The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and Iraq rely disproportionately on public sector employment, which hinders the private sector growth necessary for the KRI to emerge from the current recession. 40% of Iraq’s labor force is currently employed by the public sector, which is noticeably higher than in more diversified economies in the region, such as Jordan (31%), Iran (17%), and Turkey (12%). In the KRI, meanwhile, public sector employment accounts for up to a critical 70% of the labor force.

Recently, a number of elements have adversely affected economic growth, inhibiting private sector development. Those include the fall in global oil prices due to the Covid-19 pandemic, ongoing budget disputes between Baghdad and Erbil, the war against terrorism, corruption, and poor governance, as well as the continuity of the societal reproduction of a risk-averse mindset that encourages the pursuit of public sector employment.

Taking into consideration the prevailing political climate and medical situation in KRI, it is clear that a systemic overhaul will not be achievable in the short term. Instead, KRI needs to prioritize a handful of initiatives that have a direct impact on the livelihoods of ordinary citizens and can be achieved within a relatively short period of time. Successfully executed initiatives will create the impetus for more ambitious measures that require significant political capital and public goodwill. Among the best initiatives is the implementation of the concept of Entrepreneurship Development Programme coupled with agenda of KRG of steering the economy towards more private sector employment while considering the challenges and opportunities that the COVID19 pandemic brings to the scene.

In this context, and in order to accomplish the next stage of implementing the "Training of Unemployed Young Women on Soap and Sanitizer Production and Entrepreneurship Skills to Fight the COVID-19 Pandemic in Koya" project, and out of 75 female applicants, 56 were shortlisted for online interviews on 05-08. July 2020. The scoring system was based on the following criteria:

A total of the best 20 candidates were selected, and an additional 5 are placed as reserved candidates to directly fill the seats of any future withdrawing and/or excluded candidates.