Iraq

Baghdad Field Office

After USIP was requested by Congress in late 2003 to assist peacebuilding initiatives in Iraq, a Baghdad field office was established in early 2004 by Ray Salvatore Jennings, a specialist in postwar reconstruction with more than a decade of experience in conflict zones. The field office provides crucial input and guidance to USIP's program development, as well as support for the implementation of many of USIP's Iraq programs. It also assists in providing important ground truth for USIP's planning and implementation.

Located in the International Zone, the office maintains relations with the U.S. mission in Iraq, the Iraqi interim government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and civic leaders throughout Iraq. The field office also coordinates programs with other international organizations and foreign NGOs, evaluates the impact of USIP field programming, and provides regular reports to USIP's headquarters in Washington on the security situation and the needs of postconflict stabilization in Iraq. The Baghdad office staff, composed of local and expatriate professionals, travel throughout Iraq in the course of their work.