The World Bank has approved a $400-million financial assistance package to support the recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation of priority infrastructure to restore delivery of public services in areas of Iraq newly liberated from Daesh.

The package represents additional financing to the Iraq Emergency Operation for Development Project;  $350 million was approved back in July 2015 and work is already under way in seven cities in Diyala and Salah Ad-Din governorates, said the World Bank in its statement.

The additional financing will allow the geographic scale up of existing project activities to additional cities liberated from Daesh, it added.

"The international community has expressed its commitment to support the urgent need for the government-led reconstruction of Mosul and other recently liberated cities," remarked Saroj Kumar Jha, the regional director for World Bank Middle East Department.

"We are committed to working with Iraqi authorities to ensure that this much-needed reconstruction takes place in a sustainable, inclusive and equitable manner to foster long term development and create opportunities for everyone," he added.

The current project activities span over five primary sectors: water and sanitation, electricity, health, transport and municipal services.

The additional financing, said Jha, will continue to support these sectors, as well as address pressing education, agriculture/irrigation and urban service delivery needs of communities in liberated areas.

It will also support the restoration and preservation of key cultural heritage assets especially in the Old City of Mosul, he stated.

"The additional financing will also support the Government of Iraq in attracting private sector participation in reconstruction efforts. To this effect, studies will be carried out to assess the feasibility of public private partnerships in the reconstruction, operation and maintenance of Mosul airport, which was severely damaged during the liberation of Mosul," noted Jha.

Similar efforts will also extend to restoring public transport terminals that serve intercity transport, and reconstruction of key segments of the railway network, he added.-TradeArabia News Service