Economic Empowerment Officer

Iraq is an upper-middle-income country whose economic situation is gradually improving following the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant and the resumption of oil exports. Food insecurity has persisted, however, particularly among internally displaced persons, returnees and rural people in the south of the country. The challenges of rebuilding infrastructure, providing basic services, promoting social cohesion, demobilizing militias, creating jobs and progressing towards gender equality while maintaining security have impeded the country’s efforts to make progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 2 on zero hunger. WFP’s country strategic plan for Iraq is informed by findings and recommendations derived from a zero hunger strategic review carried out in 2018 with the participation of core government partners and other stakeholders. It has the overall goal of supporting the Government in accelerating progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development while shifting WFP’s role from the direct implementation of activities to the enabling of national programmes.

Iraq’s Social Safety Net (SSN), implemented by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) through the Social Protection Authority (SPA), is the country’s primary poverty-targeted social assistance programme, providing regular cash transfers to vulnerable households including widows, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and low-income families to help meet basic needs. The programme reaches an estimated 1.5 million households (around 9 million individuals), but like many social assistance systems globally, it faces challenges related to fragmentation, targeting inefficiencies, and lacks linkages to employment and livelihood opportunities. As a result, MoLSA and SPA are increasingly exploring ways to transition the SSN from a purely consumption-support mechanism into a more dynamic system that promotes resilience and self-reliance. In this context, the Government of Iraq is seeking to test the feasibility of integrating economic empowerment interventions for SSN beneficiaries, with the objective of reducing long-term dependency on cash transfers and enabling access to more sustainable and diversified sources of income. This aligns with a growing body of international evidence showing that “cash-plus” and economic inclusion programmes that combine social assistance with skills development, asset transfers, and labor market linkages can significantly improve income generation, employment outcomes, and resilience among vulnerable populations, while supporting pathways out of poverty. In Iraq, WFP is part of an EU-funded UN Joint Programme with UNICEF and ILO on “ Leveraging Effective Response and Accelerating Reform for Social Protection in Iraq”. The programme aims to support the Government in strengthening and reforming Iraq’s social protection system by improving policy coherence, enhancing institutional capacity, and developing integrated, inclusive, and shockresponsive systems that better serve vulnerable populations. It focuses on linking social assistance, social insurance, and labour market interventions; expanding access to benefits and services for vulnerable groups. It also aims to strengthen delivery systems such as targeting, data integration, and national registries. The Changing Lives Transformation Fund (CLTF) of WFP is a catalytic financing mechanism designed to support country offices in piloting and scaling innovative approaches that move populations from humanitarian dependence toward sustainable livelihoods and resilience. Established under WFP’s broader “saving lives and changing lives” mandate, the fund provides targeted, multi-year investments awarded through competitive calls to initiatives that strengthen national systems, promote economic inclusion, and support transitions to self-reliance. It is structured around thematic windows such as transition pathways, systems strengthening, and climate adaptation, and places strong emphasis on embedding interventions within government systems while generating rigorous evidence on impact and scalability. By combining financing with technical support and a robust measurement framework, the CLTF aims to help governments design and implement transformative programmes that improve outcomes for vulnerable populations and inform policy and resource allocation at scale. CLTF has a global research partnership with C4ED to support the robust assessment and evaluation of all CLTF-funded initiatives in order to contribute to evidence-based decision-making.

Under the overall guidance of the Head of Social Protection and an EEP Technical Advisor, the Economic Empowerment Officer will be responsible for the following tasks: Programme Implementation and Delivery - Oversee quality delivery of all EEP pilot activities across planning and implementation phases by coordinating with relevant WFP teams (including field office staff), cooperating partner(s), and stakeholders. - Supervise field-level implementation teams and coordinate closely with social workers, agricultural extension workers, and local partners - Coordinate with SPA to ensure regular meetings of the Project Oversight Team (POT) and ensure proper documentation and follow-up of agreed-upon actions. - Ensure gender-responsive and youth-inclusive delivery in line with the pilot’s design. Stakeholder Coordination - Coordinate with SPA to ensure regular meetings of the Technical Working Group (TWG) and provide the Secretariat function. - Lead day-to-day engagement with government counterparts, including at MoLSA, SPA, MoA, and MoP at the central and field levels - Support engagement with sectoral stakeholders, including the World Bank. GIZ, ILO, private sector, among others Government Capacity Strengthening and Systems Building - Lead engagement with MoLSA and SPA to strengthen institutional capacity for economic empowerment programming. Includes supporting the development and leading the implementation of the capacity strengthening plan. - Facilitate alignment and integration of pilot activities within government platforms (i.e., Mihan) and oversee the enhancement of government systems as part of the pilot, in coordination with relevant technical staff. - Oversee the cooperating partner’s support provided to government field-level staff and ensure a gradual transfer of responsibilities over the course of the pilot - Ensure a gradual handover of systems and responsibilities, in line with the capacity strengthening plan, to government institutions. - Identify opportunities to strengthen government capacity strengthening and provide strategic recommendations to the Head of Social Protection, as appropriate. Research and Learning Activities - Ensure that the pilot implementation is aligned with the research and learning agenda, respecting Lead the design and implementation of the pilot’s learning and evidence agenda. Includes coordinating with the Field Coordinator, Head of Social Protection, RAM and CLTF teams at the central and field levels. - Ensure that WFP-led monitoring activities are completed in a timely and high-quality manner in close coordination with the Field Office and RAM teams. - Document and communicate lessons learned of the pilot, ensuring that these are properly highlighted in knowledge management products. Policy Engagement and Pathway to Scale - Lead the development of an EEP manual and EEP scale-up roadmap to be handed over to the government as key knowledge management documents at the end of the pilot - Led the development of knowledge management documents, including a case study of the pilot. - Organize knowledge dissemination and closure engagement and events for pilot activities engaging GOI and other relevant stakeholders. - Contribute to policy dialogue with the GOI through the TWI on scale-up considerations and evidence for scale-up. Includes contributing to alignment and joint advocacy with key sectoral partners like GIZ, ILO, and WB. Financial and Operational Management - Under the guidance of the Head of Social Protection, maintain strong oversight over budget planning, utilization, and reporting in line with donor requirements - Ensure compliance with WFP and partner procedures and standards - Manage risks and ensure timely mitigation actions