Mid-Term Evaluation Report Of The Project “Contribute To The Economic Recovery Of Iraq Through Employment Creation And Revitalization Of Local Economies”

The project was launched in 2019 by IOM in partnership with KfW (German Development Bank) to support economic recovery and job creation in affected areas in Iraq. Through this project, IOM provides medium and long term livelihood support to individual, community and institutional level, as well as, short-term response focusing on individual Cash for Work (CfW) interventions. Livelihood support aims at the sustainable employment of individuals, including self-employment in business for those with particular skills or high potential in business. Livelihood support also aims at revitalizing the economy at the community level by providing financial support to businesses to start, re-open and expand, thus, revitalizing the economy, creating new employment opportunities and supporting the recovery and stability of the target areas. Securing employment or successful self-employment generates income that the household can use to meet basic needs preventing possible negative coping strategies. Increased financial security within a target community contributes directly to the revitalization of the local economy, which in turn generates more economic opportunities for other community members.

The evaluation is a Mid-Term Evaluation (MTE), conducted by IOM to provide insights about the effectiveness of the programme to KfW and IOM programme management. The main objective is to evaluate the program’s performance against the desired results as articulated in the project's result framework. Recommendations will be used to improve learning for the project and future interventions, including phase II of the programme. The evaluation specific objectives include: • Assess the overall project’s performance from a planning, implementation and knowledge management point of view, by identifying the key strengths and weaknesses and make any recommendations; • Identify lessons-learned and best practices resulting from the project to inform future strategies and interventions, primarily phase II of the programme; • Provide relevant and timely contributions to organizational learning and informed decision-making based on the analysis of the programme performance; • Ensure the programme’s accountability for results and endorse IOM’s obligation on transparency and Accountability to the Affected Populations (AAP).