Iraq: Program for Advancement of Transformational Higher Education for Jobs - Phase 1 (WB-P510893)

Regions
  • Middle East and North Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Iraq
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 10, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Government of Iraq - Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Education and Health
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 500.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 500.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Sep 16, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jan 27, 2026

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the Program Development Objective is to improve equitable access, quality and relevance of higher education, ensuring alignment with labor market needs in priority sectors.

The proposed operation will support Iraq strengthen higher education institutions and build systems that foster scientific and creative thinking, align graduates' skills with labor-market needs, and advance a diversified knowledge economy. The proposed program aligns closely with the Iraq National Education Strategy, representing a significant investment focused on equipping youth with advanced, job-oriented skills in areas of study crucial to Iraq's future growth. It will do so through expanding access to higher education programs in high-demand fields needed to power growth as well as those that are needed to address megatrends such as digital development and climate adaptation. The program will also address important infrastructure gaps created by years of conflict, and upgrade facilities to enable modern teaching, advanced skills acquisition, and applied research. In addition, it will reform the higher education system to ensure it is agile in responding to the needs of the labor market and to global megatrends and adept at preparing Iraqi youth for the jobs of the future.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Environmental and Social Risk Classification: Substantial

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Total Project Cost: US$ 500.00 million
IBRD Commitment: US$ 500.00 million


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

World Bank
Raja Bentaouet Kattan - Lead Education Specialist
Huma Ali Waheed - Senior Economist

Borrower/Client/Recipient
Ministry of Finance

Implementing Agencies
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

How it works

How it works