Policy Paper Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Digital Transformation and Strengthening Investment

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women Iraq Country Office is developing a Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) programme aligned to the National Strategy for Iraqi Women (2023–2030) and Iraq's national priorities, with the UN Women Global WEE Strategy, the Surging Women’s Employment Initiative (SWEI) led by the Regional Office for the Arab States. In this context, the Ministry of Planning (MoP) has formally requested UN Women’s support to develop a policy paper on empowering women entrepreneurs through digital transformation and strengthening investment partnerships as structural drivers of women’s economic inclusion.

Women’s participation in the Iraqi economy remains among the lowest globally, with female labour force participation at approximately 10.9 percent according to the World Bank Data Portal, 2025. Women face structural barriers including limited access to formal employment, concentration in informal sectors, restricted entry into digital and non-traditional industries, disproportionate unpaid care burdens, and constrained access to financing. The evolving regional context since early 2026 has further intensified these pressures, with emerging signals of household economic stress and setbacks to national targets for women’s employment and entrepreneurship.

At the same time, digital transformation, fintech, e-commerce, and renewable energy present new pathways for women’s economic participation if targeted policy action and investment are mobilized. The analysis will be further informed and validated through official Iraqi data sources, including statistics issued by the Ministry of Planning, the Central Statistical Organization, the Central Bank of Iraq, and relevant national administrative records.

To develop this policy paper, UN Women Iraq seeks to engage a national consultant with expertise in women’s economic empowerment, digital economy policy, and investment analysis. Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Iraq Country Office Representative, the consultant will report to the UN Women Programme Specialist on Women’s Economic Empowerment, and will be supported by the Executive Associate, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

The consultant will work in close day to day collaboration with NDIW and MoP leadership, including through a dedicated steering committee. The Ministry of Planning, as the primary requesting entity and national counterpart, will provide technical oversight and co-validate all final outputs in partnership with UN Women.

• Inception and Workplan
• Develop an inception note presenting the proposed methodology, analytical framework, and detailed workplan with milestones, reflecting alignment with the National Strategy for Iraqi Women (2023–2030), the National Development Plan (2024–2028), the government programme, the National Population Policy (women's axis), the MoP request, the SWEI framework, and UN Women's WEE programming priorities for Iraq.
• Situational Analysis and Evidence Review
• Compile and synthesize evidence on women's entrepreneurship landscape in Iraq, including participation in digital and technology-enabled sectors, access to financing and investment, and the enabling environment for women-led businesses.
• Analyze the regulatory and market constraints specific to women entrepreneurs in the digital economy, including financial…