Millions of dollars in global aid for Iraq still unspent

DHAKA: Outside the crumbling elementary school, goats feed on trash strewn across the front yard. Inside, the ceiling is rotting, toilets don’t work and students scrunch hip-to-hip behind narrow desks.

Millions of dollars in international aid to build and repair Iraq’s dilapidated schools have for years gone unspent.

Now, Iraq’s government risks losing the funding as the World Bank weighs whether some of it would be better used elsewhere.

The dilemma is one that echoes across the international aid community - whether to continue financing a government with vast oil resources and a US$100 billion annual budget or divert the assistance to needier nations.

BDST: 1833 HRS, MAY 28, 2012

Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor