81295344-Financial Inclusion for Economic Restart and Integration in Iraq - Development of inclusive financial services

The Multi-Donor Action "Financial Inclusion for Economic Restart and Integration in Iraq" is jointly co-financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The national partners are the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and the Central Bank of Iraq. The project aims to sustainably improve financial inclusion and access to inclusive financial services for vulnerable target groups such as women, youth, people affected by poverty, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, refugees and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The project has four Outputs, (1) Developing inclusive financial services, (2) Enhancing awareness about inclusive financial services and the financing of renewable energies, (3) Strengthening the capacities of the Central Bank of Iraq to promote and regulate inclusive financial services, and (4) Improving conditions for women-led businesses to access financial services. The overall project duration lasts from December 2021 to November 2024 with a total commissioning value of EUR 16.050.000 (EU contribution EUR 11.000.000) and BMZ contribution EUR 5.050.000; BMZ"s total funding for the BMZ project "Finanzielle Inklusion für wirtschaftlichen Neubeginn im Irak" is EUR 7.000.000). The Action is part of and contributes to the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) `Sustainable and inclusive socio-economic perspectives for Iraq´ (2021-2026); the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Special Initiative `Tackling the root causes of dis-placement, reintegrating refugees´and the two EU Special Measures: First, the EU Special Measure 2019/2020 `Support to Governance and Sustainable Job Creation in Iraq´ (MIDEAST/2020/042-211 and MIDEAST/2019/041-827), which aims to support economic governance, vocational training, migration management, and job creation through sustainable agriculture and diversification of economic opportunities. Second, the EU Special Measure `Support to the Energy Sector Reform in Iraq´ (MIDEAST/2018/ 41-106), which aims to enhance the availability of sustainable, affordable energy and limit the environmental impact of hydrocarbon combustion. In order to improve the insufficient access to finance for MSMEs, the project has designed the following outputs: Output 1 to support the provision of needs-based inclusive financial services such as sustainably accessible accounts, cashless payment transactions and credits geared towards MSMEs in urban and rural areas. Output 2 aims at providing awareness-raising and information offers on inclusive financial services for vulnerable target groups. Output 3 aims to align the central bank's regulations and monitoring practices more closely to market developments and financial inclusion. Output 4 4 aims to improve the institutional conditions for women-led businesses to gain access to financial services. The assignment is embedded in the overall activities of the project. The contractor will carry out activities related to Output 1 and Output 4 and provide selective inputs for the other Outputs. GIZ as well as the selected contractor will work jointly on achieving the goals and objectives of the project.