Transparency in Iraq

Iraq Revenue Watch (IRW), a program of OSI’s Central Eurasia Project, was created in the aftermath of the U.S. occupation of Iraq in 2003. Its primary mission is to monitor Iraq's oil industry to ensure that it is managed with the highest standards of transparency and that the benefits of national oil wealth flow to the people of Iraq. Iraq Revenue Watch maintains its own separate website at www.iraqrevenuewatch.org.

IRW regularly publishes reports of its monitoring activities. The following have been released to date:

Disorder, Negligence and Mismanagement: How the CPA Handled Iraq Reconstruction Funds
October 1, 2004
Audits cited in this report indicate that contractors paid inadequate attention to controlling costs, and failed to apply standard U.S. contracting practices when Iraqi funds were being disbursed.

Auditors Find Poor Practices in Management of Iraqi Oil Revenues
June 24, 2004
In this Briefing, Iraq Revenue Watch calls attention to KPMG's audit of Iraq's oil revenues. The KPMG audit's preliminary findings indicate that the CPA has provided a poor example to its successors of how to manage the revenue transparently.

Iraqi Fire Sale: CPA Giving Away Oil Revenue Billions Before Transition
June 16, 2004
An examination and critique of recent resource outlays by the Coalition Provisional Agency—budgetary decisions that should be made by the interim Iraqi government after the June 30 transfer of power.

New UN Resolution Must Turn Over U.S. Control of Iraq's Oil Revenues to Iraqis
May 11, 2004
Although Iraq may lack the capacity to assume control of its own security and military forces on June 30, it is critical that the interim government has full authority over the country's oil revenues and reconstruction process, according to this briefing from Iraq Revenue Watch.

Racing the Deadline: The Rush to Account for Iraq’s Public Funds
April 21, 2004
This report criticizes the timetable set by the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) for review of expenditures by the Coalition Provisional Authority's Development Fund for Iraq (DFI).

Opening the Books: Transparent Budgeting for Iraq
April 7, 2004
This report evaluates the level of transparency in budget reporting by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the U.S.-controlled temporary administration overseen by L. Paul Bremer.

Controlling Iraq's Skies: The Secret Sell-Off of Iraq's Air Industry
February 9, 2004
In this report, Iraq Revenue Watch examines Iraq's national air transport sector, which is presently overseen by the U.S.-controlled Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Despite CPA claims that it intends to return control of the country's air industry to the Iraqi people, a document obtained by OSI shows that a backroom deal has already sold off 75 percent of the country’s air sector to a single family.

Keeping Secrets: America and Iraq’s Public Finances
October 20, 2003
This report concludes that Iraq’s public finances have so far fallen short of international standards of accountability. IRW calls for greater transparency in the management of the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), the central repository for Iraqi oil and gas revenues.

Iraq's Reconstruction Contracts: Telecommunications
September 5, 2003
If the United States is to succeed in its goal of building a capable and transparent public administration in Iraq, it is important that Iraqis are included in the contracting process and that the terms of the tender are not designed to preference U.S. companies. This report describes some concerns with the mobile phone tender, and provides recommendations on how to improve the transparency and inclusiveness of subsequent tenders.

Iraq’s First Public Budget
August 25, 2003
This report summarizes the main points of Iraq’s 2003 budget and provides recommendations on how to make the budgetary process more transparent and participatory.