Background and Context:
Iraq enters 2026 in a delicate economic phase characterized by the accumulation of financial and monetary pressures intertwined with deeper structural challenges affecting the national economic structure. Although the Iraqi Parliament approved a three-year federal budget for 2023–2025 valued at approximately USD 153 billion annually, which was considered at the time a step toward medium-term fiscal stability, subsequent economic developments, most notably fluctuations in oil prices and increasing current expenditures, have produced a more complex fiscal reality.
The labour market context further underlines the urgency of this discussion. Iraq continues to face structural employment challenges, including low female labour force participation (around 10 per cent), high levels of informal employment (estimated at around two-thirds of total employment), and limited access of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to formal finance. Given that SMEs represent a major source of private sector employment, financial pressures and payment delays risk translating rapidly into
employment instability, delayed wages, or increased informality. These structural realities highlight the importance of early dialogue to prevent temporary financial pressures from becoming long-term labour market disruptions.
As 2026 approaches, a detailed federal budget for the new fiscal year has not yet been approved. The government is therefore managing public expenditure through a monthly disbursement mechanism in accordance with existing laws. While this mechanism allows the continuation of essential operational spending, it limits the ability to launch new projects or implement flexible financial adjustments in response to economic changes. This situation has narrowed the fiscal decision-maker’s room for maneuver, particularly amid growing operational commitments.
At the same time, public finances have faced increasing pressure due to the decline in global oil prices compared to the estimates adopted in the budget, directly affecting actual revenue levels. Given that the Iraqi economy relies heavily on oil revenues to finance salaries and public expenditure, any decline in revenues immediately translates into pressure on available liquidity.
These pressures materialized in a liquidity crisis that prompted the government to take exceptional measures to manage available cash resources in order to meet core obligations, foremost among them salaries and contractual dues. Although these measures helped avoid immediate disruption in salary payments, they reflected the fragility of the balance between revenues and expenditures and highlighted the limited liquidity management tools in the absence of deeper structural reforms.
In addition, the crisis coincided with challenges related to foreign currency flows and external financial transfer mechanisms within a complex regional and international environment. This was reflected in the local exchange market and in market confidence regarding the stability of cash supply, increasing market sensitivity to financial or customs decisions.
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The most significant shift, however, was the transmission of the crisis’s effects from the macro-financial level to the real economy and the labour market. On 15 December 2025, the Iraqi Contractors Union organized a demonstration in Baghdad demanding payment of overdue dues for completed projects. The construction sector is among the most employment-intensive sectors, providing direct and indirect job opportunities for thousands of workers, technicians, and engineers, in addition to its linkages with supply chains extending to manufacturing, transport, and services.
In response, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani directed the release of new payments to contractors in an attempt to contain the crisis’s repercussions and prevent the suspension of vital projects. However, despite its importance, this step highlighted the issue of accumulated arrears as a manifestation of imbalances in public financial management.
In a parallel development, the commercial sector entered a state of protest following the decision to increase customs tariffs (Decision 957). On 9 February 2026, the Iraqi Federation of Chambers of Commerce announced the closure of its offices until further notice in solidarity with protesting traders. Markets in Baghdad and several central and southern provinces witnessed strikes and closures, with demands to reconsider the mechanisms for implementing the decision, release goods stuck in ports, address irregular border crossings, and accelerate the implementation of customs automation systems to ensure fairness and transparency.
These developments reveal a complex economic landscape where three levels of challenges intersect:
• A macro-fiscal challenge related to liquidity management and public spending amid fluctuating oil revenues.
• A sectoral challenge affecting job-generating sectors such as construction and trade.
• A social and employment challenge involving risks of job losses, delayed wages, or expansion of informal work.
If these pressures continue without organized institutional intervention, they may deepen the trust gap between the state, the private sector, and workers, transforming the financial crisis into a broader social crisis with long-term effects on the labour market. Conversely, activating social dialogue mechanisms at this stage represents a strategic tool to contain tensions, enhance transparency, share burdens fairly, and formulate balanced responses that protect economic and social stability.
Accordingly, convening an extraordinary session of the Social Dialogue Forum in Iraq emerges as a necessary response to an exceptional economic circumstance, requiring urgent tripartite coordination not only to assess risks but also to identify practical labour-market stabilization measures that protect workers, enterprises, and social stability.
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Purpose for this Service:
The Service Provider is responsible for providing comprehensive logistics, equipment, accommodations, catering, and event management services. The Provider shall act as a single point of contact, ensure seamless coordination, and manage all operational aspects including contingency planning.
Referring to the resolutions of the first meeting of the Social Dialogue Forum in Iraq held on 12 February 2026, Forum members proposed convening an extraordinary session on 5 March 2026 to discuss the impact of financial conditions on the labour market in Iraq. The session aims to ensure labour market stability through:
1. Preventing the financial crisis from turning into a large-scale unemployment crisis, particularly in construction, trade, and industry.
