Project profile — Support to Iraq Reform, Reconstruction and Recovery Fund

The project aims to address the underlying drivers of instability in Iraq and support the Government of Iraq (GoI) in meeting the needs of the Iraqi people. This project supports the Iraq Reform, Reconstruction and Recovery Fund (I3RF), a five-year (2019-2023) World Bank-managed multi-donor trust fund launched in November 2018. The I3RF works to provide a platform for donor coordinated financing, dialogue and engagement with the GOI with a focus on providing technical assistance, pilot programs and advisory support to the GOI’s public investments in socio-economic recovery, reconstruction, national economic and financial governance reform efforts and private-sector-led economic growth. Project activities include: (1) technical assistance and support for innovative pilot programs to increase access to employment opportunities for youth, women, internally displaced persons and the poor; (2) technical assistance and advisory support to the GOI on economic and governance reforms; and (3) multi-stakeholder planning and coordination of reconstruction and development efforts.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) enhanced preparation and implementation of socio-economic recovery and reconstruction programs through analytical support, pilot programs and targeted co-investments with World Bank financed lending operations that will directly benefit more than 50,000 beneficiaries among vulnerable and conflict-affected populations including youth, women and internally displaced persons; (2) enhanced design and implementation of GOI reforms to strengthen economic diversification and private-sector-led growth through capacity building, technical assistance and knowledge/analytical work; (3) enhanced institutional mechanisms and capacities for multi-stakeholder dialogue, coordination, and monitoring of reform and reconstruction priorities; and (4) strengthened social, gender and peacebuilding dimensions of recovery and reconstruction programs.

Results achieved as of January 2025 include: (1) produced 105 analytical pieces and organized 198 knowledge-sharing and learning activities to share this information with government, private sector, and other stakeholders to inform policy dialogue around reform in Iraq; (2) supported socioeconomic recovery by improving the targeting of cash transfer programming to include the most vulnerable and developing a national education strategy, a health sector master plan, and a roadmap to implement the health insurance law; (3) improved the government of Iraq’s ability to address climate change and pollution impacts by identifying 81 environmental hotspots, impacting about 55,000 people. It also equipped the government with the necessary skills to identify, monitor and implement remediation solutions; (4) improved the enabling environment for businesses by streamlining registration processes and launching an online portal. This reduced the number of steps to register a business from 8 to 4 and improved the amount of time this takes from 26 days to 14; and (5) improved the government of Iraq’s ability to gather key statistical data to better inform recovery and reconstruction priorities. It does so by providing targeted technical assistance to the Central Statistics Office and Kurdistan Regional Statistics Office and equipping them with the skills and tools needed to implement the Iraq Socioeconomic Household Survey III.