ECONOMIC GROWTH
USAID works with Iraqi institutions
to establish an environment for sustainable economic growth. Assistance
empowers policy makers to formulate and execute decisions based on economic
data, and to implement modern best practices in economic governance. USAID
projects provide a framework for private sector trade, commerce, and investment
throughout Iraq.
HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK
Over 1,600 Iraqi business leaders have benefited from training programs offered by USAID's Izdihar project since the beginning of 2005. As part of its economic growth initiatives, Izdihar conducts business skills training and public awareness seminars on a variety of economic topics for members of Iraqi business associations, training business leaders in management skills, nurturing the development of business associations, and strengthening the private sector.
"All the training events we attended were of great benefit to our members," said the vice president of one business association. "Previously, Iraq was a big jail for Iraqis, especially the industrialists. Through these training sessions, we get advanced and scientific information."
"I am 60 years old, but I have gained precious information equal to my whole life through these trainings," remarked one participant who participated in recent training sessions on business planning, the World Trade Organization (WTO), tariffs and customs, intellectual property, and trade in services.
Another association member added, "The information totally enriched our knowledge and allowed us to become acquainted with the commercial world, the rights of industrialists, and intellectual property rights."
"The benefits achieved from these trainings are great," the head of a Baghdad-based business association stated. "I hope they will be continued and generalized to all the business segments."
Nearly 30 Iraqi businesspeople, lawyers, and government officials receive training in intellectual property rights. Led by Izdihar, the training was designed to increase awareness about intellectual property rules, part of the WTO multilateral trading system. Intellectual property rights include copyrights, trademarks, geographical indications, industrial designs, patents, integrated circuits layout designs, and trade secrets. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his creation for a certain period of years.
Iraq currently has protection for only three types of these rights - copyrights, trademarks, and patents. In order to join the WTO, Iraq will need to protect all intellectual property rights.
AGRICULTURE
USAID's goals are to work in conjunction with Iraqi ministries, the private sector, and higher education institutions to revitalize agricultural production, stimulate income and employment generation, nurture rural development initiatives, and rehabilitate the natural resource base.
HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK
Grant approval introduces modern beekeeping technology to 51 people in the Ninawa governorate. The project will include 20 existing beekeepers as well as 31 widows and handicapped people. Participants will receive extensive training and the equipment necessary to set up and maintain an apiary to produce honey. Beekeeping and honey production has historically been an important economic activity in Ninawa, but the sector has suffered in recent years from violence, industrial fires, and disease.
Technical teams consisting of bee experts from the extension center and a local non-governmental organization (NGO) will conduct a seven-day training for the project participants covering the basics of maintaining an apiary and use of supplied equipment. The project will provide an immediate source of income from the sale of honey for the 51 project participants and their families. The new technologies in beekeeping will also be used as a model for other farmers or beekeepers living in the area.
A nine-week training course for 17 extension staff from the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) begins. The program will prepare these staff members to train additional MoA field staff in a new extension service focusing on participatory methods to engage farmers and respond to their needs. Until now, MoA extension activities have largely relied on demonstrations, formal training courses, and media outreach. The course focuses on new communications skills for participatory training in improved crop cultivation. When the 17 trainees have completed the nine-week course, they will be ready to train other extension field staff. They will lead a new round of training courses for 90 field staff in January 2006.
USAID works with the State Board for Agricultural Lands to create and implement an updated and secure digital system of land registration. Such a system is critical to the success of an emerging private agriculture sector in Iraq, ensuring that land ownership and use is clearly defined for continued sustainability and growth in agricultural production. Although a legal framework for the distribution of state-owned agricultural land to farmers has been established, the MoA lacks the management tools to ensure an efficient process. Additionally, many State Board records were damaged in 2003.
USAID's Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program has given the State Board the equipment necessary to create a new land and property registration system, including computer work stations, digital mapping equipment, satellite imagery, and software. ARDI is also working with the State Board to prepare a plan for a national strategy for information gathering and processing.
COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM
The Community Action Program (CAP) works in rural and urban communities to promote democracy and prevent and mitigate conflict. Working directly through partner NGOs and in consultation with local government representatives, USAID is creating representative participatory community groups to identify critical priorities and implement programs to address those needs.
HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK
USAID partners complete construction of a new school in Qadisiyah governorate. The area, previously underserved by dilapidated buildings, has suffered from poor primary school enrollment. The new building should help improve local enrollment and provide students with both a place for learning and socialization. Additionally, the program has helped to establish a Parent-Teach Association (PTA) at the new school to encourage community interest in primary education and to provide a means for resolving any future problems. The project should directly benefit 122 individuals, including 82 female teachers and pupils.
CAP is rehabilitating a 10km road in the Wassit governorate in coordination with a local municipality. The road is both a vital conduit for moving local produce and the primary connection between a major city and the surrounding villages and farms. CAP has assisted in the planning, procurement, and management of the rehabilitation project, while assisting the local municipality to take on a larger management and maintenance role in the future. The rehabilitated road will directly benefit 4,400 individuals.
Work continuing on street mural project in the Qadisiyah governorate. The project, working with local painters to decorate urban areas with positive images of Iraq, hopes to improve the look of public places. Increasing numbers of amateur and professional artists have become involved in the project, and leaders hope to work with a total of 120 artists and talented students.
Construction continues on secondary school for girls in the Maysan governorate. The current school, the only local institution for women, consists of 12 crowded rooms and one working toilet. The construction is adding five expanded classrooms and renovating the latrines. Additionally, the school is being supplied with 10 computer systems, desks, and chairs. Upon completion, the project will benefit over 450 female students, teachers, and staff. This project is part of CAP's efforts to improve educational infrastructure and increase student enrollment throughout the country.
Two universities in central Iraq begin planning to establish new Centers for Excellence (CFE) on campus. The CFEs will offer top-quality training to selected university students and staff, as well as facilitate a connectivity program linking Iraqi students with their peers in the United States. Discussions are also underway to secure internet service, as well as highly qualified trainers, for each CFE to establish computer skills programs for students. The connectivity program will be designed to enhance cross-cultural understanding and break down barriers between the two cultures.
TRANSITION INITIATIVES
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) supports the transition to a participatory, stable, and democratic country. OTI provides quick-dispensing, high-impact grants meeting critical needs-providing short-term employment, restoring basic government and community services, increasing access to information and communication, and encouraging protection of human rights.
HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK
Telephone network in the industrial section of a central Iraqi city repaired with the help of an Iraq Transition Initiative (ITI) grant. Despite the dilapidated and unreliable condition of the city's telephone network, it remained the community's primary system of communication. The local council prioritized improvements in essential infrastructure including the out-dated telephone network. The ITI grant provided cables and telephone poles as well as other necessary equipment and services. As a result of the repairs, more than 15,000 area residents can now communicate dependably with one another and the outside world.
Northern Iraqi children in some of the country's most under-equipped schools receive basic school supplies through a series of ITI grants. Students from 15 primary, intermediate, and secondary schools were given notebooks, pencils, pens, erasers, and other items. The grants directly benefit students, help ease the financial burden on local parents and schools, and help instill a sense of pride and respect for scholarly ambitions among the children. Parents and the broader community will also benefit indirectly from the improvements in their children's education.
A northern Iraqi NGO works to overcome ethnic tensions through public education campaigns that promote gender equality and women's rights. Supported with materials and supplies through an ITI grant, the NGO worked to help the region overcome its difficult past and ethnic tensions exacerbated by the former regime. The organization facilitated a three-week course for 30 teachers on topics related to women's rights. Following training, teachers designed and produced posters which were distributed throughout a town and to 10 surrounding villages, expanding the training's lessons to the public in a region of approximately 250,000 people.
A local community hall rehabilitated, and over 50 local people find employment through ITI grant. Local authorities identified the construction as a critical project to help promote local economic development and employment of local residents. The hall, originally the primary recreation facility in the area, was looted and burned in 2003. Local investors were able to repair nearly 20 percent of the building, but lack of security and resources prevented the local government from finishing the rehabilitation.
The community hall now provides steady employment for 50 people and is again accessible for social events and community gatherings. With the facility rehabilitated, local authorities are planning further site renovations, including repairing games and rides, creating a children's library, and renovating the swimming pool. Restorations such as these help recreate a sense of normalcy among the recently traumatized community.
(pdf* format - 248 KB)