IRI. The project aims to contribute to the sustainability of the recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in post-conflict Iraq by establishing viable mechanisms to bolster the country’s human resource base in key areas of the public sector. A total of 60 Iraqi experts currently living abroad will be selected to undertake short and long term deployments to enhance the institutional capacity of the Iraqi Ministries and other Iraqi public sector institutions.

Overview
The Arab Human Development Report 2003 ‘Building a Knowledge Society’ concluded that despite the presence of significant human capital in the region, certain constraints hamper the acquisition, diffusion and production of knowledge in Arab societies. This human capital, under more promising conditions, could offer a substantial base for an Arab knowledge renaissance.

The IRI project intends to contribute to the sustainability of the recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in post-conflict Iraq by establishing viable mechanisms to bolster the country’s human resource base in the key areas of public sector. Specifically, the project offers expatriate Iraqis who have migrated to other countries and achieved professional success abroad the possibility to undertake short-term consultancies of up to one year in Iraq. The project targets those needs which cannot be immediately met by the labour force inside Iraq and which are deemed essential for the reconstruction and development efforts of the country.

IOM, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), are jointly implementing the IRI project in coordination with the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation. They aim to:

The programme:

• Assist the Iraqi authorities to identify human resources gaps in key areas of the public sector and to develop professional profiles and eligibility criteria for the posts required to fill these gaps.
• Identify specific skills available among the Iraqi émigré community based on the needs identified by Iraqi public sector authorities.
• Develop a database and website, to establish an Iraqi Skills Roster and to match the demand and supply of human resources.
• Deploy and support Iraqi expatriate experts to fill identified gaps in the Ministries and other public sector institutions and to provide capacity building, professional support and training for existing staff.
  

Progress
Despite the unstable security situation, more than 470 experts have applied for assignments in Iraq since the beginning of the project activities. All IRI assignments are based on “requests for experts” received from 28 different Ministries and public institutions in Iraq. To date, there are more than 280 opportunities for Iraqi professionals presently residing abroad and interested to take up a short term mission to work in Iraq in the public sector.

Programme details
The Programme aims to assist the Iraqi Government to support initially approximately 60 Iraqi expatriates currently living abroad to undertake short and long term assignments (3, 6 or 12 months) to support Iraq toward a better future. The promotion of equal employment opportunities is crucial, and female experts are encouraged to apply. The Programme provides travel back and forth from expert’s country of residence to Iraq and back. The Programme also provides appropriate compensation package and temporary accommodation assistance, if required. The general support package is the same for all the candidates regardless of the length of the assignment, however, for those candidates undertaking 12-month assignments the programme may also finance the transport costs of immediate family members if they stay for the whole period of the expert’s assignment.

Partners
Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation, UNDP, 28 Participating Iraqi Ministries and Universities, UN Country Team, particularly under Cluster C.

For full information visit the Iraqis Rebuilding Iraq official website : http://www.iraq-iri.org