Open online courses: Developing administration, accounting and sales skills on Atingi

 

Iraqi youth need job prospects – around one million young people enter Iraq’s job market every year. With one of the fastest-growing populations worldwide, more and more people are looking for decent jobs and income opportunities to provide for themselves and their families, build their livelihoods and save for investments and emergencies.

In 2021, according to ILO, more than 1 in 3 young people between the age of 15 and 24 were looking for a job. This number is more than double the rate of job seekers of all ages and three times higher than those aged 25 and above.

While many young people are looking for a job, employers are struggling to find candidates with the right skill sets. Vocational training and academic curricula are often too theoretical or outdated due to the rapid pace of technology development. As a result, they fail to match the professional profiles that companies are seeking.

Since 2017, GIZ has worked closely with education institutions, governmental bodies and the private sector to promote training courses tailored to both private sector and job seekers needs. Special attention has been given to sectors that promise future-proof jobs, for example information technology. At the same time targeted programmes for women or persons in vulnerable circumstances have been designed.

As the Covid-19 pandemic led to lockdowns, remote, easy-to-access and free online courses became increasingly popular. Specifically for the Iraqi context, GIZ created three courses which are available on Atingi, a dedicated online course platform, focusing on

The courses are available in Arabic language and open to everyone interested. University students from various fields as well as job seekers interested in enhancing their skills in the respective areas can benefit from taking the courses. More information on the course content can be found under the links above.

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The three online courses were developed on behalf of the Germany Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) under the ‘Private Sector Development’ project, with co-funding by the European Union and as part of the Team Europe Initiative #TAEUFIQ, and the ‘Employment Prospects for Socioeconomic Integration’ project.

 

Check out the video to learn more about using Atingi