Quality and Effectiveness in Dialogue and Participation in Iraq

Country: Iraq
Project Name: Quality and Effectiveness in Dialogue and Participation in Iraq
Contact person: Miriam Nagels nagels@elbarlament.org
Project duration: 01.10.2023 – 31.03.2024
Project objective: To advance and improve the results and processes of previous and ongoing dialogues and to prepare future dialogue and participation (D&P) processes with enhanced governmental ownership in Iraq.

Elbarlament contributes to Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH’s PDP project with the project “Quality and Effectiveness in Dialogue and Participation in Iraq”, with the aim to advance and improve the processes and results of existing and ongoing processes as well as prepare future dialogue and participation (D&P) processes with enhanced governmental ownership.

As part of the project it will commission five local civil society organisations (CSO) to prepare and ground participatory dialogue processes. One CSO will be asked in the framework of a sub-grant to go beyond this phase and to start implementing dialogues in selected governorates. The topics of all these processes will be in the area of climate change, empowerment of women, youth and minorities.

Although Iraq has been experiencing more stability after the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2017, Iraqis are still waiting for the economic and social progress they have long desired. For years, Iraqis have had to cope with widespread insecurity and degrading livelihoods, as militia dominance has increased, vital services have collapsed, corruption has become endemic and economic conditions have deteriorated.

Although a new President was elected in October 2022, profound reforms are still outstanding. As a result of the government’s corruption, the lack of reform, poor infrastructure, high youth unemployment and lack of educational and job opportunities, as well as expensive living conditions the frustration among youth has increased steadily. Consequently, the gap between Iraqi youth and the country’s political elite has widened to dangerous levels. At the same time, the political scene is dominated by political elites who do not encourage youth expression and participation. Overall, there are no effective and trustful dialogue channels between the government and civil society stakeholders, especially the youth.

Against this background, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, implements the “Promoting Dialogue and Participation in Iraq” (PDP) project in partnership with the Iraqi Ministry of Planning (MoP). The project aims to create an environment conducive to inclusive dialogue and participation processes.

We have published Toolkit for Dialogue and Participation in Iraq, a set of guidelines based on best practices, lessons learned, and observations related to implemented dialogue forma. They cover the following topics:

Understanding Dialogue and Participation
Designing Sustainable Dialogue Processes
Stakeholders
Facilitating/Moderating Dialogue Sessions
Core values for Dialogue and Participation and ensuring Inclusivity and Diversity
What’s Next after Dialogue and Participation?
Specific Steps for Target Groups for Government and Civil Society

The guidelines will be a valuable resource enabling stakeholders (governmental actors, civil society organisations, dialogue facilitators, and moderators) to design and facilitate target-oriented and sustainable dialogue sessions on a modular basis. They help ensure consistency, effectiveness, and quality in the design, implementation and moderation of dialogue processes. The focus is on the successful implementation of dialogue formats specifically in the country of Iraq. However, it can serve as an example for other countries of the region as well.

You can download them here (in Arabic).

This project is funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH