The International Labour Organization has concluded the final round of an advanced training programme aimed at strengthening Public Employment Services (PES) and improving labour-market intermediation in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region and Ninewa province. The second workshop brought together over 45 participants, including employment counsellors from MoLSA’s PES offices, university-based Career Development Centre teams, and employer representatives from Chambers of Commerce and Industry, to enhance cooperation and service delivery across the labour market.
The programme forms part of ILO’s broader efforts to modernize employment services, reinforce labour-market governance, and prepare PES and CDCs to play a central role in implementing national employment policies. The training introduced advanced tools for recruitment support, employer engagement, coordination, and digital services, while addressing outreach challenges and aligning with the realities of the local labour market, including the hidden job market. Employers shared insights on recruitment challenges, skill gaps, and job-readiness expectations, which helped shape a roadmap for sustained collaboration between PES, CDCs, and the private sector.
Participants were introduced to the ILO manual How to Support an Employer?, which emphasizes building strong ties between employment services and employers to improve job matching and workforce development. This built upon an earlier session in Erbil based on the ILO handbook How to Support a Job Seeker?, which focused on assisting vulnerable groups, career transitions, and developing essential competencies such as labour-market analysis, legal awareness, career guidance, and interpersonal skills.
The two workshops together form an integrated training package that strengthens labour-market intermediation and equips institutions to implement Iraq’s employment policies effectively. The skills developed support ILO-defined Active Labour Market Policies, helping jobseekers find work, plan for the long term, and ensure inclusivity. These efforts complement ongoing ILO initiatives with MoLSA and national partners to develop evidence-based employment policies, strengthen labour-market information systems, and build institutional capacity, ultimately advancing decent work across Iraq.
The initiative is part of the PROSPECTS Partnership, funded by the Government of the Netherlands, and the project “Promoting Employment and Employability among Refugees, IDPs and Host Communities, focusing on Women, PWDs, and Youths in Northern Iraq,” implemented in partnership with GIZ’s EPSI project and funded by Germany’s BMZ.
