1. I
CF Consulting, in its 36th
year of providing support
to important U.S. Govern-
ment programs, is honored
to serve as the State Depart-
ment’s grantee on the Future of
Iraq Project. Prior to Iraq’s lib-
eration, ICF Consulting assisted
in bringing together hundreds
of distinguished Iraqi exiles in
many different professions to
generate ideas and plans for
a free and democratic Iraq.
The exiles, representing many
ethnic, religious, and political
groups, had diverse expertise
ranging from public health to
agriculture to local govern-
ment, and they came from the
United States, Britain, Canada,
Europe, and the Middle East.
Working Groups
of Iraqis
The goal was to use the exiles’
expertise to identify ways to
transform Iraq and to empower
their compatriots. Also contrib-
uting were officials from many
U.S. Government agencies, such
as the Office of the Vice Presi-
dent, National Security Council,
Department of Defense, Agency
for International Development,
and Department of Justice. ICF
Consulting supported the 15
different working groups formed
and the more than 35 meetings
held in Washington, D.C. and
in Europe, as well as helped to
coordinate additional high-level,
ad hoc meetings.
For each meeting, ICF Con-
sulting developed briefing
books and assisted the State
Department and members of
the working groups in their
development and organization
of recommendations. As part
of our program management
support, we also provided feed-
back to strengthen the working
groups’ strategic coordination
and planning efforts, and con-
ducted a follow-up survey.
After the war, ICF Consulting
provided on-site support in
Baghdad, by coordinating and
accompanying Iraqi experts to
advise the Coalition Provisional
Authority (CPA), and conven-
ing follow-up meetings to dis-
cuss the foundations of a new
Iraqi government and society.
ICF Consulting worked with
CPA’s Office of Human Rights
and Transitional Justice, and
Iraq’s Ministry of Education
and Ministry of Municipality
and Public Works.
Through direct, close working
relationships, ICF Consulting is
pleased to have earned the trust
and confidence of the Iraqi
expatriates, many of whom
(the “alumni”) have returned
to Iraq and are in high-level
ministry, ambassadorial, and
other government positions.
We know, from their perspec-
tive, the issues, proposals, and
lessons learned in building a
civil society in Iraq, organizing
local government, address-
ing women’s rights, and other
reconstruction needs.
Public Diplomacy
Campaigns
Women’s Rights
ICF Consulting is supporting
a coalition of a dozen women
in Iraq as they undertake an
important campaign to secure
the freedoms of women in their
new country. The goal is for
the women to unite around a
jointly agreed-upon message,
strategy, and pledge “Iraq’s
Promise” and then work with
grassroots organizations, politi-
cal parties, media outlets, and
others to mobilize support to
defend their rights. The project
is on a fast track, to encourage
the Iraqi women to take the ini-
tiative and position themselves
to be able to influence the next
national assembly in connec-
tion with the pending Decem-
ber 15, 2005 elections.
ICF Consulting, together with
The Foundation for the Defense
of Democracies and Assured
Risks, is providing a broad
range of support to help make
the Iraqi women as effective as
possible in their pledge cam-
paign within a limited amount
of time. Two project offices
have been established (one in
the Green Zone and one in the
Red Zone) to provide an effi-
Future of Iraq Working Groups
Democratic Principles and Procedures
Public Health and Humanitarian Needs
Economy and Infrastructure
Education
Civil Society Capacity Building
Transitional Justice
Free media
Defense Policy and Institutions
Water, Agriculture and Environment
Public Finance
Oil and Energy
Transparency and Anti-Corruption
Local Government
Cultural Preservation
Public Outreach
Client
Bureau of Near
Eastern Affairs,
U.S. Department of State
Dates
July 2002 to December 2005
Contract Number
S-LMAQM-02-H-0066
Contract Type
Cooperative Agreement
Contract Value
$8.5 million
Contracting Officer
Anna Mary Portz
202-647-5281
PortzAM@state.gov
Technical Officer
Thomas Warrick
202-647-8125
WarrickTS@state.gov
The Future of
Iraq Project
Project Description Prepared for the White House and State Department
November 2005
“...[T]he Future of
Iraq study was...
a very good piece
of work.”
