Iraq: Assessment on Employment and Working Conditions of Conflict-affected Women Across Key Sectors

As Iraq enters a new recovery phase in 2019, the country now faces the challenge of addressing the short- and long-term consequences of conflict and mass population displacement. Conflict-affected women, specifically, face numerous challenges in accessing employment, including limited economic opportunities, individual- and community-level barriers, legal restrictions, and exacerbated vulnerability, particularly for displaced people and female-headed households. In the Iraqi context, the nature of these challenges for specific groups of women (i.e. refugee, internally displaced, returnee and host community women) are not yet fully understood and addressed, especially since the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)-related displacement crisis began in 2014.

On behalf of UN Women , REACH conducted a qualitative assessment to provide an indicative, evidence-based understanding of the challenges faced in accessing employment and the current working conditions in key employment sectors among women in Iraq, specifically female Syrian refugees and IDPs both in and out of camps, returnees, and host community women.