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By John Lee.

The Iraqi Government has announced new measures intended to stimulate job creation in the electricity distribution industry.

In a statement, it said:

"Training courses lasting for 3 months or longer in the area of  maintenance of electrical transformers used in the electricity distribution sector in Iraq. The courses will be tailor-made for unemployed young people who do not have a university degree, but  who have completed their intermediate, secondary or technical education.

"Trainees will be paid a monthly allowance of 150,000 Iraqi dinars during the training course.

"Trainees who successfully complete the training course will be paid a monthly allowance of 250,000 Iraqi dinars for six months to help them develop further their skills.

 "Groups of trainees consisting of three people or more who wish to establish their own industrial workshops will be granted a loan. –

 "The Ministry of Electricity will contract these workshops as needed."

The move is the latest in a series of reforms announced by the government in response to continuing protests in the country.

(Source: Govt of Iraq)

Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian (pictured) has said the export of electricity to neighboring countries has reached a record high in the past year.

Addressing a Sunday session of Tehran’s City Council, Ardakanian said management of the situation over the past two water years has helped the country break the record in three sectors of the power industry.

The minister said the records in electricity generation, power consumption and exports have been broken since 2017-2018 water year.

According to Ardakanian, Iran’s export of electricity to neighboring states, particularly to Iraq, reached a record high last year.

Ardakanian and his Iraqi counterpart Luay al-Khatteeb signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and a contract in February to boost cooperation between the two countries in the electricity industry.

On Wednesday, a US State Department spokesman said Washington has once again exempted Iraq from its sanctions against Iran, allowing the Arab country to continue gas and electricity imports from the Islamic Republic for another four-month period.

(Source: Tasnim, under Creative Commons licence)

By John Lee.

To improve living conditions for returnee populations living in newly liberated areas, UNOPS – with funding from the government of Japan – is helping to provide renewable energy and emergency waste disposal services in three Iraqi governorates.

“[This project] comes at a time when Iraq is counting on its friends to recover after its battle against ISIS and after the liberation of Iraqi territories,” said Mr. Istabraq Al shook, Deputy Minister of Iraq’s Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities and Public Works at a recent handover ceremony.

“The UN and the people of Japan and its government showed a solid commitment to stand by Iraq during critical hard times and after the crisis. Today's closing ceremony is a testimony of this commitment,” he added.

With a $3.1 million donation from the government of Japan, UNOPS procured solid waste machinery and provided specialized training to local authorities on modern waste disposal systems, better utilization of debris, and waste sorting and recycling.

UNOPS further installed solar systems – to help alleviate frequent electricity shortages – as well as street lights and water heaters in six health facilities in the governorates of Anbar, Diyala and Ninewa.

“I hope that this project helps to urgently restore basic services needed for daily lives, such as energy and waste disposal, and that the people in those liberated areas can restore and lead a stable life as quickly as possible,” said Mr. Naofumi Hashimoto, Ambassador of Japan to Iraq.

“UNOPS remains committed to supporting the government and the people of Iraq in addressing significant challenges the country is facing, and remains grateful to the people and government of Japan for their continued support to the people of Iraq,” said UNOPS Programme Advisor Ms. Huda Al-Ani.

Mr. Ahmed Shalash, Deputy Director General of Engineering Affairs at the Ministry of Health and Environment, and Mr. Abdul Qadir Al Dhakheel, General Director of Ninewa Municipality attended the handover ceremony held in Baghdad.

(Source: UNOPS)

The Iraqi cabinet has sacked 61 officials over recent protests that killed more than 100 people and injured thousands earlier this month, Anadolu reports.

Leaked documents obtained by Anadolu Agency showed that the decision was taken during a cabinet meeting on Oct. 14.

Protests rocked the capital Baghdad and southern provinces earlier this month against high unemployment and government corruption.

An Iraqi court on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for two police officers in connection with the death of protesters during the demonstrations.

Iraq ranks 18 on Transparency International’s corruption scale, which goes from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Discontent has been growing in Iraq in recent years due to rising unemployment and rampant corruption. Many in the country have limited access to basic services such as electricity and clean water, and unemployment is around 10%.

(Source: Middle East Monitor)

The Baghdad Provincial Council on Sunday voted to dismiss governor Falah al-Jazairi amid protests in the Iraqi capital, according to local media and Anadolu Agency.

The 58-member council voted unanimously to remove al-Jazairi from his post, Al-Iraqiya television said.

According to the report, the provincial council will accept applications within days from candidates for the position.

The move came amid demonstrations in Baghdad and southern provinces against high unemployment and rampant corruption since October 1.

At least 100 people have been killed and more than 2,500 others injured in the protests, according to an anonymous official from Iraq’s Health Ministry.

Protesters are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi as well as improvements in living conditions and an end to corruption.

Discontent has been growing in Iraq in recent years due to rising unemployment and rampant corruption. Many in the country have limited access to basic services such as electricity and clean water, and unemployment is around 10%.

(Source: Middle East Monitor)

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green announced the first tranche of recipients under USAID's New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) on Thursday during his remarks at the Accord Network's Annual Forum.

