This article was written by Farah Ali, and was originally published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, iwpr.net. It is reproduced by Iraq Business News with permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

A five-day course in financial management held at IWPR’s Baghdad office in February was the latest in a series of workshops designed to get more Iraqi women into advertising, design and management.

The February 19-23 course for 16 trainees was part of the Women Advertising and Design Agency project, launched in October 2011. Its ultimate aim is for participants to set up the first independent advertising and media agency that is both run and owned by women.

Previous training events have focused on graphic design, image editing, photography and lighting, direction, and management training. In total, 100 female participants selected from all over Iraq will attend one or several of the modular courses, which will also cover advertising and copywriting.

In turn, each of the group will be able to provide training for other women hoping to break into the advertising sector.

Following the latest training course, which focused on financial management, participants said they came away with valuable new skills.

“This is an amazing course in terms of using the right tools to convey the essentials,” said Elaf Mahdi, a 22-year-old media student, adding that the information packed into five days was equivalent to years of study.

Raya Mufid, 29, has a master’s degree in physics but is currently unemployed, and is now confident her new management skills will help her find a job.

“I used to spend days on end with no goal or target, but now that I have a clear picture of what I want to do, I can set aside time for my family, for myself and for my objectives,” she said.

The course was delivered by Abdullah Hikmat, a leading Iraqi professor of economics and management. He said the trainees’ attitude and passion left him optimistic about their futures.

“All the trainees were positive and responded well,” he said. “They seemed eager to learn new things and acquire extra skills.”

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is pleased to announce the Civic Education and Leadership Fellowship opportunity for Iraqi academics in the social sciences.

The fellowship provides an opportunity for university teachers and scholars in social science disciplines from across the Middle East and North Africa to engage in four-month residencies at the Maxwell School for Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in the United States.

The program includes both group seminars and individually-tailored projects for each participant. The Civic Education and Leadership Fellowship program, like all U.S. Embassy academic exchange programs, supports the goals of the U.S. – Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement by fostering long-term academic and cultural cooperation between Americans and Iraqis. The objectives of the Civic Education and Leadership Fellowship program are to:

• promote democracy and international standards in social science education;
• develop civil society capacity in the university policy field;
• enhance the quality of education through improved curriculum development and delivery, increased institutional capacity, and expanded student and faculty engagement;
• develop critical thinking and analytical capabilities on civic education issues.

The fellowship will cover all international and domestic travel, health insurance, housing in shared apartments, and a moderate living stipend in the United States for all fellows participating in the project. The fellowship will cover the individual only and does not include family members.

Syracuse University will match fellows with faculty members on campus who will serve as mentors and contacts, and develop individual work plans for the three substantive areas of the project: curriculum development, teaching and research skills development, and professional enhancement and networking activities.

The project will work with fellows on their individualized work plans before they arrive in the United States so they can maximize their productivity while at Syracuse University. While in the United States, fellows will also participate in professional networking initiatives to broaden their contacts with individuals and academic institutions in the United States.

More information on the Fellowship and instructions on how to apply for the program are available on the U.S. Embassy website: http://iraq.usembassy.gov/celf12.html.

The deadline for submitting applications is April 19, 2012. Questions can be sent to IraqMEPI@state.gov.

Aras Publishers will be the first company in Iraq to use the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) system and professionally enter the international book market, according to AKnews.

Bedran al-Habeeb, chairman of the printing company and AKnews, headquartered in Erbil, announced that 10 book titles will be published with an ISBN barcode by the end of this month.

An Arabic translation of A People Without a Country: The Kurds of Kurdistan by French author Gerard Chaliand will be the very first book published with an ISBN identification.

Most websites will only sell books that have an ISBN – a unique 13 digit numeric code used to identify books in any format such as paper, hardback, audio CD or e-book.

Aras publishers, whose mission statement is A route to dignity, claims to be the only publisher in Iraq to follow copyrighting laws.

“Without an agreement we do not publish books from others. It is important to protect the rights of writers and to be a clean business with dignity”, said Habeeb.

(Source: AKnews)

The U.S. Embassy’s Iraqi Youth Initiative, which forms part of the Tijara Provincial Economic Growth Program run by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will mark its two-year anniversary in April 2012.

