- All major cities now have city councils.
- For the first time in 30 years, an independent judiciary is functioning, and nearly all of Iraq’s 400 courts are open.
- Baghdad now has 88 neighborhood advisory councils.
- The citizens of Iraq stay informed about developments in the country through more than 200 independent newspapers.
- 35 percent of households now receive news via satellite TV dishes, which were illegal under Saddam’s regime.
- Health care spending has increased to 26 times what Saddam spent.
- With the help of $6.4 million in CERP funds, all 240 hospitals, and 95 percent of Iraq’s 1,200 clinics have reopened, and the neglected health care facilities are undergoing rehabilitation and reconstruction.
- 856 health projects have been funded.
- Over 22 million vaccinations have been administered.
- Pharmaceutical distribution has increased from 700 tons in May to a total of 12,000 tons through today.
- 5.9 million students are registered and attending school, which exceeds prewar numbers.
- During the prior regime, only one in six students had access to textbooks, most of which were outdated and filled with Ba’athist and pro-Saddam messages. Today, 51 million textbooks, free of propaganda, are printed and distributed.
- All 22 universities and 43 technical institutes are open.
- Ninety- seven thousand freshman applications have been received by the Ministry of Education, compared to 63,000 last year.
- Over 230,000 Iraqis now provide security for their fellow citizens, and Iraqi security forces now account for more than half of all forces in Iraq.
- Over 68,000 policemen have been hired. An additional number are currently in training.
- The new Iraqi Civil Defense Corps has over 17,000 personnel operating and another 3,800 in training.
- Fifty-one thousand five hundred Iraqis are in the border police force.
- Ninety- seven thousand are in the Facility Protection Service, protecting vital infrastructure from sabotage and terrorist attacks.
- Before the war, nearly three-quarters of Iraq’s 27,000 kilometers of vital irrigation canals were weed-choked by years of neglect. Today over 18,500 kilometers of irrigation canals have been cleared, bringing water to tens of thousands of farmers, creating jobs and revitalizing the Iraqi economy.
- In Baghdad, commanders have used CERP funds to make emergency repairs to a sewer and water system that had collapsed due to neglect and looting.
- Construction has begun on over 1,000 new houses.
- As anyone who has driven in Baghdad knows, the number of privately owned vehicles has doubled from 500,000 in April to over 1 million today
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