European Union (EU) – Cursor international

12 May, 2022

Russian: ‘No objections’ to Kurdistan exporting Gas to Europe

By Mustafa Saadoun for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Russian ambassador to Iraq: ‘No objections’ to Kurdistan Region exporting gas to Europe

Elbrus Kutrashev (pictured) spoke to the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw about plans to export natural gas from the autonomous part of northern Iraq to Europe in response to the war in Ukraine.

Click here to read the full article.

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4 November, 2021

ILO workshop on Maternity Protection in Iraq

ILO workshop with tripartite partners sheds light on maternity protection in Iraq

A one day workshop funded by the European Union focusing on maternity protection was organised by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Baghdad on Tuesday (November 2).

The workshop, which brought together representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the women’s department in the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, employers’ and workers’ representatives, is part of efforts to support progress towards Iraq’s ratification of ILO Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183).

The convention seeks to ensure that the right to work and rights at work of all employed women are adequately protected during maternity and beyond. It sets standards for health protection, maternity leave, benefits, nursing, employment protection and non-discrimination.

ILO specialists on gender, social security and International Labour Standards held sessions, which focused on the key provisions of ILO Convention No.183; gaps in the legal and regulatory framework for maternity protection; the role of social security in guaranteeing maternity protection; and the broader implications of maternity protection for gender equality and women’s participation in the labour market. The event also shed light on Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) .

With support from the European Union, the ILO, together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), are implementing a joint programme with the Government of Iraq to reform social protection in the country.

The ILO, through the joint programme, is providing technical support in the development of the draft retirement and social security law. The draft law is intended to replace the current Social Security Law No. 39 of 1971. If passed, the draft law will bring in several changes that would make the Iraqi social security legislation closer to meeting the minimum requirements of International Labour Standards.

“The ongoing efforts for the ratification of Convention No.183 and Convention No.102 will enhance and increase women’s access to decent work in Iraq,” said Maha Kattaa, ILO Country Coordinator in Iraq.

(Source: UN)

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18 August, 2021

EU contributes EUR1.3m for emergency Reproductive Health in Iraq

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) received EUR 1.3 million euros from the European Union (EU) towards supporting emergency reproductive health services in hard-to-reach and secondary displacement areas in Iraq.

Women and girls of reproductive age, including women with disabilities, in Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh and Salahuddin governorates will benefit from the reproductive health services provided by UNFPA, such as gynaecological consultations, Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC), family planning, maternal health and clinical management of rape.

“The need for health services in the country have increased due to the ongoing movement of population and the pandemic, especially for woman and girls. This contribution is crucial. It provides life-saving reproductive health services to conflict-affected women in more than one governorate in Iraq,” said Christophe Reltien, the EU Humanitarian Aid Head of Office in Iraq.

UNFPA Representative, Dr Rita Columbia, expressed her appreciation for the recent contribution: “We are extremely grateful for this renewed contribution from the EU. Women and girls in Iraq continue to face many challenges especially in terms of access to reproductive health services. The new funding will allow us to reach the most vulnerable communities in the rural areas and displaced communities, despite the exacerbated humanitarian crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The EU is a long-standing partner of UNFPA in Iraq and a strong advocate for the reproductive health and rights of women and girls. Since 2015, the EU has contributed EUR 19.7 million in support of UNFPA’s humanitarian interventions in camps and host communities and secondary displacement areas in Iraq.

(Source: UN)

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24 May, 2020

EU gives $2.8m in Relief to Iraqi Children

By John Lee.

A recent contribution of USD2.8 million by the European Union has provided immediate relief to 90,000 vulnerable people -half of them children – in emergency camps in Salamiya, Hamam al Alil and Jeda’a 1 and 5 IDP camps within Ninawa governorate.

Only 39 per cent of Iraq’s population have access to safely managed drinking water. The situation is particularly dire for thousands of vulnerable families living in camps and who depend on humanitarian support for their survival.

“The generous contribution from the EU enabled UNICEF to continue trucking in safe water for drinking and cooking. This helped to protect the health of children and their families from dangerous diseases, including Acute Watery Diarrhea and Cholera, both which can result from the consumption of unsafe water,” said Hamida Lasseko, UNICEF Representative in Iraq.

