Mashreq Gender Facility: Advancing the Child Care Agenda in Iraq

This project aims to build on the Mashreq Gender Facility child care work to support women’s participation in the Iraqi economy. Access to quality child care services is key to facilitating women's economic activity in the Mashreq region. Women in this region are impacted disproportionately by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic due to job losses and increased care responsibilities. The Facility will provide technical support and funding for strategic regional and country-level child care activities based on action plans developed by the respective governments in collaboration with the private sector and civil society. Project activities include: (1) identifying intervention opportunities through a market assessment; (2) providing training to increase the resilience of child care services; (3) developing strategies to increase the market supply for child care services; (4) gathering evidence on the child care sector; and (5) raising awareness about how child care services can improve social conditions. This is one of three parts of the Mashreq Gender Facility project in Iraq Jordan and Lebanon with a total budget of $4 million for its child care component.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) established national commitments to provide and expand child care through the coordinated engagement of the public and private sector stakeholders; (2) increased capacity of governments and local actors to address child care provision challenges based on new data knowledge and evidence; and (3) identified innovative solutions to bridge the supply and demand sides of child care services.