The organizations will carry out programs that improve global health outcomes in USAID's partner countries, and assist populations in the Republic of Iraq that are recovering from the genocide perpetrated by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Administrator Green launched the NPI in May 2019 to expand and diversify USAID's partner base and change the way the Agency does business. By working with new or underutilized partners, the Agency hopes to bring more innovative approaches to U.S. foreign assistance; focus on strengthening capacity and commitment in partner countries by tapping into existing networks of community- and faith-based organizations; and reach new populations.

Administrator Green also announced a new $18 million award to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to support the return and recovery of displaced religious and ethnic minority communities in the Nineveh Plains and Western Nineveh Province. Long-time USAID partner Samaritan's Purse will receive $9 million of that total.

New USAID Assistance Through the NPI Direct to Local Iraqi Groups That Are Helping Victims of ISIS Genocide

USAID is awarding small grants through the NPI that total approximately $4 million to six local groups in Northern Iraq to help religious and ethnic minorities targeted by ISIS. The new NPI implementers in Northern Iraq are the following:

Philadelphia Organization for Relief and Development: The award will establish a community center in the town of Qaraqosh to provide services for people with disabilities, training in employment skills, child care, and a community food bank.

Catholic University of Erbil: The award will provide classes in business language and computer software for widows, victims of abuse, and former captives of ISIS.

Top Mountain: The award will support a business incubator and employment program for Iraqi youth, which will promote entrepreneurship, provide business training, and build commercial networks.

Shlama Foundation: The award seeks to improve job opportunities through training engineers on the installation on solar power, provide electricity for families, and install solar-powered pumps for farms and street lighting for villages.

Beth Nahrain: The award will help re-establish a local, women-led organization decimated by ISIS. The organization will also provide small-business vocational training to women in the Nineveh Plains.

Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights: The award will provide trauma-rehabilitation and resilience services to survivors of genocide; legal services and programs in justice/reparations; and activities to promote inter-religious and inter-ethnic dialogue.

The United States remains committed to supporting persecuted religious and ethnic minorities in Northern Iraq. With these new awards, the total assistance the U.S. Government has provided since 2017 in Northern Iraq is now more than $400 million. These programs complement H.R. 390, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018, which passed with bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress and which President Donald J. Trump signed into law on December 11, 2018. Additional U.S. humanitarian assistance has also benefited the same Iraqi communities.

New Funding for the IOM and Samaritan's Purse to Help Victims of ISIS Genocide

Administrator Green also announced at the Accord Network that Samaritan's Purse will receive $9 million as a part of a new $18 million award to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to support the return and recovery of displaced religious and ethnic minority communities in the Nineveh Plains and Western Nineveh Province in Iraq.

New USAID Assistance in Global Health Through the NPI

Administrator Green also announced two new awards under the Agency's NPI for global health. These awards, which total $68 million, will leverage the expertise and reach of local and locally established civil society and faith- and community-based organizations to increase the quality, access, and sustainability of health care.

The new NPI implementers for global health are the following:

World Relief: Working with local partners, World Relief will expand and leverage existing community networks in four countries to help strengthen maternal, reproductive, and child health at the local level.

Palladium International: This program will help reach USAID's goal of increasing access to, and the uptake of, high-quality health care across priority areas, in line with USAID's Journey to Self-Reliance. The partner will provide sub-awards to local organizations, along with mentoring and technical support to strengthen their capacity. Palladium will be expected to pass sixty-five percent of the total award to new and underutilized sub-awardees.

(Source: USAID)

From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

The death toll from three days of mass anti-government protests in Iraq has risen to 20, with hundreds more wounded as authorities imposed curfew in several cities and cut internet access across much of the country to quell unrest.

The protests, which began in capital Baghdad on Tuesday, are mostly spontaneous and without political leadership, staged by disenchanted youth demanding jobs, improved services, such as electricity and water, and an end to Iraq's endemic corruption.

The demonstrations have since spread to cities across the mainly Shia south, making it the most serious challenge to Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's year-old government.

Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid has the latest:

By John Lee.

The Iraqi Minister of Finance has met with China's state-owned investment company CITIC Bank to discuss the financing of projects in Iraq.

Minister Fuad Hussein held talks with CITIC Bank chairman Chang Zhenming, in the presence of the Iraqi governors, transport minister, and electricity minister.

The projects are said to include rail and power infrastructure.

(Source: Iraqi Ministry of Finance, Reuters, Kurdistan24)

By John Lee.

During their recent visit to China, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, accompanied by the Ministers of Transport and Electricity visited the China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), which specializes in transport, energy, communications and heavy engineering equipment.

The company is already involved in the reconstruction of Salah al-Din power station and is in negotiations regarding power stations in Al-Khairat and Karbala.

Iraq’s Electricity Minister Luay al-Khateeb said he hoped to establish a strategic economic partnerships with China, with a focus on the energy sector.

(Source: Iraqi Ministry of Finance)

By John Lee.

The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Fuad Hussein, accompanied by the Ministers of Transport and Electricity, a number of Governors, Advisors to the Prime Minister and a number of general managers visited the China Railway Company earlier this week.

Among the projects discussed were the building of the Karbala-Najaf railway.

The Minister of Transport stressed the importance of the project and said that Iraq is ready to complete negotiations on the technical specifications.

(Source: Iraqi Ministry of Finance)