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In 2022, nearly 75 percent of youth aged 15 to 24 in countries with available data were off-track to acquire the skills needed for employment, according to UNICEF. The International Labour Organization reports that youth employment in Iraq is a concern: in 2022, the labour force participation rate for young people aged 15 to 24 remained at 26.5 percent. This challenge is exacerbated by a fragmented and incomplete data landscape. Data is siloed among various public and private entities, and regulatory frameworks are insufficient to support effective data-sharing or policymaking.
Stakeholders from the Iraqi Government (the Iraq Prime Minister Office, National Data Centre) and actors from the Iraqi digital economy teamed up to close the data gaps related to employment and to better understand labour market challenges, particularly around high youth unemployment. Local actors—including the Communications and Media Commission, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the entrepreneurship support and research organization KAPITA, the American University of Iraq–Baghdad (AUIB) and private sector representatives—also contributed expertise. Two German-funded initiatives by development actors BMZ and GIZ formed part of the solutions. These included ProDIGI, which promotes employment in Iraq’s digital economy, and the Data2Policy Navigator, which translates data into policy decisions. The Open Data Institute (ODI) and KAPITA provided a data ecosystem mapping framework. The coalition enabled the Iraqi Government to bring together private and public sector organizations to better understand current data processes and frameworks around youth employment in the digital economy. The mapping exercise culminated in a report with recommendations to enhance the accessibility and usability of labour market data. To support these efforts, KAPITA and ProsperIA, a social technology enterprise, developed two tools: an AI-integrated questionnaire for job seekers backed by quantitative job data, and a system to collect data through application programming interfaces (APIs) and web-scraping. All the data was made available to Ministries via analytical tools that could later be used by policymakers.
The Iraqi Government now has a more accessible and connected data ecosystem for the labour market. The Government can access enhanced employment data and deliver targeted policy measures which will help modernize the digital economy and lead to higher employment. The use case also expanded the quantity of data available, thanks to web-based data scraping. The use case seeks to promote SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth, by equipping policymakers with evidence and information to create strong labour policy. The approach also benefits SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, by ensuring Iraq is equipped with the knowledge and data to innovate in the digital economy.
In 2022, 60 percent of youth in Iraq lacked the digital skills needed for employment and social inclusion. (UNICEF)
Unemployment is one of Iraq’s most pressing socioeconomic challenges. The country’s post-conflict rebuilding phase has coincided with rapid growth in its youth population, yet job opportunities have remained limited. Young people aged 15–24 are particularly at risk: they face high unemployment rates and a labour market characterized by informal and low-skilled jobs.
Government ministries in Iraq need high quality data and strong cooperation if they are to better understand labour market dynamics and address the country’s unemployment issues with impactful policymaking. As it stands, the data ecosystem for Iraq’s labour market is highly fragmented, with public, private and non-governmental organizations all storing and hosting different information. This fragmentation undermines coordinated efforts towards the common goal of reducing unemployment. Given these data gaps, it is essential to increase the quantities of data and develop a more connected data ecosystem.
Promoting digital transformation and the transition to a digital economy will strengthen the Iraqi economy by generating high-quality employment opportunities, fostering innovation and encouraging economic diversification. To ensure the economy benefits from digital transformation, the country must tackle fragmented data approaches across the public and private sectors. Key barriers include outdated regulations, limited ICT and digital skills, and weak digital infrastructure. By working together to improve the availability of high-quality data and creating a unified approach to data management, collection and uptake, Iraq will be better positioned to develop forward-looking labour policies.
GIZ is Germany’s main development agency, and the organization worked with the Iraq Government to identify key policy issues around employment and the labour market. The agency carried out extensive stakeholder engagement and research to evaluate the current state of the labour data landscape. The research revealed a complex network of actors within the data ecosystem: Government agencies, international organizations, NGOs and the private sector all play a role as data consumers or producers, yet coordination and data-sharing are limited.
To unite organizations across the public and private sector in Iraq, GIZ, KAPITA and ODI hosted a workshop dedicated to mapping the country’s data ecosystem. Utilizing ODI’s data ecosystem mapping methodology, the workshop united different stakeholders with complementary but fragmented knowledge to identify existing data sources, infrastructure and data flows. Understanding the country’s data ecosystem helped to identify data gaps and blind spots and revealed opportunities to address these.
Participants were divided into groups and took part in a variety of exercises. Attendees described the data assets they manage and identified critical stakeholders within the data ecosystem: those who collect data, aggregate data, publish data, and data consumers. The groups then mapped information flows before creating a larger map illustrating the data ecosystem. Stakeholders discussed the current coordination of labour market data and how enhanced collaboration could improve data quality, accessibility and usability. The workshop also generated insights into recent developments that could be leveraged as a rich source of data, such as the new Iraqi national ID system.
Drawing on insights gained during the data ecosystem mapping process, the ProDIGI and Data2Policy teams identified that improving access to data for the Iraqi Ministry of Planning was an urgent priority. The team formulated a two-pronged approach to enhance the availability of both quantitative and qualitative data. First, GIZ worked with ProsperIA to design a questionnaire that allowed for open-ended responses. The questionnaire integrated AI into both the front and back end. On the front-end, AI enabled interactions with respondents and asked intelligent follow-up questions to gain deeper insights into job seekers’ needs. On the back end, AI was used for automated data extraction, accelerating the analysis of qualitative data. Data was crowdsourced by distributing the survey to job seekers through WhatsApp and Telegram. The survey also featured voice message integration and was designed with accessibility in mind, including language availability in Sorani Kurdish, Arabic and English. All the data will be provided to the Iraqi Ministry of Planning in an interactive, visual format together with analytical tools to help pinpoint key themes and trends.
In addition, the team employed APIs and web-scraping techniques to collect quantitative data about the state of the job market in Iraq. Structured and unstructured job data was collected, cleaned and made available via an analytical tool. The datasets will be critical to advancing the digital economy in Iraq and identifying strengths and opportunities for the Iraqi workforce, particularly for youth employment.
Data is an essential tool for Iraq that can be used to revitalize the country’s ailing labour market. However, success depends on public and private sector collaboration. To compete on a global scale, the Iraqi Government must introduce policies that reduce unemployment while simultaneously fostering innovation and accelerating the growth of its digital economy. Without appropriate evidence and data to understand current labour market dynamics, policies may fall short of expectations. The data ecosystem mapping workshop marked the first step in this process. Through this collaboration, new data, insights and tools will strengthen the data ecosystem and support the Government’s ability to take meaningful policy action.
With clearer visibility into the opportunities and gaps in Iraq’s labour market data, public and private stakeholders can work together to create a usable data ecosystem. Recommendations from the workshop and the report offer a path forward for the public and private sector, which include:
Implementing these recommendations will strengthen Iraq’s labour market and support proactive and reactive policies that benefit society at large. With a baseline of labour market data now in place, the country can integrate these insights into initial policy planning. Data from the questionnaire will provide insights into individual experiences in the job market. Processing large quantities of labour market data will help authorities understand broader trends and market needs. This will enable the Government to design tailored policies that foster economic growth, drive digitization, and help employers find the talent they need.