Funds were also used to support appropriate sanitation facilities and maintaining a clean and hygienic environment through care maintenance and waste management, water quality monitoring and distribution.

Iraqi and non-Iraqi children continue to be vulnerable to violence, abuse and exploitation and in need of protection prevention and response services in both camp and non-camp settings. In addition, many of the children in former conflict areas do not have birth certificate and other civil document, which is a legacy of conflict and upheaval in Iraq. This has restricted their ability to move out of camps and to access to social services like health, education and social protection.

Thanks to the EU’s longstanding support, UNICEF has also been able to:

repatriate 200 foreign children back to their countries of origin;
provide psychosocial services to 4,235 children (2125 girls);
legal assistance to 596 children (188 girls) in contact with the law;
A further 1,107 children (373 girls) received birth registration and civil documentation.

(Source: UN)

8 July, 2019

IDPs in Iraq to benefit from EUR 100m Assistance Package

EU adopts new €100 million assistance package to benefit refugees and local communities in Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq

The European Union (EU) – via the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis – adopted a €100 million new assistance package to support the resilience of refugees, internally displaced person (IDP) host communities in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.

This will be done through the strengthening of public service delivery systems, improved access to higher education, and improved child protection services.

With this new package €1.6 billion out of a total of €1.8 billion mobilised by the EU Trust Fund have now been turned into financing concrete actions helping refugees and host countries alike.

Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn commented:

“The EU delivers on its commitments. With these additional €100 million of assistance, the EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis continues to support refugees to become increasingly economically self-reliant. Through access to income generating opportunities, they are able to take their livelihoods in their own hands, provide for themselves, and preserve their dignity.

“At the same time we are supporting host communities and Syria’s neighbours in their effort to expand their economies while coping with challenges related to the conflict which is still ongoing”.

The newly adopted €100 million aid package consists of the following actions:

€55 million to support the resilience of refugees, IDPs, returnees and host communities in Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq;
€28.4 million for access to higher education for refugees and vulnerable host youth in Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq;
€12.5 million to provide protection services to children and women victim of gender based violence in Lebanon;
€3.6 million to continue and strengthen the Trust Fund’s horizontal monitoring and evaluation framework.

This assistance package has been adopted by the EU Trust Fund’s Operational Board, which brings together the European Commission, fifteen EU Member States, and Turkey. Observers of the Operational Board include members of the European Parliament, representatives from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the World Bank, and the Syria Recovery Trust Fund.

The EU Trust Fund is now in its fifth year of implementation, but the Syria crisis is far from being over. Over time, the needs have changed and the Trust Fund has evolved from providing early recovery assistance focusing on addressing basic needs of those affected by the Syria crisis to equipping refugees and local communities with tools and skills for greater self-reliance.

The Trust Fund also focuses on reinforcing the national systems for public service delivery to meet refugee and local community needs in the longer term. Currently 67 projects have been contracted to implementing partners on the ground.

(Source: EU)

8 July, 2019

IDPs in Iraq to benefit from EUR 100m Assistance Package

EU adopts new €100 million assistance package to benefit refugees and local communities in Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq

This will be done through the strengthening of public service delivery systems, improved access to higher education, and improved child protection services.

With this new package €1.6 billion out of a total of €1.8 billion mobilised by the EU Trust Fund have now been turned into financing concrete actions helping refugees and host countries alike.

Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn commented:

The newly adopted €100 million aid package consists of the following actions:

€55 million to support the resilience of refugees, IDPs, returnees and host communities in Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq;
€28.4 million for access to higher education for refugees and vulnerable host youth in Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq;
€12.5 million to provide protection services to children and women victim of gender based violence in Lebanon;
€3.6 million to continue and strengthen the Trust Fund’s horizontal monitoring and evaluation framework.

(Source: EU)

21 February, 2019

EU announces additional EUR 50m for Iraq

The EU has announced an additional €30 million in humanitarian assistance. Another €20 million in development funding will contribute to the reconstruction of the country’s cultural heritage, as well as the creation of jobs and opportunities for vulnerable youth.

The announcement was made by Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides (pictured), on the occasion of his sixth visit to Iraq today.

