Iraq : youth economic empowerment & civic engagement as a pillar of stabilization

In 2020, three years after the defeat of Daesh in Iraq, the country was still painfully recovering from the aftermath of its occupation, in particular in Mosul City and in the Nineveh governorate. Although major efforts are underway to rebuild the country and jumpstart local economies, significant barriers to stabilisation endure, including security concerns, fear and trauma, lack of social cohesion and lack of livelihoods opportunities, in particular for the youth.

In this context, the Yanhad (“recover” in Arabic) project was launched to foster the involvement of young people in the stabilisation process so that they become key actors of change, social cohesion and socio-economic recovery. This project is funded by the European Union and the French Government, and implemented by Expertise France, the French national agency for technical cooperation.

As the project comes to an end, and at the occasion of a 3-day Job Fair organized in Mosul, let’s see how this technical cooperation project achieved its goals.

Mobilizing the young Iraqis through professional insertion and civic engagement

Through the Yanhad project, Expertise France has worked hand in hand with universities, civil society actors, business incubators to enhance the skills of youth.

Iraq is a young country as out of a total population of 40 million in Iraq, 27 million are under 30, but unfortunately, too few students are able to complete a higher education degree among the almost 1 million young people entering the job market every year.  It’s a paradox therefore that, despite the shortage of qualified resources, so many young graduates struggle to find their way in the professional life.

The World Bank says that 80% of recent graduates are jobless and are very unlikely to find a job in the public sector. The priority should shift from increasing public employment to assisting in the emergence of a modern private sector, offering decent work conditions, social protection systems and attractive professional perspectives. This is the sense of the reforms proposed by the Kadhimi government in the 2020 White Paper for Economic Reform.

This is also the core purpose of the Yanhad program, supported by the European Union and France:  mobilizing the young Iraqis to imagine the future of their city, the future of their country and build their own future there through professional insertion and civic engagement.

Almost five years after the city’s liberation from this terrorist group, we can now see the immense efforts made by the people of Mosul and Ninewa to build back, and shine a brighter future for the town. Expertise France feels extremely privileged to have contributed to this effort, hand in hand with our Iraqi partners.  Our objective is to support Mosulis restoring the historical prestige of the city, while helping its youth to face the challenges of the XXIst century. Jérémie Pellet, CEO Expertise France

On the three components of the Yanhad project, some tangible results have been made :

• Capacity of the career development centres of both Universities of Ninewa and Mosul has been strengthened ;
• 53 students from the University of Mosul and Ninewa have been trained and received funding to deliver projects ;
• About 1,300 youth have been sensitized to the concept of entrepreneurship ;
• 330 start-ups have received trainings and mentorship programmes ;
• 11 Civil Society Organizations have been funded to implement activities in the province of Ninewa to support livelihoods of youth.

On the issue of youth economic development, the things goes in the right direction and the project will bring a lasting impact on the young beneficiaries.

Expertise France is committed to support Iraq in its stabilization process

Expertise France has been present in Iraq since 2019 to support the regions freed from Daesh in their stabilization.

The Yanhad project funded by the European Union and the French ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, seeked to foster the active participation of youth in the stabilisation of Iraq, through increased civic engagement in local civil society, stronger career centers in the Universities of Mosul and Ninevah and improved access to employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Nowadays our agency is committed to support Iraq in its development process. This includes the support to the economic reform in the framework of the 2020 Government of Iraq White Paper Economic Reform, or the support to the relationship between State and Civil Society after the October 2019 protests.