US-Funded Employment Programs Criticized by Iraqi Activists
The United States seeks to combat perceptions from some Iraqi activists that its training and employment programs have been ineffective, writes Omar al-Shaher.
Civil activists in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province believe that the US-funded livelihood-skills training programs were either overly selective or riddled with corruption.
In this regard, the US Embassy in Baghdad announced that on on Feb. 16 it hosted the “Victories from Iraq” bazaar, featuring the works of Iraqi artists who have benefited from US-funded programs addressing unemployment and developing small businesses.
Mohamed al-Alwani, the head of a youth organization in the city of Ramadi, noted, “Although the Americans have invested millions of dollars between 2005 and 2009 in employment projects in Anbar, the Iraqi intermediaries misused these amounts.”
According to the US Embassy in Baghdad, “Since 2007, the US State Department has provided over $53 million to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to implement livelihood projects for 145,000 Iraqis.”