Since the start of the program, loans valued at $3,625,100 have enabled 1,045 young entrepreneurs to build businesses that today employ 2,220 Iraqis. The pace of job creation is increasing, with more than 1,000 new jobs created during the last quarter of 2011 thanks to microfinance loans totaling $1.63 million.

The Embassy announced last week that 27 young Iraqis from Baghdad, Karbala, Wasit, Muthanna, Najaf and Dhi Qar provinces have been awarded loans worth $87,700 through the Iraqi Youth Initiative to help them start new businesses that will create an estimated 54 new jobs.

The initiative has also trained 1,222 young Iraqis in its apprentice training program over the past two years, and 690 participants have been placed in apprenticeships with local company sponsors for three months of on-the-job skills development.

An additional 1,300 young Iraqis will complete similar training by the end of June 2012, and over $4.45 million more is budgeted to loan to young entrepreneurs. In all, over 3,800 individuals have benefited from the Tijara program thus far.

The head of the One Stop Shop Department in Basra Investmetnt Commission (BIC), Eng. Jalal Al- Noori, announced that the Turkish company Visalr has submitted an investment project to build private schools in Basra.

He said the education sector is a top priority for the BIC, and that Basra has suitable lands allocated for such projects. He pointed out that BIC is ready to support the project and provide facilities, adding that the BIC has coordinated with the relative bodies to get the required approvals and grant the project an investment licence.

The manager of the company, Rasheed Kajman, said during the meeting that his company has investment projects in Kurdistan since 1994 and has relevant projects in Kirkuk, Duhok and Baghdad.

He added that the project, which is called Ishq Al- Basra, includes the construction of schools for about 600 students.

(Source: Basra Investmetnt Commission)

The United States Embassy in Baghdad announces its new website in Arabic with information for Iraqis interested in studying in the United States.

“Study in the USA” provides Iraqi students, teachers, and parents accurate information about U.S. universities and colleges, including information on how to find suitable universities, the application process, and scholarships available for international students.

Iraqi students interested in studying in the United States can also find links to useful websites in both English and Arabic, online search engines, and other free resources. “Study in the USA” can be accessed at the following address:

http://arabic.iraq.usembassy.gov/studyinusa.html

The U.S. Embassy is making this information available as part of its ongoing educational cooperation with Iraq, a key priority for both countries under the Strategic Framework Agreement between the United States and Iraq.

(Source: US Embassy)

Iraq’s Ministry for Industry and Minerals has created a new department specialising in nanotechnology, according to Aswat al-Iraq.

This department will provide information and ideas to all researchers inside the country and abroad, and will be affiliated with the Industrial Research Directorate.

The Directorate has 8 research centers in a variety of industrial fields, including pharmaceutical, packing, textiles, petrochemicals, energy and environment.

(Source: Aswat al-Iraq)

The Government of the United States and the Government of Iraq strongly support the preservation and expression of Iraq’s rich heritage, the establishment of a strong Iraqi education system at all levels, and the continuation of robust educational, cultural, and professional exchanges between our nations. The U.S.-Iraq Joint Coordinating Committee on Cultural and Educational Cooperation met in March 2011 in Baghdad, and in February 2012 in Washington, D.C.

Higher Education:

The United States and Iraq are working together to build a strong Iraqi higher education system with long-term links with U.S. academic institutions. U.S. and Iraqi efforts helped increase the number of Iraqi students studying in the United States by more than 45 percent to 616 students in the 2010-2011 academic year over the previous year. An EducationUSA education advising event featuring up to 10 universities will be held in April 2012, building on the success of the first-ever fair in Erbil in October 2011.

Through educational advising, we will continue to provide accurate information about U.S. higher education to Iraqi students who aspire to study at U.S. institutions. Hundreds of Iraqi students and scholars have studied or conducted research in the U.S. through the Fulbright Program, with 35 students and 35 faculty expected to participate in the 2012-13 academic year.

Seven U.S. and seven Iraqi universities participate in the Iraq University Linkages Program, which pairs U.S. and Iraqi faculty and administrators to strengthen university curricula, enhance and update teaching methods and technology, and improve career services for students. The current linkages match Basrah University with Oklahoma State University; Salahaddin University with the University of Cincinnati; Tikrit University with Ball State University; Kufa University with the University of Kentucky; Baghdad University with Georgia State University; the University of Dohuk with Michigan State University; and the University of Technology with the University of Missouri at Columbia.