UNESCO is contributing to the adaptation and implementation of the “Education for all” initiative in Iraq.

Joining the Iraqi Ministry of Education’s efforts towards EFA goals achievement, UNESCO provides technical support to stimulate intellectual debate and disseminate knowledge on key basic education issues in Iraq.

Furthermore, the office has published several case studies and carried out pilot projects to be used as a referential for national policy-makers and education professionals. The office has also provided technical assistance to build and strengthen national capacities regarding EFA planning and management. As an example, UNESCO Iraq developed and implemented the National EFA Action Plan.

Furthermore, national policy documents have been recently prepared, highlighting a series of obstacles hindering progress towards EFA goals achievement, demonstrating the need for evidence-based policy formulation and better informed decision-making. In these documents, the national assessments of EFA initiative fully endorse that the state of education must be an essential aspect of the follow up to Dakar’s declaration (affirmed by the international community’s commitment to achieving Education for All by the year 2015).

By undertaking national training workshops, EFA thematic studies, periodical reports on “successful and innovative practices” and expert group meetings, the office has published and disseminated findings of these critical studies, to raise awareness and political commitment including an ethical vision for international cooperation and an enlightened sense of self-interest.

The renewed interest in the rehabilitation of the Iraqi education system EFA also aims for is notably based on the outcomes of various studies indicating that, under certain conditions of modernization and social improvement, schools can play a crucial role in Iraq’s long term development.