Completed: Skill Training
To support the expansion of a competitive and efficient private sector in Iraq, two USAID programs partnered with local business centers to provide thousands of Iraqis with essential business and vocational skills. The Business Skills Training program established professional skills centers throughout Iraq to provide essential and specialized business training. Over 300 grants supported small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) throughout Iraq. The Vocational Education program directly addressed unemployment, providing basic vocational and technical training to over 12,000 Iraqis.
BUSINESS SKILLS TRAINING
Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA), a consortium of 14 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), partnered with seven regional business centers to provide training in essential business skills. From July 2004 to December 2005, VEGA supported Iraq's nascent private sector through training and technical assistance to business centers, start-up businesses, and executives in target industries. The VEGA program has emphasized business basics training, business plan development, and in-house mentoring as well as improvements in access to business and market information.
Accomplishments
- Trained 1,400 Iraqis in business basics and over 720 in customized courses (e.g. quality control, warehouse management).
- Awarded $2,711,062 in grants to 323 small and medium-sized enterprises throughout Iraq.
- Provided training and technical assistance in areas like business planning and procurement.
- Trained and placed Iraqi business case managers in four local business service providers.
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
From September 2004 to September 2005, the Iraq Vocational Training and Employment Services Project coordinated with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA) to provide basic vocational and technical training, working to rehabilitate and develop 13 Vocational Training and Technical Centers (VTTCs). The program also provided extensive training to MOLSA staff.
Curriculums were developed and handed over to VTTCs for the following courses:
- Welding
- Lathe work
- Carpentry
- Electrical functions
- Auto mechanics
- Tailoring
- Cosmetology
- Plumbing
- Small appliance repair
- Elevator repair
The project was suspended in September 2005 to meet the changing needs of the Iraqi Government. As development and reconstruction progressed throughout the country, the Iraqi Government saw a renewed need for Operations and Maintenance (O&M) training for government employees in essential services sectors, such as power and water.
Accomplishments
- During the life of the project 12,107 Iraqis received training, 34 percent of whom were women.
- 6,441 trainees have graduated from various training courses as of September 30, 2005.
- The outreach program placed 7,000 people in short-term jobs.
- Over 400 MOLSA trainers and managers received training.
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