UNDP - United Nations Development Programme

Purpose

P007642001: The project supports the Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS) in Iraq, the international community’s primary mechanism for advancing stabilization and early recovery efforts in areas that have been liberated from Daesh, including devastated cities such as Mosul and Ramadi. The FFS assists the Government of Iraq in facilitating the safe return of internally displaced persons to liberated communities. This project also supports Iraq’s recovery from conflict by funding FFS initiatives that have the potential for longer-term development impact, with a focus on livelihoods projects. Project activities include: (1) providing cash-for-work opportunities to women, such as light rehabilitation work at public facilities and schools; (2) providing long-term employment opportunities for youth and women entrepreneurs, through cash grants and capacity support to small and medium-sized enterprises; (3) revitalizing the agriculture sector to support farmers and their families in rural areas and contribute to their enhanced food security; and (4) supporting the young labour force of Iraq through rehabilitation of Student Resource Centre facilities on university campuses, critical skills programs, and engagement of private sector companies/businesses in job fairs and apprenticeships. P007642002: The project supports the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) COVID-19 response plan in areas of Iraq that are particularly ill-equipped to manage and/or hardest hit by the pandemic. In response to COVID-19, a portion of Canadian funding to the Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS) has been reallocated to support UNDP’s COVID-19 response plan. UNDP’s COVID-19 response plan seeks to: (1) prevent the spread of COVID-19, manage confirmed cases and save lives; (2) strengthen the Government of Iraq’s (GOI) crisis management and response; and (3) support the GOI in designing post-COVID-19 recovery strategies to address the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19. Project activities include: (1) raising community awareness and sharing official/authorized guidance on COVID-19, including key gender messages, through an online platform; (2) equipping three medical labs with priority medical equipment to strengthen testing capacity; (3) equipping ten healthcare facilities with 180 beds and 180 single-patient airborne infection isolation rooms, in addition to medical furniture/equipment and personal protective equipment for healthcare workers; (4) supporting the United Nations Country Team in Iraq to develop a gender-sensitive post-COVID-19 Recovery Strategy; (5) reaching 25,000 people, particularly women and youth, through social cohesion activities; (6) undertaking three gender-sensitive socio-economic needs and impact assessments, including an assessment on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the most vulnerable groups; and (7) identifying gender-sensitive short- and medium-term recovery strategies for Iraq.