The Iraqi Transitional National Assembly elections provided a unique opportunity for women to act politically.  Yet a multitude of factors rendered women both as voters and candidates unprepared and therefore, under-represented. In addition, women’s networks and organizations lacked the necessary skills to support women’s participation.  The objective of this project was to provide these organizations with skills that will help promote women’s participation in the elections, including lobbying, awareness raising and campaigning.

NSCE participated jointly with SDD on a program design mission in Iraq, where the team networked with women’s NGOs and international organizations, researched their needs and held a one day project planning workshop.  In the second mission, the NSCE team delivered a strategic planning and advocacy, and a communication and media skills workshop. These were held in Amman, Jordan with a total of 22 participants from a dozen women’s organizations attending. Through the participatory exercises the need for continuity and follow-up, and that further training, capacity building, networking and basic skills were important. Therefore, while this workshop’s target was a limited, albeit significant, event, NSCE plans to help advance women’s political rights by making use of the information and contacts it has established through this project and submit a proposal for a more comprehensive mission.

July 2004 – January 2005

DFID: UK Department for International Development

IRAQ

NSCE’s main task consists in empowering the Ministry and making its Project Management Unit able to assume efficiently its role of supervision of the planned activities and its role of coordination of the planned partnerships (with technical Ministries, with media, with civil society).

July 2004 – December 2005

African Development Bank

DJIBOUTI

The Governorate Capacity Building Project, under the Iraq Framework funded by the UK Department for International Development, is assisting the four southern Governorates of Iraq in various aspects of institutional capacity building.

The project is aimed at achieving long-term sustainable reforms that will enhance the capacity and effectiveness of the local governments to manage the decentralization process, formulate policy, manage resources and improve delivery of public services to the citizens in general and to the impoverished population by decades of war.

There are three main inter-related components to the project –public administration capacity building, capacity building in the private sector and capacity building in the social development sector. The project therefore requires numerous consultancy inputs in these areas.

As member of the consortium selected for implementing this project, NSCE is subcontracted by the Leading Company (Enterplan) to provide experts in the area of capacity building for strengthening local councils, NGOs, strategic planning, public expenditure, training etc., for short as well as long term assignments in Basra.