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The British Embassy in Baghdad is accepting bids for a 2-3 year project under the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) Iraq Programme. The overall vision of the project is to support Iraq to develop a more inclusive political system and to support broadened participation in political processes, and decision-making.

The project will look to:

And/or

a) The call for bids is open to international organisations, non-governmental organisations, and private sector entities. The contract will be a grant agreement awarded on a strictly not-for-profit basis. This call for bids is open to all suppliers in the market, including suppliers on the CSSF Framework

b) Bidders should have registration, presence and previous experience working in Iraq, with particular knowledge or experience of the political landscape

c) Bidders should consider sub-contracting with local CSOs or private sector organisations, using appropriate selection criteria

d) Deep, relevant thematic experience on the theme of inclusive politics, particularly in the MENA context

e) The Embassy strongly encourages bidders to develop innovative ideas, and to de-conflict to the extent possible with other existing and planned programmatic activity by third parties in Iraq

f) Bidders should have sufficient financial resilience and a proven track record of transparently and effectively managing donor funded projects of similar scale. Specifically Bidders should have previously received a direct fund of at least $200,000 for a one year spend

g) Grant agreements are strictly not allowed to generate a profit for the delivery partner. For-profit delivery organizations will be asked to provide proof of compliance with this requirement

h) Suppliers should pay particular attention to relevant UK legislation on aid divergence; and proscribed organizations

i) The Embassy retains the right to create a reserve list of bids that meet its technical criteria, which may subsequently be used to select additional bids

Bidders should submit a proposal/concept using this template. This should set out the concept for delivering a project based on the above broadly defined theme(s), to be delivered to a maximum budget of GBP 3m and over a maximum of 3 years.

Bidders should respond to either one of or both of the themes identified above.

All costs should be listed in GBP (not USD).

Official registration documents of the organisation in Iraq and document(s) showing annual turnover and proof of meeting the requirement for $200,000 recent funding (see above).

Concept notes should be sent to BaghdadCSSF.CallForBids@fco.gov.uk by 1 January 2021. In the subject line please indicate the name of the bidder and title of the concept/proposal Political Inclusion in Iraq. If you have not received a confirmation email within 48 hours, please get in touch with us.

The Embassy will consider which bidders concepts/proposals to shortlist. These organisations will then be asked to submit full bids. This decision will be based on:

Following selection of a shortlist of prospective grantees, the Embassy will ask for full bids including costed bids from these organisations only. This will include a detailed Activity Based Budget and completed Project Proposal Form. Further guidance and templates can be found here

Full evaluation criteria for these detailed bids will be shared with shortlisted organisations. They are likely to include aspects risk management, sustainability, value for money, quality, expertise, etc.

The Embassy reserves the right to carry out due diligence of potential grantees as part of the selection process. Due to the volume of concepts/proposals expected, we will not be able to provide feedback on unsuccessful concepts/proposals.

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Call for bids: supporting inclusive politics in Iraq - GOV.UK

The relationship between Baghdad and Erbil has been strained ever since Iraq managed to eliminate the threat of the Islamic State. Both sides perceive the others endeavors with anxiety but are too cautious to entirely shut the door on a future amicable settlement. Today, as both sides struggle to survive the economic impact of COVID having been forced to postpone important projects, a conflict between the two seems increasingly likely. At the same time, finding a mutually agreeable solution to the Iraqi-Kurdish division would massively benefit both parties. For the two sides to come to an agreement, there are multiple hurdles that must be overcome. First and foremost, Iraq desperately needs money as the fiscal breakeven level stipulated in its 2021 federal budget stands at 63 USD per barrel of oil. The Kurdish government, which is even more dependent on crude revenues than the notoriously oil-reliant Iraq, employs roughly half of the entire workforce in the region and has failed to pay out public sector salaries in a timely and adequate fashion. Thus, neither side has the freedom to act magnanimously and let go of funds that the populace might perceive as political misallocation.

Closely intertwined with the issue of budget revenues, compliance with the OPEC+ output quotas that Iraq has committed itself to has been a source of bad blood between the two sides. The Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Ismael stated that the production split was not done correctly, lamenting that Basrah production had decreased by 1mbpd (and another 0.1mbpd was allegedly cut in the Kirkuk area), whilst Kurdistan has barely made any changes to its usual upstream routine. It needs to be noted that following Iraqs wild overproduction during the first round of OPEC+ production cuts, Iraq has effectively started to comply with its commitments from June 2020 onwards and has kept its production around the 3.8mbpd mark (although its current quota stands at 3.65mbpd).

Graph 1. Monthly Volumes of Kurdistani Exports via Kirkuk in 2017-2020 (million barrels per day).

Source: Thomson Reuters.

Although companies active in the region of Iraqi Kurdistan have not cut production as part of a coordinated effort, they have still suffered from this years demand slump. Development drilling was arguably the most compromised element the number of drilling rigs at the Tawke field, for example, was reduced from four to one, Genels Qara Dagh appraisal program was delayed indeterminately, and Oryxs Hawler drilling program was also postponed. Thus, whilst Kurdish production has been well beyond the 370kbpd suggested/mandated by the Iraqi federal government, its prospects of a prospective production ramp-up have been tangibly hit by the coronavirus pandemic and its collateral effects.

Related: Climate Targets Could Slash Natural Gas Investment By $1 Trillion

Iraq has also seen its fair share of project delays, but due to its much larger resource pool, it can increase production fairly easily if needed. Rumaila is producing almost 200kbpd less now than before the COVID-induced slump, West Qurna-2 is underperforming by some 120kbpd; Zubair, Halfaya, and West Qurna-1 have roughly 100kbpd of additional production capacity that could be brought onstream relatively quickly. Needless to say, these are all currently producing fields as several big projects are looming in the near-term horizon the LUKOIL-operated 2.5 BBbls Eridu field alone is capable of boosting Iraqi oil output by 300kbpd from 2023 onwards. The Achilles heel of Iraqs oil industry lies in its water supply the COVID pandemic has put the Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) on hold, an indispensable element of any future production surge in Basrah.

The (re)creation of an overarching national oil company might be one elegant way to dovetail the interests of the federal authorities with those of the Kurdish regional government. INOC ceased to exist more than 30 years ago, Saddam Hussein broke it up in 1987 into several regional companies. Now, with Ihsan Ismael at the helm of the Iraqi oil ministry (he used to be the director-general of the Basrah Oil Company, the largest of regional oil-producing companies) the government consensus is that INOC should be reinstated by Q3 2021 or Q1 2022. The drive to reconstitute INOC is not new, Baghdad has tried to use it to pressurize Erbil into a deal although the federal law was voted by parliament in March 2018, it was later scrapped by the Iraqi supreme court as several of the articles were deemed unconstitutional.

The sense of shared travails and risks might actually be the one element that has been missing between Baghdad and Erbil. Quarreling now, when both sides are suffering to such a degree, seems like a self-defeating strategy. With that in mind, the first contours of a deal may already be brewing. As opposed to previous years, Baghdad has agreed to wire some $250-260 million per month to the Kurdish Regional Government to cover half of its public sector salary expenditures. Although Kurdish authorities continue to bargain for more, even a return to last years agreement (12.67% of the federal budget in return for 250kbpd worth of crude production) seems a mutually acceptable way out. Now the key is not to overdo the bargaining.

By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Continued here:
Low Oil Prices Could Finally Bring Iraq And Kurdistan Together - OilPrice.com

Thousands flooded Iraq's southern hotspot of Nasiriyah on Monday as a resident died from wounds sustained in clashes last week between anti-government protesters and supporters of a controversial cleric.

Ridha al-Rikaby was hit in the head by a bullet on Friday when followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr clashed with young demonstrators in Nasiriyah's Habboubi Square, medics told AFP.

He died on Monday, bringing the toll from the day of violence to eight dead and several dozen wounded, and thousands took to the streets in a funeral march, an AFP correspondent said

After last week's clashes, authorities imposed a lockdown to try to stem further rallies in the southern city, sacked the provincial police chief and launched an investigation into the events.

Iraqi premier Mustafa al-Kadhemi dispatched National Security Advisor Qasem al-Arakji and other senior officials to Nasiriyah on Monday for talks with protesters.

But anger simmered in Nasiriyah.

"Once again, peaceful protesters are dying under the government's nose, and the security forces can't hold the killers accountable," a demonstrator told AFP.

Nasiriyah was a major hub for the protest movement that erupted in October 2019 against a government seen by demonstrators as corrupt, inept and beholden to neighbouring Iran.

Nearly 600 people died across Iraq in protest-related violence during those rallies, including trauma wounds sustained by tear gas canisters, but there has been virtually no accountability for those deaths.

Last week's violence coincided with the one-year anniversary of one of the bloodiest incidents of the 2019 uprising, when more than three dozen people died at Nasiriyah's Zeitun (Olive) Bridge on November 28.

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Thousands protest in Iraq as toll from clashes rises - Deccan Herald

Baghdad, 29 November 2020 -The German Government, through its Development Bank, the Kreditanstalt fr Wiederaufbau (KfW), has contributed 26 million Euros to UNICEF in order to help the agency in its ongoing efforts to assist the Government of Iraq in strengthening its systems and improve access to quality basic services and social protection for children and their families. This latest amount brings the German Governments total contributions to UNICEF Iraq to a total of 159 million Euros since 2015.

Vulnerable children and their families in Iraq are disproportionately affected by the lack of safe water, education, and social protection. The needs of the poorest have become even more acute as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its secondary impacts, such as disruption in schools and health services, and rights violations, as well as rising poverty, all diminish the chance of vulnerable children to realize their basic rights to survive, be protected, and continue learning.

