Building Equitable and Inclusive Transformation (BEIT): Towards Decent Work and Affordable Housing in Iraq

The Building Equitable and Inclusive Transformation (BEIT) project funded by the European Union and implemented by ILO in partnership with UN-HABITAT and ITC aims to stimulate decent work opportunities, generate quality jobs for young women and men while addressing urgent need for affordable housing, especially for lower income and vulnerable people in Iraq by enhancing the housing and construction sector.

The BEIT project aims to stimulate decent work opportunities for young women and men while improving living conditions through addressing urgent need for affordable housing, especially for lower income and vulnerable people in Iraq. The project seeks to introduce a public works programme complementing support for addressing existing gaps within the Government and the private sector through Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) initiative. Furthermore, it aims to improve access to adequate and sustainable housing to create better living conditions for low-income and vulnerable populations; and build the capacities of the housing sector – including government actors and micro, small and medium enterprises, and civil society organizations – as a driver of economic growth.

Through the programme, the ILO seeks to:

• Contribute to the implementation of the public works and labour governance reform programme; facilitate coordination with implementing partners and the donor; and implement synergies with other programmes implemented by the ILO in Iraq, including on EIIP, social protection, formalization, access to finance, entrepreneurship, among others.
• Work with constituents and partners to improve the capacities of ministerial and decentralised actors for Public Works Programme design and implementation, integrating Employment Intensive Approaches with focus on the housing sector.
• Improve the institutional capacity for policy development, enforcement, and coordination to fight against child labour in the construction sector with focus on the brick industry, protection of labour rights and promotion of safe and secure working environments for all workers including young people, women and IDPs.
• Support the implementation of the roadmap to strengthen the application of the right to collective bargaining.
• Strengthen the capacities of the Government of Iraq (GoI) and women for the integration of women and girl’s empowerment, equality and non-discrimination at policy level and the workplace.