USAID Iraq Administrative Reform Project Monthly Progress Report, April 2014

Cost impact estimation is a technical review of individual laws and regulations, and attempts to determine their burden on the economy. The ISRAR team uses market averages to estimate how much time and money certain activities should ideally take in Iraq, providing quantifiable results of regulatory reform and answering the question, "How will this affect the citizens of Iraq?" This type of analysis gives both politicians and citizens a benchmark to better understand the actual economic gains that arise from sound regulatory reform. The availability of reliable economic data coupled with further training will allow ISRAR to introduce cost impact estimates into future regulatory reform packages, provide supporting evidence for reforms, and speed the process of adoption. The initiative aims to determine individual costs, which are later summed to determine the overall cost impact for any given law. This process will enable the Iraqi government to make informed decisions about regulatory reforms and their potential impact on the economy. The launch of the new, fully-automated, and online national Citizens Complaint System was held at the Al Rashid Hotel on April 14th. The system is designed to handle citizens' complaints by connecting 55 Citizen Affairs Offices in ministries, governorate offices, and other entities with the Directorate of Public Relations and Citizen Affairs at the Council of Ministers Secretariat (COMSEC). The project aims to reduce the routines and bureaucratic procedures for how government departments and ministries receive and respond to citizens' complaints. The new system will enable new levels of accountability from government directorates and offices to the citizens of Iraq and the central government. The Citizens Complaint System is a key component of the USAID-Tarabot's Iraq Solutions for Regulatory and Administrative Reform (ISRAR) initiative. The system is supported directly by USAID-Tarabot and builds upon and cooperates with the work of two other USAID projects–Access to Justice and the Governance Support Project. The system provides relevant safeguards for privacy and a realistic program of response, and is designed to take citizens' issues seriously by considering them to be clients, for whom they are working. USAID-Tarabot is also working with the Director General of COMSEC's Governmental Coordinating Directorate to discuss next steps in the implementation of Project Management Institute (PMI) processes within Iraqi government entities. This meeting was held following the success of the Project Management Conference hosted by COMSEC and Tarabot in March. COMSEC has agreed to consider Project Management Professional (PMP) certified engineers as equivalent to master degree holders, and Tarabot is working with both ministries and governorates to assist their engineers in preparing for their PMP certification exams. Additionally, COMSEC will encourage the adoption of PMI processes in Iraq's engineering curricula. USAID-Tarabot is continuing its assistance to the Ministries of Human Rights, Labor and Social Affairs, and Migration and Displaced in their implementation of public policies and in the institutionalization of modern policy making. A three-day conference, organized by Tarabot in coordination with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, was held in Beirut for more than 50 Iraqi policy advisors. Participants attended sessions on cost-benefit and quantitative analysis, and education, agriculture, water, economic, refugee, and environmental policies. Advisors participated from the Prime Minister's Office, Presidency Diwan, universities, the Ministries of Environment, Migration and Displaced, and Human Rights. The presenters were Carnegie experts and professors from the American University of Beirut. The study tour introduced Iraqi policy offices, established through the support of Tarabot over the last three years, to the Carnegie Endowment and expanded the knowledge of Iraqi policy advisors.