US pledges $55 million to help Christians rebuild their homes in Iraq

The U.S. government has pledged to donate $55 million to the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) to help Christians and other religious minorities rebuild their homes following the defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq.

In October, Vice President Mike Pence announced that will no longer rely on the U.N. to provide aid to Christians in Iraq and vowed to work instead with faith-based groups and private organizations to help persecuted minorities.

According to The Christian Post, President Donald Trump's administration recently announced that it has renegotiated a deal with the U.N. to ensure that vulnerable Christians, Yazidis and other minorities will receive the U.N. assistance that they were previously denied.

Iraqi Christian leaders and human rights advocates have lamented that thousands of persecuted minorities have not been receiving their fair share of U.N. assistance for rebuilding their communities.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) stated in a press release that it has ensured that $55 million out of $75 million pledged to the UNDP Funding Facility for Stabilization in Iraq "will address the needs of vulnerable religious and ethnic minority communities" in the Nineveh Province."

"The modified agreement ensures that the U.S. contribution will help the populations of liberated areas in Ninewa Province resume normal lives by restoring services such as water, electricity, sewage, health, and education," the release stated.

USAID officials said that another $75 million has been pledged but it will be dependent on the UNDP improving its "accountability and transparency record."

The Trump administration also announced that it is accepting proposals from private organizations on the ground in Iraq to receive direct aid from the U.S. government to help religious minorities rebuild their ancestral homelands.

Human rights expert Nina Shea, who previously served as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), had voiced her skepticism about the renegotiated deal between the Trump administration and the U.N.

"I have no confidence in the UNDP," Shea said in an email to The Christian Post on Friday. "As USAID is now willing to admit, UNDP has been grossly mismanaged, is not transparent, and has deliberately marginalized the genocide that targeted Christian and Yazidi minorities for over the past two years," she continued.

Shea further stated that the success of the agreement "will depend on the vigilance of USAID overseers." She asserted that the overseers need to monitor the funds, not just on paper, but also through field checks and regular communications with church leaders on the ground.

The new agreement between the U.S. government and the UNDP were negotiated largely by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and her office, according to Fox News.