Iraq continues to face a myriad of challenges in relation to radicalisation and violent extremism. Additionally, inter-sectarian and inter-ethnic conflict continue to pose a risk to social cohesion and peacebuilding throughout the country. As a result, there is a pressing need create a strong Iraqi civil society with the skills and knowledge to address local drivers of violence and extremism.
In this project, funded by German Cooperation, ICCT provided training and co-creation support to Iraqi civil society organisations seeking German funding for projects in the field of preventing violent extremism (PVE). ICCT's role was to help these organisations gain the knowledge and skills necessary to develop impactful project proposals. The focus of ICCT's work was to ground proposals in contemporary PVE approaches, ensure strong monitoring and evaluation (M&E) practices, and help contextualise projects to the needs and challenges of different governorates across Iraq.
To this end, ICCT delivered English-language and Arabic-language training to over 50 representatives from 15 applicant organisations in Iraq. Additionally, ICCT international PVE experts and national conflict sensitivity experts provided tailored co-creation support to each organisation over a period of several months, supporting proposal development.