Expansion of the KAB programme in Kurdistan targeting students enrolled in vocational education institutes and unemployed youth graduates of Technical and Vocational Education and Training

The ILO and UNESCO are working in the Autonomous Kurdish Region of Iraq to expand the ILO flagship enterprise development programme Know About Business, targeting youth throughout the region.

Summary

There are several intersecting challenges facing Iraq, and one of the most important is youth unemployment. Youth unemployment rates have been on the rise since 2006 with almost more than one million unemployed youth constituting over 50 per cent of total unemployment.

In response, the ILO has partnered with UNESCO to expand its existing enterprise development programme Know About Business (KAB) in the Autonomous Kurdish Region of Iraq in collaboration with the the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), and non-governmental organizations located in three governorates of the Autonomous Kurdish Region of Iraq.

Objectives

  • Contribute to promoting entrepreneurship education amongst youth in Kurdistan by expanding the provision of KAB to reach unemployed Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates and students enrolled in vocational education institutions;
  • Test KAB and assess the programme as an ‘out of school’ entrepreneurship education course targeting young Kurdish women and men graduates from TVET institutions, and as an extracurricular course delivered to 11th grade students enrolled in vocational education institutions.

Main Activities

  • Adapt KAB materials to the local Kurdish socio-economic context;
  • build the capacity of Kurdish teachers to deliver the KAB programme;
  • implement the KAB programme under the MoLSA, the MoE, and the MoHE on a pilot project basis;
  • extend necessary technical assistance to the MoE, the MoHE and the Ministry of Labour to ensure the dissemination of KAB as an entrepreneurship education course in the Autonomous Kurdish Region of Iraq.

Outcomes

  • KAB curriculum is introduced in Kurdish as an entrepreneurship education course targeting young Kurdish women and men, graduates from TVET institutions, as well as those enrolled in vocational education institutes.
  • KAB training capacity built under the MoLSA, the MoE and the MoHE.
  • KAB is implemented at the MoLSA, the MoE, and the MoHE.