The Iraq Skills Development by the European Union for a Holistic Agriculture Recovery through Advanced Knowledge”

(ISDEHARAK) Project

This project is under the financing agreement “Support to Governance and Job creation in agriculture and agribusiness in Iraq” of 2020 with Special Measures for Iraq Part 1 –MIDEAST/2020/042-211.

The project started on 20^th May 2022 (including inception phase of 3 months) with a lifespan of three years ending 19 May 2025. The project aims at improving youth employment in the agri-food sector of Iraq by providing the skills required by the labour market delivered by TVET institutions (formal and informal) through a Competence-Based-Training (CBT) approach.

The ISDEHARAK project deals with formal and non-formal education as delivered by four different Ministries, namely The Ministry of Education (MoE), The Ministry of High Education and Social Research (MoHESR), The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA).

The project aims at putting in place a more functional and modern TVET system, not only more aligned to labour market requirements but also becoming more inclusive providing to the existing workforce and unemployed the life skills required to make the sector more productive, efficient, competitive, added-value, diversified and responsive to the new challenges of climate change. Specifically, the project will address the development of the TVET sector through four mutually reinforcing project-specific objectives:

Specific Objective 1: Development of competency-based training models in agriculture and Agri-value chains.

Specific Objective 2: “Supporting the capacity of the current workforce in the agriculture and Agri-value chains” by increasing the number of people contributing skilled labour to income-generating activities, including women and unemployed youth who depend on the proceeds of the farm or agri-businesses.

Specific Objective 3: Establishing a coordination mechanism for the TVET sector governance co-led by the private sector to enhance entrepreneurship and employability in the Agri-value chain sector. The TVET law and related governance mechanisms have been developed and are pending final approval and operationalisation.

Specific Objective 4: “Creation of awareness for opportunities for Iraqi youth of TVET in agriculture and Agri-value chains, and for green climate-smart practices in the agriculture and Agri-value chain sector” supports the changes that the ISDEHARAK project brings into the education System and Labour Market in Iraq.

EU Contribution                      EUR 9.169 million

Start-End                                 May 2022- May 2025

Location                                  Federal Iraq and KRI

Targeted Population               Young Iraqi people, Job seekers with focus on youth, women, Persons with Disabilities (PwD), and adult learners.

Agriculture technical and vocational institutions and colleges (MoHESR),

Agriculture vocational schools (MoE), Agricultural Extension and Training directorates (MoAgriculture),

Vocational training centres (MoLSA),

Local authorities at governorate and district level, Private sector entities from farms and businesses in the agri-value-chains, Civil Society and NGOs

Implementing Partners           CoWATER International

Funding Instrument                Development and Cooperation Instrument