Promoting employment in the digital economy in Iraq (ProDIGI)

Context

Iraq faces a critical challenge with one of the highest global unemployment rates. Annually, nearly one million young people enter a job market ill-prepared for them. This is primarily because the country heavily relies on oil revenues without significant development in other areas like the digital economy. Additionally, a substantial portion of individuals, especially those aged 15 to 24, are not engaged in education, training, or employment.

Developing Iraq's digital economy could provide diverse employment opportunities, stimulate growth in the private sector, and improve public sector efficiency. However, this potential remains largely untapped due to several factors: a critical skills gap in the workforce, a mismatch between the education system's curricula and job market demands, as well as the lack of a supportive legislative framework for digital economy growth.

Objective

Equipping young individuals with essential digital skills and raising awareness among the public and policymakers have boosted Iraq’s digital economy, bridged the current skills gap and fostered new job opportunities.

Approach

The project adopts a multifaceted approach to enhance Iraq's digital economy, focusing on the following measures:

• Providing training in IT, digital transformation, and soft skills to improve employability, particularly focusing on empowering women. This includes dedicated support to facilitate individuals’ transition from training to employment and assistance for start-up companies during their growth phase.
• Facilitating cooperation among key digital economy actors, such as IT companies, start-ups, hubs, incubators, accelerators, and university entrepreneurship centres, as well as established economy entities, and large corporations, to promote employment opportunities.
• Fostering collaboration and dialogue between, digital economy support organisations and the public sector with the aim of raising awareness about the digital economy’s potential and needs in Iraq.

Last update: February 2024