81323050-Transforming agribusinesses to improve the employment situation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Despite Iraq's macroeconomic position as an upper-middle-income country, the economic situation in Iraq is tense and employment opportunities are scarce. IDPs, refugees from neighbouring countries, as well as host communities of displaced persons in Iraq face a high level or high risk of poverty stemming from the lack of prospects for income-generating employment. These groups often have insufficient qualifications for existing jobs or the qualifications are not recognised.

Lack of access to finance for entrepreneurial activities and to employment-related networks further hampers employment growth. Structural business development support for start-ups and scale-ups is rare. Existential constraints often push vulnerable labour market participants into short-term, informal jobs with no prospects for long-term decent employment.

Many IDP returnee and refugee families as well as vulnerable households in general rely on small-scale farming and livestock. Most of these enterprises are small, informal, and low in productivity due to limited access to finance and structured support as well as limited equipment and water access, weak business and marketing capacity and poor market linkages. Environmental pressures reduce agricultural productivity further and make climate-smart practices and improved resource management critical.

Women and people with disabilities are severely disadvantaged. Despite very low participation in the labour market, 30% of women of working age are unemployed (compared with 13% of men) and there are far fewer female than male entrepreneurs. Women account for just 11% of the working population and have less access to land and other assets as well as financial services.

People with disabilities are confronted with major barriers when trying to enter the labour market, hence, many are unemployed. Women with disabilities face an almost complete exclusion from the labour market, resulting from a combination of social stigma, physically inaccessible environments, prejudice from employers, the absence of tailored trainings, a lack of understanding by government officials and further. Against this backdrop, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) commissioned the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to implement the project "Employment Prospects for Socioeconomic Integration of Refugees, IDPs and Host Communities in Iraq" (EPSI).

In collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) the project aims to promote inclusive employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in the country (including Federal Iraq). Its overall objective reads as follows: "The employment situation of refugees, IDPs and people from host communities has improved." The project focusses on four outputs:

1. Policy Advocacy: Raising awareness among state actors through evidence-based findings to improve the integration of refugees, IDPs and marginalised groups in host communities into labour market policy.
2. Skills for Employment: Developing market-relevant skills to enhance the employability of the target groups through vocational training and career development centres by upgrading or developing curricula and upskilling teachers.
3. Fit for Business: Building and developing entrepreneurial and business skills as well as providing financial support to Micro, Small, and MSMEs.
4. Short-term Employment Opportunities: Providing temporary employment opportunities, such as Cash for Work, for quick income generation to address the immediate financial needs of the target groups.

GIZ intends to contract a service provider to contribute to fulfil output 3 in KRI. The objective of output 3 is to enhance technical and financial capacities of refugees, IDPs and vulnerable people in host communities to set up, expand or reactivate MSMEs by i.a. cooperating with local Business Development Service providers.