Baghdad, The activities of the “Iraq and Climate Change” Forum were launched today, Sunday, in the capital, Baghdad, organized by the European Union delegation to Iraq on the occasion of the World Climate Action Day, in the presence of the Ministers of Planning, Environment, Trade and Agriculture, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, ambassadors of European Union countries and representatives of diplomacy missions, and international organizations.

This event was organized by Particip and funded by the European Union Delegation to Iraq, as the Europe for Iraq Team (Tawfiq) is an initiative of the European Union to coordinate the efforts of its members, in particular Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, in order to support diversified, sustainable and inclusive economic development in Iraq.

The "Tawfiq" initiative aims to achieve positive and influential change in Iraq by providing more and better job opportunities for Iraqi youth in cooperation with partners from the Iraqi government, the private sector, civil society and international organizations.

The "Tawfiq" initiative also supports the efforts of the Iraqi government in partnership with the private sector and Civil society to confront the structural challenges of the Iraqi economy arising from the lack of economic diversification, the weakness of the private sector, and the lack of a fertile environment for investment, in addition to the negative impact of climate change.

With high unemployment rates, especially among Iraqi youth, it was necessary to move forward with structural reforms of the economy to empower the private sector, support the development of businesses and liberal professions, facilitate access to financing, stimulate the labor market, fight corruption, create a competitive legal framework, and empower women economically.

To confront demographic pressures and climate change, decisive and joint action must be taken in order to ensure social and economic stability and national cohesion, as the (Tawfiq) initiative focuses on three basic priority areas for economic development in Iraq, which are “reforming the banking sector and access to financing, developing businesses and liberal professions, providing a climate for business and investment.”

In order to support these three priority areas, Tawfiq team members are calling for the implementation of a large and coordinated set of development projects, and calling on European development finance institutions to support them.

This package of supporting projects, along with the continuation of the joint political dialogue, constitutes an asset to the Tawfiq Initiative and its partners, from the Iraqi government, the private sector, civil society, as well as international organizations to lead transformative economic change in Iraq.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency