6 | PA PE R L E S S PE O PL E O F P O S T- C O N F L I C T I R A Q healthcare, the state justice system and social welfare. Lacking the proper papers also severely restricts their ability to recover and rebuild their lives following the war – it limits access to formal employment, government schemes for compensation for damaged housing, and opportunities to own or rent property. Adding to this, key human rights are also denied to people without papers, such as freedom of movement, and the risk of arbitrary detention and arrest is significantly increased. In short, the prospects for paperless people in post-conflict Iraq are disheartening. They risk becoming a new group of marginalised Iraqi citizens, isolated from the rest of society. The denial of their rights and resulting exclusion undermines opportunities for social cohesion and stability in Iraq. Analysts and experts who have followed Iraq over the past years have recently highlighted how many of the structural issues that led to the exclusion and marginalisation of certain segments of Iraq’s citizenry and may have contributed to the rise of IS, remain unaddressed today.iv Those not able to obtain civil documents are effectively denied access to a notable portion of Iraqi recovery and reconstruction efforts. The Iraqi government and the international community continue to invest in the restoration of public services and institutions, and some aspects of reconstruction have begun. Reconstruction efforts will all be of little benefit however, to people who remain paperless. Efforts must be made to ensure those most severely affected by the conflict have the civil documents required to benefit from this investment. Without this, rhetoric on Iraq’s inclusive road to recovery and reconstruction will be naught in reality. RECONSTRUCTION AMBITIONS A few months after the Iraqi government declared ‘victory’ over IS, the Government of Kuwait hosted an international reconstruction conference, aimed at mobilising international assistance and investment to support Iraqi reconstruction efforts. Of the USD 88 billion that the Iraqi government and its international partners estimated that was needed for recovery and reconstruction, over USD 30 billion was pledged.v While not all of the pledged funds have materialised, since the conference, limited funds have been provided to restore public services, rebuild Iraqi institutions and reconstruct Iraqi cities destroyed by IS and the internationallybacked military campaign to defeat them. For example, to date, the European Union (EU) has allocated approximately 129 million Euros of its Kuwait conference pledge.vi The United Kingdom (UK) recently announced its contribution to a new fund that would support job creation and the reconstruction of infrastructure.vii Saudi Arabia has made efforts to re-establish and strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with Iraq, and recently pledged a USD1 billion loan.viii For its part, the World Bank, through its partnership with the government on the Iraq Social Protection Strategic Roadmap, has focused on social safety net programmes, livelihood creation and cash assistance in liberated areas as well as ‘support for vulnerable and marginalised groups, helping to address some of the root causes of violence.” ix Iraq also remains one of the world’s biggest recipients of Overseas Development Aid (ODA) provided from a wide range of countries.x International financial institutions have also contributed to Iraqi reconstruction effort and the Iraqi government has also made some attempts at attracting international investment to the country, albeit with limited success.