USAID-Tijara signed an agreement with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on March 06 at the UN premise in Baghdad

GENEVA, March 9 (KUNA) -- The International Organization of Migration ( IOM) and USAID implementing partner USAID-Tijara have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate on private sector small business development in Iraq, with an emphasis on assisting vulnerable, conflict-affected groups. The MoU aims to help small businesses through USAID-Tijara's Iraqi Vulnerable Group Support Initiative (IVGSI) - a programme that complements IOM's Programme for Human Security and Stabilization (PHSS) and Community Revitalisation Programme (CRP) livelihood initiatives in Iraq, said the IOM Spokesperson Chris Lom in a press briefing. "Under the agreement, IOM will identify and select from among its beneficiaries vulnerable people who want to expand their businesses through access to microfinance institutions, and refer them to USAID-Tijara, which will in turn help them to access credit under the IVGSI", he explained.
IOM has been operating in Iraq since 2003, providing emergency aid, support for the return and reintegration of displaced people, livelihoods development, and capacity building. Specific IOM projects target Iraq's most vulnerable populations, including the displaced, returnees, and host communities, as well as female-headed households, victims of ongoing conflict, the disabled and people who are unemployed. IOM's PHSS, community assistance projects, and business development services focus on aiding the unemployed and their communities. The PHSS has helped approximately 27,000 internally displaced beneficiaries to establish small businesses through in-kind grants and other livelihood support. USAID-Tijara promotes private sector growth and employment in Iraq, including through an integrated approach to the formation and expansion of micro, small and medium-size enterprises; and the development of sustainable and efficient financial institutions that offer competitive, high-quality, inclusive and diversified financial products and services to micro and small-scale entrepreneurs in both rural and urban areas. USAID-Tijara's IVGSI is designed to help up to 2,600 vulnerable Iraqi families whose livelihoods have been jeopardized from continuing threats and violence to improve their economic security and enable them to better respond to social and economic shocks.