EU announces €75m Support for Iraq

Posted on 21 January 2014.


EU announces €75m Support for Iraq

That is why, compared to the previous financial period (2008-2013), bilateral cooperation with Iraq has decreased. According to the latest World Bank classification, Iraq is an “upper-middle-income” country with a GNI/capita amounting to $5 870 (2012) (equivalent to €4 310). The main difficulties faced by Iraq are not caused by lack of resources, but rather political instability, weak capacities and inadequate governance. The EU support should, therefore, serve as a catalyst for transfer of expertise and know-how.

The main areas of cooperation are coherent with the Iraqi National Development Plan 2013-2017. The EU will support the Iraqi Government reforms on Rule of Law and Human Rights, Capacity Building in primary and secondary education and Sustainable Energy for all.

Regional and thematic cooperation will cover complementary areas (e.g democracy and human rights, civil society organizations and local authorities).

Examples of EU-funded projects in Iraq

The EU supports two education projects in Iraq with the objective of reducing disparity in access and quality of education. An improvement in teaching methodologies, schools management and community involvement with the training of a significant number of staff and civil society partners has been recorded so far. Child-friendly standards are met in 1,200 schools and 600,000 children now benefit from a child- friendly learning environment, teaching and learning methods.

There is a very dynamic and diverse civil society in Iraq that has significantly grown in the past few years. An EU-funded programme helps to improve the working relations between public authorities and civil society. Awareness sessions were held involving 1,010 participants from Iraqi civil society and public authorities.

(Source: EU)