Commissioner Stylianides said:

“Each time I visit Iraq, I see the hope of its people despite the challenging circumstances. At this critical moment for the country, our new funding reaffirms the EU’s commitment to stand in solidarity with all Iraqis and will help the most vulnerable.”

Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica added:

“The EU is committed to the reconstruction of Iraq. With today’s new support, we will help to restore the rich cultural heritage of Mosul and Basrah, and at the same time create much needed jobs and opportunities.”

Whilst in Iraq, Commissioner Stylianides, alongside Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, visited Mosul, where schools and hospitals are being supported by EU funding to help the most vulnerable get access to essential services. In Erbil, the Commissioner visited camps hosting thousands displaced by conflict. In Baghdad, the Commissioner held meetings with the Iraqi authorities.

Humanitarian assistance: The new EU humanitarian assistance worth €30 million will include protection, emergency healthcare, basic shelter, food, safe water, sanitation and hygiene to those in the greatest need throughout the country. These include Iraqis who remain displaced and Syrian refugees in Iraq. It will provide mental health support, increasing services for survivors of sexual violence, and ensuring physical therapy and rehabilitation to war-wounded. Furthermore, the EU will support the resumption of basic public services including health, education, and water supply in war-affected areas, such as Mosul, western Anbar and Hawija.

Development cooperation: The €20 million development cooperation will provide tailored technical and vocation training opportunities for youth in the construction sector, to help to recover the historic urban landscape of Mosul and Basrah. In addition, it will provide small grants to Small and Medium Enterprises and associations, with a focus on the revival of socio-economic and cultural activities. This funding, to be signed on 21 February, is part of the flagship initiative ‘Revive the Spirit of Mosul’ run by UNESCO, and designed to foster social cohesion and promote peace. With the full support of the Government of Iraq, the initiative will focus the restoration and rehabilitation of cultural heritage, as well as the revival of educational and cultural institutions. This measure is part of the EU’s pledge at the Iraq Reconstruction Conference held in Kuwait in February 2018.

Today’s funding announcement brings total EU humanitarian assistance to Iraq to €420 million and development cooperation to €309 million since the beginning of the crisis in 2015.

(Source: EU)

12 December, 2018

EU, World Bank support Iraq Energy Sector Reforms

In the framework of the financing agreement signed yesterday by the Government of Iraq (GoI) and the European Union (EU) committing €14 million (US$15.8 equivalent) to support the government’s efforts to ensure increased and more reliable energy access for the Iraqi population, the EU and the World Bank Group (WBG) have signed today a €12.85 million (US$14.5 equivalent) implementation agreement to provide the needed technical assistance.

The initiative complements the ongoing and upcoming World Bank interventions in support of the GoI’s energy sector reforms, including those embedded in the budget support operations series (Development Policy Financing programs – DPFs), the Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS) for structuring the Gas Value Chain and Gas Marketing in Iraq, and the support to subsidy reforms funded by the ESMAP’s Energy Subsidy Reform Technical Assistance Facility (ESRAF).

Supporting Iraq’s private sector enabling energy sector reforms is a priority development objective in the country both for the EU and the WBG. In a country where the energy sector accounts for more than 90% of central government revenues, addressing energy sector challenges is an essential and complementary action to any public finances related reforms, an area in which the European Union and the World Bank are also partnering in Iraq.

The country is also the world’s 3rd largest exporter of oil and its untapped natural gas reserves are the 12th largest in the world, yet it is forced to import fuel to meet its domestic energy demand, which imposes significant economic and fiscal strain on public finances. Equally important, Iraqi citizens are regularly faced with power shortages and have to resort to more expensive and pollutant sources of energy.

Efficiency in the management of public resources and delivery of services are critical to the achievement of public policy objectives, especially for a resource-rich upper-middle income country like Iraq, as well as fundamental to restore the trust and social contract between Iraqi citizen’s and the country’s institutions, especially in a post-conflict era of stabilisation and reconstruction. “As pledged in the Kuwait Conference, the European Union is committed to help Iraq’s reconstruction efforts and economic and political reforms to secure a better future for its citizens,”

(Source: Relief Web)

29 August, 2018

EU Supports Reproductive Health Services in Iraq

The EU Supports Reproductive Health Services in Iraq with a new contribution to UNFPA

The European Union continues its support to UNFPA in Iraq through a EUR 5 million contribution to sustain reproductive health and clinical management of rape services across Iraq.

