Project profile — Mashreq Gender Facility - Iraq

• Iraq (100.00%)

• Government And Civil Society, General: Women's rights organisations and movements, and government institutions (15170) (40.00%)
• Employment policy and administrative management:
Employment policy and administrative management (16020) (20.00%)
Statistical capacity building (16062) (20.00%)
• Business And Other Services: Business Development Services (25030) (20.00%)

• Disability (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Gender equality (principal objective)
• Nutrition (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (not targeted)

The project aims to create a funding facility dedicated to empowering women and girls to participate in the Iraq economy, contributing to inclusive economic growth in the Mashreq region. The Facility is doing this by providing technical support and funding for strategic regional and country-level initiatives based on Action Plans developed by the respective governments, in collaboration with the private sectors and civil society, and supported by the international community. The project is identifying and addressing gender constraints to women’s full participation in society and improving women’s access to economic opportunities. This is one of three parts of the Mashreq Gender Facility project in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, which has a total budget of $10 million.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) gender constraints to women’s full participation in society in Iraq are identified and addressed; and (2) women’s access to economic opportunities in the Mashreq are improved through the implementation of country-level action plans.

Results achieved as of June 2022 include: (1) the Mashreq Gender Facility steering committee endorsed Iraq’s women’s economic empowerment work plan officially launched in September 2021; (2) produced a report on Iraq gender-responsive public procurement; (3) completed a legal review of women’s Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and land ownership; (4) issued a new Iraq Central Bank Circular, which prohibits gender-based discrimination in access to financial services; (5) held a series of webinars on Family-Friendly Policies and Flex Work, Anti-Sexual Harassment and Safe Workplaces, and Women in Non-Conventional Jobs, which reached 60 participants from 33 unique companies; (6) two private sector firms received International Finance Corporation advisory services on women’s employment; (7) published three case studies on workplace policies in Iraq to attract, retain, and promote women in the private sector; and (8) trained seven business incubators and accelerators, and 32 women entrepreneurs on gender lens and investment readiness. In addition, 61 women entrepreneurs participated in a seminar on digital marketing.

• Proactive disclosure
• Related activities:
• Mashreq Gender Facility - Jordan
• Mashreq Gender Facility - Lebanon
• Mashreq Gender Facility: Advancing the Child Care Agenda in Iraq
• Mashreq Gender Facility: Advancing the Child Care Agenda in Jordan
• Mashreq Gender Facility: Advancing the Child Care Agenda in Lebanon