of the Tigris River while Muhunnad, 27, stands on top of the ruins of his former home in west Mosul's Old City.

Last week at a Baghdad press conference, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi talked about Iraq’s “readiness for huge investment” following the defeat of IS. And this week’s Kuwait International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq is expected help lay the foundations for large-scale rebuilding – Iraq says it needs $88 billion to recover from the last three years of war.

But as donors, politicians, and investors meet to discuss Iraq’s future and talk big money, tangible help is yet to reach many residents, especially in places like Mosul’s Old City where the needs are immediate and residents like Muhunnad have been left doubting government promises.