The United Nations estimates that around 825,000 women of reproductive age are in need of humanitarian assistance in Iraq.

The delivery of health care services in both conflict affected areas and Internally Displaced People’s hosting areas has been severely impacted, as a result of the three-year devastating war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

With this funding, UNFPA will support comprehensive emergency obstetric care in six hospitals in Telafar, Hawija, Qaim, Hammam Aleel, Qayarra and Shirqat, Basic Emergency Obstetric Care, in four facilities in Beiji, Ana, Qayarra airstrip and Sunoni, five reproductive health clinics in Jadaa, Salameya and Hamman Al-Aleel camps, and 26 RH clinics in West Anbar, West Ninewa, North Salhuddin and Kerbala.

Mr Christos Stylianides (pictured), European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, said:

“The EU will continue to provide critical medical assistance in Iraq. Facilitating access to essential reproductive health services for displaced population and assisting victims of gender based violence are top European priorities in Iraq.”

Dr Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director, said:

“The new EU contribution is much appreciated as it will go a long way in addressing the serious shortfalls in reproductive health services resulting from the wide destruction of Iraqi hospitals and health facilities.

“This will also allow UNFPA to continue providing health facilities with urgently needed medical supplies and services, and ensuring that tens of thousands of women and girls can enjoy quality reproductive health services.”

The EU has been a strategic partner to UNFPA in Iraq since 2015 with a total contribution of EUR 21 million to the Fund’s reproductive health and gender-based violence interventions.

(Source: EU)

4 July, 2018

EU Supports Conflict-Affected Iraqi Families

Vulnerable farming families in post-conflict areas in Iraq’s Ninewa plains, west of Mosul, will be able to better withstand shocks thanks to a European Union-funded UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) project that aims to increase household income while building, repairing and maintaining local infrastructure and creating communal and public productive assets.

The €6 million project funded by the Madad Fund – the European Union’s Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis – is part of FAO’s Recovery and Resilience Programme. The programme contributes to reducing chronic, or acute food insecurity, malnutrition, poverty, and associated risks and vulnerabilities in Iraq’s agriculture sector.

“The European Union has responded promptly to the very urgent needs of the most vulnerable families that were affected by the conflict in northern parts of Iraq,” said Fadel El-Zubi, FAO Representative in Iraq. “Thanks to the support from the European Union, households will enhance their resilience and ability to cope with shocks by increasing their net earnings,” he said.

Cash-for-work to improve access to water

Through cash-for-work activities, 1 250 households will be able to earn an income, directly benefiting around 7 500 people. Critically, the results of this work will also enable farmers to access water for crop irrigation and livestock, through the rehabilitation and construction of water catchments, roads, river embankments and secondary canals.

“Once these important agricultural assets and irrigation infrastructure are restored, the project will provide water for 70 000 hectares of currently unproductive land that can be used for winter wheat crops, and the spring and autumn vegetable seasons,” El-Zubi said. “This means 30 000 vulnerable farming households (180 000 people) will be able to produce food on their land again.”

Many of the families participating in the cash-for-work component of the project have no other income. Participants include women and other marginalized groups, with the work benefiting the community as well as individuals and families.

FAO’s humanitarian response

As the Government of Iraq moves towards a focus on rehabilitation and recovery, humanitarian needs remain. Under the Humanitarian Response Plan 2018, FAO requires $10.2 million to assist 116 100 people in the areas of livestock, plant pest outbreak control and food security coordination.

Over the longer term, under the Iraq Recovery and Resilience Programme 2018-2019, FAO requires $76 million to assist 1.6 million people by restoring agriculture and water systems and revitalizing communities.

FAO’s focus remains on ensuring rural families have the resources to re-establish and secure their agricultural livelihoods and build their resilience into the future. FAO’s work, in close coordination with the Iraqi government, supports families returning to retaken areas, internally displaced families, host communities and refugees from Syria.

(Source: UN)