New ILO paper: “Education attainment gap in Iraq and the potential of social protection to reverse it”
A new ILO working paper examines loss of earnings due to Iraq’s education gap and outlines the potential of social protection to address this gap, based on international good practices.

The paper examines and estimates the national economic loss in terms of potential cash flow from the labour market that could have been generated if young Iraqis received education at the same level as their peers in other countries.
According to the paper, Iraq is in the early stage of an “demographic window of opportunity”, with a young population and a growing labour force. However, the young generation entering the labour market in Iraq is facing an education gap, compared with peers in countries at the same income level.
The paper draws on international practices from other countries’ experiences that have demonstrated positive impact on school enrolment. It outlines how effective social protection programmes can strengthen access to education, by addressing some of the financial barriers faced by school-aged children.

The latest paper forms part of series of working papers produced by the ILO, often in collaboration with UN partners, to support the Government of Iraq in reforming its social protection system, with the support of the European Union .