Capacity Building Programs

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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM PROJECT


Program Snapshot

  • Award amount: $156.6 million
  • Start/End Dates: June 2011- June 2015
  • Implementing Partner: Management Systems International  (MSI)       
  • Iraqi Counterparts: Government of Iraq Ministries
  • Areas of Operation: All provinces


USAID established the Administrative Reform Project called Tarabot (Arabic for linkages) to provide the Government of Iraq with broad support for its strategic goal of strengthening public management institutions and improving service delivery processes through better governance and improved management of human and fiscal resources. Tarabot includes three components: civil service reform, national policy management, and administrative decentralization. These components, separately and together, will assist the Government to initiate far-reaching changes, building on Iraq’s progress in public management.  The program takes a whole-of-government approach, focusing on improving the horizontal and vertical linkages among a wide range of government agencies and across fifteen provinces (not including the Kurdish Regional Government).

Civil Service Reform: This component provides technical assistance to finalize comprehensive civil service legislation, establish guidelines for the Federal Civil Service Commission, set up Provincial Civil Service Commissions, and operationalize modern human resource departments in key ministries.  Working with the High Committee for Civil Service Reform, Tarabot supports the establishment of a professional, effective, merit-based, and transparent Iraqi civil service.

National Policy Management:  This component assists government executive offices to establish policy units to formulate and communicate policy; consult effectively with ministerial, provincial, and private stakeholders on the formulation of specific policies; and guide the implementation of new policies once they become law.  A special unit will focus on regulatory reform, developing an efficient system to streamline and/or eliminate ineffective and business-unfriendly laws, decrees, and regulations.  USAID and the Office of the Prime Minister formalized their partnership to improve public policy-making through a memorandum of understanding, signed April 2012.

Administrative Decentralization:  This component focuses on: 1) improving capital investment planning and implementation through continued capacity building in budgeting, procurement, and project oversight and management, 2) improving service delivery by introducing new models and automation where applicable, and 3) developing regulations and institutional structures for effective de-concentration of resources, and the practical devolution of selected administrative responsibilities. Tarabot promotes shifting administrative decision-making down to the levels where services are actually delivered, and where investment planning is rooted in practical realities that facilitate timely execution and economic impact.  To date, six provincial governors have established project management offices to oversee the implementation of projects in their provinces.

GOVERNANCE STRENGTHENING PROJECT

Program Snapshot

  • Award Amount: $117 million
  • Start/End Dates: October 2011- September 2016
  • Implementing partner: Chemonics
  • Iraqi Counterparts: Provincial governments and local councils
  • Areas of operations: All Iraqi provinces

The Governance Strengthening Project is a four-year, $117 million project, with one optional year. The project is active in all parts of Iraq. The program increases the capacity of provincial governors and provincial and local councils better respond to the needs of Iraqi citizens.  The three components of the project include:

 Legal Reform: Clarify the authorities and responsibilities of provincial governments and local councils to improve the decentralization framework;

 Institutional Strengthening: Provincial and local councils are capable of implementing their core authorities and responsibilities; and

 Executive Oversight: Provincial and local elected officials hold executive ministries accountable for improved services.

Activities under these components are Iraqi-led, supporting Government of Iraq (GoI) and civil society efforts to strengthen the responsiveness of provincial and local governments to community needs.  

Provinces that participate in the program are expected to meet the following three commitments: provide matching funds/cost sharing, accept and implement reform, and conduct public outreach and include community groups in decision-making.

The Governance Strengthening Project and a companion USAID program, the Iraq Administrative Reform Project – Tarabot, and will complement the transition of overall U.S. Government assistance from one rooted in a reconstruction, stabilization and counterinsurgency, to one based on a long-term strategic partnership and a sustainable development strategy. 

 

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PROGRAM IN IRAQ

Program Snapshot

  • Funding: $74.8 million
  • Start/End Dates: March 2011 – March 2015
  • Implementing Partner: University Research Co., LLC
  • Iraqi partners: Ministry of Health
  • Areas of Operation: All Iraqi Provinces

USAID has partnered with the Iraqi Ministry of Health to strengthen the delivery of primary health care services through the Primary Health Care Project (PHCP).  USAID and the Ministry of Health (MoH) formalized their partnership through a memorandum of understanding in September 2011.  The project aims to increase the use of evidence-based primary health care services through strengthening the management of the health care system, improving compliance with clinical service guidelines, and strengthening community participation in service delivery.

The MoH and USAID collaborated on a baseline assessment of the primary health care system, identifying strengths, gaps, and priorities.  The assessment will serve as a basis for monitoring and improving the primary health management system, clinical practices and community involvement.

Supportive Management Systems and Processes for Primary Health Care

  • Develop a standards and guidelines handbook for managing health care clinics
  • Establish a management training program
  • Develop a patient records system

 Delivery of Evidence-Based, Quality Primary Health Care Services

  • Develop policies and procedures for establishing nation-wide standards of care.
  • Develop a standards and guidelines handbook for clinical service delivery.
  • Develop an expanded Primary Health Care Quality Improvement (QI) Program.
  • Expand Ministry of Health human resource development capacity through development of a Primary Health Care In-Service Training Program.
  • Develop a research agenda for strengthening primary health care.

 Community Partnerships for Primary Health Care 

  • Develop and disseminate a statement of patients’ rights in
  • Develop a handbook for quality standards and operational guidance on establishing health-related community partnerships