Agency                                       UNESCO

Status                                         Published

Type of notice                           Invitation To Bid

Display from date                       30-09-2011

Close date/time/time zone        23-10-2011 04:00 PM

The first governmental-owned brick factory in Iraqi Kurdistan started operations in Erbil on Tuesday, according to AKnews.

The factory which can produce 8,000 cement building blocks daily was opened in a ceremony where Samir Abdullah, Minister for Municipality and Tourism said the ministry hopes to raise the daily output capacity to 20,000.

Abdullah told the reporters the plant was constructed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and is now run under the supervision of the Water and Sewage Directorate.

The factory will provide materials for governmental projects and will also sell to companies and individuals at a below market price.

Currently each brik is sold at 1,250 Iraqi Dinar (nearly $1.2) but the governmental plant will sell for 1,100 IQD.

(Source: AKnews)

The Government of Iraq reaffirmed its commitment to tackling the ongoing water crisis this month at a national seminar in Baghdad on 3 July 2011, ushering in phase two of the new National Hydrogeological Resources Assessment Network and Database for Iraq, known as geoFIA.

This interactive web-based platform will help the Iraqi government to accelerate their efforts in addressing drought and other water-related problems which until now have been hindered by lack of up-to-date information on underground water.

The seminar officially revealed positive phase one results of the nationwide initiative launched in 2010 by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Representatives from government, academia and the international community attended the event co-hosted by the Advisory Commission of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (PMAC) and UNESCO.

geoFIA was built by Radar Technologies International and Studio Galli Ingegneria and can be used by Iraqi experts to collect, update and analyze information on groundwater on a continual basis, enabling more effective water planning by the government.

The European Union provided the funding for Phase I of the project. In addition H.E. Jana Hybaskova, Ambassador of the EU praised the efforts of the Government and UNESCO and shared the EU’s intention to continue the support for Phase II.

(Source: UNESCO)

UNESCO has launched a scientific survey of Iraq’s groundwater in an effort to improve the government’s ability to address water scarcity in the country.

Iraq is currently facing severe water shortages across most parts of the country, with over 7.6 million Iraqis lacking access to safe drinking water, and an agriculture sector suffering from years of drought.

Absent until now, this complete picture of groundwater resources in the country will provide national and local authorities the tools to identify accurately and manage sustainably this precious resource.

Incorporating the priorities put forward by the Government of Iraq for the water sector, the program will be undertaken in two phases. The first phase, funded by the European Union (EU) through the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) Iraq Trust Fund, establishes an interactive database that uses Iraq’s existing hydro-geological data with a team of government experts trained to manage the database.

Representatives from the Ministries of Education, Higher Education and Finance from Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government gathered in Erbil during a three-day meeting for the modernisation of the education sector in Iraq.

From 23 to 25 September, 2010, UNESCO and UNICEF launched the first national workshop for education of the joint “Iraq Public Sector Modernisation Programme” funded through the generous support of the European Union. The workshop, organised in Erbil, brought together for the first time Ministry Advisors, presidents of universities and heads of Directorates of Education throughout Iraq to present the current structure of the sector and discuss the need for an in depth analysis of the ministries responsible for delivering quality education. The meeting provided a forum to exchange ideas and discuss the appropriate methodology to undertake a review of the sector, which will lay the foundations of a reform to improve the quality of education in Iraq.

This initiative, in the framework of the EU-funded Iraq-Public Sector Modernisation Programme, established to support the Government of Iraq, is a joint UN effort aiming at the development of a public sector reform strategy and launching its implementation in three key social service delivery sectors: education, health and water and sanitation.

The Erbil workshop gathered experts from Baghdad and 11 governorates inside Iraq who will start the functional review of the Education Sector on 10 October, 2010. This will mark the starting point of a process of analysis that endeavours to assist government to obtain concrete, early results in service delivery to the people, to build support for modernisation from government stakeholders and from the general public. The resulting road map for education is expected to result in a significant improvement on the lives of the people in Iraq.

On the occasion of International Literacy Day, UNESCO calls on national institutions and civil society to join forces to promote literacy for all as a tool for inclusive and sustainable development in Iraq.

“I take this occasion to call upon governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to scale up their support to literacy,” stressed Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, in her message for the Day. “Literacy and women’s empowerment” is the theme for this year celebrations, which focus on the importance of literacy and gender equality as one of the global strategic priorities for sustainable development.

UNESCO Iraq Office will seize this opportunity to organize events throughout Iraq together with the Ministry of Education and National NGOs to ensure participation of all Iraqi citizens and invites them to express their views towards the development of a national literacy strategy in Iraq. Activities will take place during last week of September due to celebration of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan and will include: Roundtables and conferences with Members of Parliament, community leaders, literacy practitioners and coordinators to discuss policy options to reduce illiteracy in Iraq; organizing community plays about literacy and women’s empowerment in national theaters; dissemination of awareness raising material on best literacy stories; and screening of TV spots in the UNESCO supported educational TV among others.

“Literacy is the necessary tool for social development and peace building,” said Mohammed Djelid, Director of the UNESCO Iraq Office, adding that “the achievement of the Literacy goal of reducing illiteracy by 50% by 2015 relies on the development of an effective strategy and implementation of inclusive policies for literacy.”

National illiteracy rates are estimated at 20% in Iraq. Women are particularly affected by illiteracy, especially in rural areas, where close to 50% of women aged between 15 and 24 are illiterate, compared to 28%-20% of women living in urban and metropolitan areas. The Government of Iraq (GoI) has responded to the literacy gap with the development of new literacy textbooks, the introduction of accelerated learning programs, and the opening of new literacy centres. However, equal access and attendance remain obstacles to progress on literacy in Iraq.

To address these challenges, the UNESCO Iraq Office in 2010 launched the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) for Iraq with funding from the Office of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned, First Lady of Qatar and UNESCO’s Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education. LIFE, which is a 4 year project with a budget of US$ 6,300,000, will contribute to strengthening the capacity of the Iraqi Government and civil society to deliver sustainable and empowering literacy for all.

For Further Information Please Contact:

Alberto Biancoli, Education Project Manager, UNESCO Iraq Office a.biancoli@unesco.org

Tel: +962 59 02 340