UNESCWA Iraq Task Force has completed two management skills training workshops for the benefit of two groups of senior government and municipal officials from Erbil and Basrah. The two training workshops are part of the UN HABITAT project “Strengthening the Urban Sector in Iraq through Building Capacities in Municipal Planning and Management” that is funded by the UNDG Iraq Trust Fund. The participants of the two workshops will come back to follow-up modules at the end of the year.

ESCWA’s project entitled Social Expenditure Monitor (SEM) is a pioneering tool for Arab States that provides a comprehensive mapping of public social expenditure to inform budgeting and social policy reforms. The establishment of SEM in a national context would require collection and analysis of data according to an agreed and adapted SEM framework