In light of the scale of the pandemics effect particularly on children and their families, the German Government has reserved 6 million Euros exclusively for measures addressing COVID-19 related activities such as the Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) and the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).

This funding has come in at a critical time, when we should be doing all that we can to limit the effects of the pandemic on all children, especially the most vulnerable. Thanks to our German partner, we are able to scale up our efforts to support the Government of Iraq to strengthen national systems ability to respond and provide better quality and coordination of the basic services that it provides, public social protection for children and their families, and help to train educators, counsellors and other professionals working with children, explained Hamida Lasseko, UNICEFs Representative in Iraq.

For his part, the German Ambassador to Iraq, His Excellency Dr Ole Diehl, emphasized that the international community can only win the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic by working together.

Germany continues to support Iraq in its fight against COVID-19. This is why we have launched an extensive global COVID emergency program, under which also a sizeable COVID-19 response window is allocated for Iraq and our contribution assigned to this program respectively. Good health and sanitary infrastructure are paramount to contain the virus. More importantly, every one of us needs to take part in the fight against Corona by wearing masks, keeping up social distancing and observing rules of basic hygiene.

Since the pandemic broke, the number of children and adolescents who risk falling into poverty has doubled, from one out of five children and adolescents to over 2 out of every 5. Children and adolescents, who make-up more than half of the population in the country, are also the most at risk of experiencing poverty, service disruptions in critical basic services like primary health, water sanitation and hygiene, education and increase in rights violations.

Investing in ones children is the best investment any nation can make. The Iraqi government needs our support to further develop its technical capacities, strengthen its systems, and deliver for its children. We are especially appreciative of the support of our German partner at this critical time when we are working with the Government to enhance its ability and systems to deliver better education, health services, water, sanitation and protection for every boy and girl in Iraq, added Ms. Lasseko.

There are 1.77 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and another 1.5 million who remain displaced and therefore exposed to higher risks of deprivation, violence and exploitation. The project which will be rolled out over 18 months, will target such populations. The project focuses on long-term sustainability by strengthening national systems and capacities to provide integrated access to safe water, education and health services, protection, and social assistance, with the goal of enabling children to overcome poverty, practice their rights and fulfil their potential. It will be implemented at the Federal level and in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in partnership with the Ministries of Labour and Social Affairs, the Education, the Directorates of Education at sub-national levels, and national and international Civil Society Organisations.

*****

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child; in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit https://www.unicef.org/iraq/

Media contacts:

Zeina Awad, Chief of Communication for Iraqzawad@unicef.org+964 782 782 0238

Innocent Kafembe, Communication Specialistikafembe@unicef.org+964 751 015 0949

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UNICEF receives 26 million from Germany to support national systems and ensure vulnerable children in Iraq receive quality basic and social protection...

1 December 2020; Baghdad, Iraq The Ministry of Planning and UNFPA organised yesterday a conference to reaffirm Iraqs commitment to the programme of action of the Nairobi Summit in 2019 which marked 25 years since the International Conference on Population & Development.

At the Nairobi summit last year, Iraq made 20 commitments addressing the rights of women and couples to have as many children as they want and when they want, to have healthy parenthood, be free of gender-based violence and harmful practices and have means to support themselves and their families through decent employment and education.

Yesterdays conference which was hosted by the Minister of Planning, Dr Khalid Al-Battal, was attended by the Minister of Displacement and Migration, Ms Ivan FaiekJabru, UNFPA Representative to Iraq, Dr Rita Columbia, Director Generals from different ministries, the Head of the Central Statistical Organization, Dr Diaa Awad and members of the Population Policies Committee, in addition to civil society and private sector representatives.

Minister Battal said in his speech: Iraq faces great challenges, especially amid Covid-19 and its repercussions on the different groups in society, especially women and girls. The pandemic has contributed to an increase in gender-based violence, mainly against women, and exacerbated poverty and unemployment rates across the country. Regardless of these challenges, Iraq is still committed to the ICPD commitments and we call on the international community to increase its support to enable the country to fulfil its commitments and obligations.

For her part, Dr Columbia emphasised the relevance of the Nairobi commitments to our present: Health and social protection systems are struggling to meet the needs of affected people those infected with COVID-19 including pregnant women; survivors of gender-based violence; women who are locked at homes and being at risk of domestic violence, unemployed, especially youth, and so many others.

The number of vulnerable populations has increased due to the pandemic. Considering the current situation, the commitments made in 2019 are even more urgent now, she concluded.

The event was followed by the meeting of the Population Policies National Committee to discuss the national framework and roadmap that will provide women and girls and young people protection, access to sexual and reproductive health services and livelihood opportunities.

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Ministry of Planning, UNFPA reaffirm commitment to the ICPD promises [EN/AR] - Iraq - ReliefWeb