The long-delayed projects will focus on small infrastructure jobs to help restore water and electrical service in towns populated by religious minorities that were targeted by the Islamic State, which has lost most of the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria.
"They're individual projects that create the context for which people, if they so choose, can return to those communities, or not leave those communities," he said.
The Trump administration is steering humanitarian aid funding in Iraq to Christian and other religious minorities, directing to them more than a third of the money allocated for "stabilization" projects aimed at rebuilding areas liberated from the Islamic State. Previously, the money went through the U.N. Development Program.
The switch was heavily promoted by Vice President Pence, who has strong ties to Christian advocacy groups that argued that the UNDP was not doing enough to aid religious minorities on the verge of extinction from a region they have been rooted in for two millennia.
Last October, in a speech at a summit for the organization In Defense of Christians, Pence vowed that the administration would make a strategic shift away from funding "ineffective" U.N. programs and start sending aid directly to persecuted communities through USAID and faith-based partners.
Since then, the United States has redeployed $118 million in humanitarian and stabilization funds. Pence's dissatisfaction with what he considered the slow pace at which USAID was moving precipitated a shake-up in the agency's Iraq office, and a trip to Iraq by Green and other senior officials from the State Department and White House.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced an additional $17 million for cleaning land mines in the Nineveh region of Iraq, which he pointedly noted would go to areas "with large populations of religious minorities who were subject to ISIS genocide," using a common acronym for the Islamic State.
The U.S. aid to religious minorities in Iraq was one of the centerpieces of a three-day conference held at the State Department this week to promote religious freedom. It attracted delegations from more than 80 countries, though many were led by ambassadors and other officials from embassies located in Washington. Pompeo said he will hold the event again next year.
Pence, who also addressed the crowd, said the administration will expand its efforts to help threatened religious communities.
He announced the establishment of a Genocide and Recovery Response Program to direct money to individuals and households that are trying to reestablish themselves after suffering atrocities. Although details are still being worked out, it has an initial planned budget of $10 million. It will first focus on Iraq but eventually expand to other countries.
According to a USAID official, the agency will allow genocide survivors to get medical care, replace damaged property and reestablish livelihoods through small businesses and farms.
No laws bar U.S. government agencies from funding religious groups.
Green said the aid for Iraq will not be used to rebuild churches or as donations to any sect, though faith-based organizations are among the groups that will be partners in the projects it funds.
Frank Wolf, a former Republican congressman from Virginia, applauded the administration's efforts to provide aid to smaller communities as opposed to reconstruction in more populated areas that are the focus of UNDP projects.
Many Iraqis say that although the UNDP has met their survival needs, they need help moving on.
Some Yazidis fear they will be shortchanged from an administration that counts Christians among its staunchest supporters.
Abid Shamden, an Iraqi Yazidi who attended the religious conference at the State Department, said Yazidi communities are still difficult to reach because of land mines in the area. With both Kurdish and Iraqi government checkpoints, a two-hour trip to Mosul can take seven or eight hours, he said.
"If the United States spends money for minorities, it will be easier to spend it in Christian areas," said Shamden, who visited Sinjar less than two weeks ago.
"All we ask is to rebuild our towns," he added.
Green, who did not travel to Sinjar for security reasons but met with Yazidis in Christian areas, said he urged Kurdish and Iraqi leaders to ease up on the checkpoints along the roads from Sinjar. And he promised they will get a share of reconstruction aid that will allow returning Yazidis to earn a livelihood and educate their children.