Project profile — Fiscal Decentralisation and Resiliency-Building for Iraq

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved processes by the federal government, KRG and governorates to implement stable and predictable fiscal arrangements to support their constitutional responsibilities; and (2) improved management by the federal government and KRG in stabilizing government processes in reaction to crisis situations.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (April 2020) include: (1) a baseline assessment of the state of fiscal federalism and decentralization in Iraq was completed; (2) training and capacity building was provided to senior Iraqi officials on how to more effectively operate in a federal state. More than 20 seminars and 800 meetings and workshops were facilitated on federalism and decentralization; (3) contribution was provided to the creation of the Centre of Excellence at Karbala University to provide training on federalism and decentralization; (4) a bill on the Public Financial Management Law was developed and drafted that modernizes the framework for public financial management in Iraq, which was passed by parliament in May 2019 and came into effect in 2020; (5) a Decentralization Framework with intergovernmental structures and processes was established to identify and address barriers to effective decentralization, which was piloted in the provinces of Maysan and Diwaniyah; (6) an assessment of the gender units within 2 ministries (Ministries of Education and Youth and Sports) and 4 provinces (Maysan, Diwaniyah, Kirkuk and Anbar) was completed; (7) Iraqi women were supported to develop leadership, advocacy and decision-making skills and assistance to the Government of Iraq, with the inclusion of gender considerations in its public policies, decisions and actions; and (8) a major international conference on decentralization was organized in Baghdad in January 2018.