[{"bbox": [96, 152, 1163, 257], "category": "Text", "text": "their rightful place across the political, social and economic sphere and put in question traditional gender roles and claim their own identities, both literally and figurative. There is a growing understanding that the perpetuation of gender stereotypes traps both women and men causing long-term costs on societal, community, but also individual level."}, {"bbox": [96, 284, 1163, 420], "category": "Text", "text": "This ongoing renegotiation of gender norms in Iraq is partly due to economic necessity. More women find themselves in the position of heads of households as a result of their determination, and, equally as a result of the armed conflict and migration of the formerly male head of household. While this does not necessarily indicate a shift in social norms, as an increase of the incidence of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls showed, it offers an entry-point that is being seized by Iraq's strong and determined women."}, {"bbox": [96, 443, 1163, 949], "category": "Text", "text": "With regards to **education**²⁷, the Iraqi Government's persistent prioritisation of defence expenditure has resulted in a squeezed education budget of less than 6% of the national budget and limited to operational expenses, with alarming consequences for equity and quality of education. With ten million students enrolled in basic and secondary education, 3.2 million children out of school, dropout rates between 13% and 16% at primary and secondary levels, and access challenges for displaced populations, girls and children with disabilities (approximately 355,000 displaced children are not attending school), Iraq's literacy rate now stands at 85% for a country that used to be the gold standard for education in the Middle East. There is also a lower rate of enrolment of girls at the primary, intermediate and secondary levels and higher dropout rates for girls, which are directly proportional to the level of education. Students with disabilities face many barriers in accessing education. The quality of education is further compromised by weak curricula and teaching capacities in addition to the absence of a functional quality assurance system. Despite a strong reform agenda and sustained efforts supported by the EU programmes since 2009, the need for accurate data to design fact-based policies and strategies, modern curricula, modern teaching methodologies, improved teaching capacities and a functional education management and quality monitoring system remain substantial. In addition, rebuilding and renovating school infrastructure remains a challenge especially when it comes to creating learning environments that are child friendly and non-discriminatory especially for girls, children with disabilities and traumatised children. The COVID-19 crisis has also revealed a lack in capacities within the education system in terms of planning, crisis management and teachers' abilities to develop and adopt remote learning methodologies. The problem of low-quality learning outcomes also persists due to the absence of a national quality assurance system and the need to roll-out the national education management system country-wide."}, {"bbox": [96, 973, 1163, 1453], "category": "Text", "text": "There are also **significant gender gaps in education in Iraq**²⁸. Only one in two girls complete primary education compared to three out of four boys. These gaps are accentuated with age – at age 13, only 40% of girls still attend school whilst for boys it is 80% - and these gaps are even more striking for women and girls in rural areas, who begin to drop out of school at the age of nine. Factors affecting low enrolment and high dropouts of girls in Iraq include concerns over safety (in traveling to school), family and household responsibilities, child marriage, lack of availability of schooling infrastructure, combined with the consequences of years of unrest and conflict, and socioeconomic conditions. Lack of access to education results in 26.4% of Iraqi women estimated to be illiterate, but this percentage is believed to be much higher in rural areas, reaching up to 50% and making the rural women amongst the most affected populations in Iraq. Women and girls with disabilities, women and girls who pertain to minorities, women and girls from poorer backgrounds, displaced women and girls as well as those who lived under Da'esh occupation have extremely limited access to education. The post-conflict context of Iraq has contributed to the current situation through destroyed infrastructure, loss of qualified personnel and massive displacement. In addition to gender disparities, other factors such as poverty, conflict, and geographic location clearly play a role, calling not just for a focus on gender but for vulnerabilities. Despite the right to education being enshrined in the Iraqi Constitution, these structural challenges tend to impede girls from completing primary and lower secondary education, which in turn impedes from pursuing upper secondary education, from pursuing higher education, from engaging in formal decent employment. Ultimately this impacts girls and women capacity to claim and seize their full democratic rights as citizens, including their political rights."}, {"bbox": [96, 1477, 1163, 1530], "category": "Section-header", "text": "**Identification of main stakeholders and corresponding institutional and/or organisational issues to be covered by the action:**"}, {"bbox": [96, 1531, 648, 1557], "category": "Text", "text": "The main counterparts in the Government are the following:"}, {"bbox": [86, 1597, 443, 1622], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²⁷ Iraq National Education Strategy 2022-2030."}, {"bbox": [86, 1622, 773, 1646], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²⁸ Gender Action Plan III – 2021-2025. Country Level Implementation Plan (CLIP) for Iraq"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1682, 1144, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 8 of 23"}]