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
September 10, 2004

2. For more
information,
please
contact:
Varuny Douangmany
Project Manager
ICF Consulting
1725 Eye Street, NW, Suite 1000
202-862-2697
VDouangmany@icfconsulting.com
cient administrative infrastruc-
ture for the women to leverage,
including on-site program
managers. Communication,
transportation, security, and
other logistical/meeting services
have been made available to
the women to facilitate their
efforts, both individually and as
a group.
The Iraqi women also are
receiving assistance in develop-
ing their campaign strategy,
platform, and messages, in
an attempt to accelerate their
progress. Similarly, support is
being made available to help
write and place articles in Iraqi
print media, produce coalition
recruiting and campaign ma-
terials, develop talking points,
and prepare a pledge letter that
political parties can endorse. As
part of the effort, media train-
ing also is being offered to the
Iraqi women. At the conclusion
of the project, the ICF Con-
sulting team will evaluate the
success of the campaign against
several pre-defined goals and
indicators.
Human Rights
ICF Consulting also is sup-
porting a coalition of NGOs
and civil society groups in Iraq
to raise awareness on human
rights issues. The NGOs have
organized dozens of meetings
throughout the country in
a campaign to educate both
citizens and political leaders
on the importance of human
rights in Iraqi civil society go-
ing forward. Several thousand
Iraqis, spanning geographic,
ethnic, and religious lines, have
attended these sessions, which
have been covered by a number
of media outlets as well.
In particular, ICF Consulting
is working with Mr. Bakhtiar
Amin, the recent Minister
of Human Rights and cur-
rent Executive Director of
the International Alliance for
Justice, in performing this
project. Mr. Amin and the
other coalition partners have
found face-to-face meetings
particularly effective in gaining
traction on human rights issues
across a broad spectrum of
stakeholders. At the conclusion
of the project, we will prepare
a lessons learned document to
indicate what worked well in
public outreach, promoting
human rights, and, ultimately,
influencing behavior.
Constitution/Elections
With an understanding of the
emergence and prominence of
the new media outlets in the
Middle East in shaping Iraqi
and Arab views, ICF Consult-
ing has worked with an Iraqi
satellite television station on a
public outreach effort in Janu-
ary 2005 to encourage Iraqis to
participate in the interim elec-
tions. Similarly, ICF Consulting
supported a public diplomacy
campaign to educate Iraqis
on the constitution-making
process, in connection with the
October 2005 constitutional
referendum. Currently, our
support is focused on encourag-
ing Iraqis to participate in the
permanent elections in Decem-
ber 2005.
Through the Iraqi satellite televi-
sion station, a series of weekly
programs on the constitution/
elections was developed and tele-
vised, as well as public-service
type announcements and regular
news coverage. Also, through
the local television station, a net-
work of Iraqi university profes-
sors, who are media experts, will
help evaluate the effectiveness
of the public diplomacy cam-
paign; namely, have the weekly
programs and TV spots suc-
ceeded in raising the awareness
of Iraqis on issues related to the
constitution and elections and, in
turn, influenced their behavior to
become involved and vote.
As expected, this campaign
has had a wider audience than
in Iraq. The Arab audience
in Europe, such as in Britain,
Germany, and Holland, as well
as the Arab audience in the
Middle East, such as in Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, and the United
Arab Emirates, have followed
the constitutional and election
progress in Iraq, as demonstrat-
ed by the live call-ins and feed-
back on the television station’s
website. Arab audiences are
looking for alternatives to Al
Jazeera and other sensational-
ized stations. ICF Consulting’s
media vendor is providing an
independant, moderate voice
and presenting Iraqis, women,
and Arab reformers directly to
the Arab audience.
ICF Consulting Project Office
– Red Zone
Mansur District, Baghdad
Two (Land) Telephone Lines
Conference Room with Speaker Phone
Ten PC Workstations with
High-speed Internet Access
Copiers, Printers, Scanners, and Office Supplies
Videoconferencing Equipment
Office Staff (Manager and Events Planner)
24/7 Security, Transportation, Logistics
Overnight Accommodations
Backup Generator