2. Containing sectoral tensions through an institutional dialogue platform instead of field-level escalation.
3. Enhancing transparency regarding the financial situation and government measures.
4. Developing urgent joint measures to protect workers and small and medium enterprises.
5. Preserving social stability amid increasing living pressures.
I. Overall Objective
To provide an extraordinary national dialogue platform to assess current economic and financial conditions, analyse their impact on the labour market, and produce consensus-based, actionable recommendations to protect economic and social stability.
II. Specific Objectives
Review current financial and economic indicators and provide a realistic presentation of the fiscal and economic situation.
Analyse direct labour market impacts, such as delayed payments, customs tariffs’ effects on employment, risks of layoffs, or project suspension.
Agree on a permanent consultative follow-up mechanism.
Identify immediate and practical measures to mitigate labour market risks, including employment protection, wage stability, and support to vulnerable enterprises and workers.
Event date from/to: 4 March 2026, 03:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Number of Participants: Total Attendance 50 persons. (All participants from Baghdad)
Logistics Requirement:
# Description Quantity Days Unit
Price /USD Total Price /USD
1 Meeting room for up to (50) participants (U- shape style) ☒
(Round table style) ☐ (4 persons per table)
Data show (2) ☐ Flip chart ☐ Drinking water☐ Projector☒
☐ 3 Facilitator Tables (Front, Side, Back)
☒ Space for interpretation booths
☐ Breakout Spaces: 2 separate areas (10 pax each)
Type of the meeting room:
Smal up to 15 ☐ Medium up to 30-50☐ Large 50 -250☒
Hotel Rating:
Five stars hotel, and approved by UNDSS ☒
Babylon Hotel is preferable
Description:
The room should have bright/sufficient lightning. A few windows are allowed. The walls should be solid and straight to allow sticking posters, flipcharts, sticky notes and other pieces needed for the training. The venue management should be in agreement with posters, flip charts, sticky notes and other pieces to be stuck to the walls with sticky tape.
The conference should be equipped with the following equipment that need to be returned back to the provider once training done:
1. One Laptop with long HDMI wire
2. 3 Extension Cords
3. Rental of Slide clicker with extra batteries (to be used at the training) – Double pointer/clicker for English/Arabic screens
4. Sound System: Speakers ☒ Mixers ☒
Loudspeakers ☒Hanging wireless ☒
5. Wireless mic (3) Table mic (10) and clip mic (1)
6. 1 screens/datashow, (or one screen and one monitor) 1 1 day
# Description Quantity Days Unit
Price /USD Total Price /USD
2 Iftar
(Open buffet) ☒ Set Menu ☐ Meal Box ☐ 50 Px. 1 day
3 Zoom link (with access to interpretation)
The vendor will be responsible to connect the participants to this meeting through Zoom link, the vendor is responsible for creating the zoom link, in addition to testing it before the event.
The vendor will record all sessions and share the recording
with ILO 1 1 day
4 Interprétation system :
Langages : AR-EN (Vice versa) ☒ 1 1 day
5 Number of headsets Interpretation devices: 50 1 day
6 Interpreters:
Full day up to 8 hours ☐ half day up to 4 hours☒ Languages: AR-EN (Vice versa) ☒ 2 interpreters 1 day
7 Interpretation booth ☒ 1 1 day
8 Printing materials / Agenda C documents laser printing. Coloured ☒ Black and white☐ glossy ☒
Printing Agenda in Arabic & English (coloured) (Arabic Agenda) 1 pages * 50 copies
(English Agenda) 1 pages * 5 copies
The document of SDF ( 4 Pages * 50 copies) 255 pages 1 L.S
9 Stationaries for all participants:
-Notebook
– Pens 50 sets 1
10 Table tags 20 1
11 Participants Name Tags (badge) 50 1
Total Amount (USD)
Conditions that must be met in the hall:
Venue and Facility Management Requirements:
1. Venue Selection: Secure a hotel in Baghdad. The venue must be a 5 star hotel approved by UNDSS.
2. Main Room Specifications:
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o Capacity s Setup: Capacity for 50 pax; U-Shape setup; 3 Facilitator Tables (Front, Side, Back); Space for interpretation booths; 2 large screens or projection.
o Location: Conference Room must be on the ground floor or higher (not basement floor).
o Environment: The Hall should be sufficiently bright with good light and air conditions. Halls should have enough space for sitting, including a registration table at the entrance for each day.
o Connectivity: Fiber link with minimum speed of 32 MB, Backup internet line, and Free Wi- Fi internet connection in the training room.
3. Equipment and Materials:
o AV s Electronics: The service provider shall arrange for fully functional electronic and audio-visual equipment (data shows, wireless microphones, audio systems, teleconference equipment, etc.) and a minimum of 5 Universal Adapters.
o Workshop Materials: Flipcharts with stands, whiteboard with paper, and markers. Pens and notepads per participant per day.
o Visibility: Conference materials such as banners and/or flags.
4. Support and Access:
o Access: The hall should have easy access to a minimum of 2 toilets.
o Signage: Meeting signage including company logo to guide guests.
o Breakout: 2 separate breakout areas (10 pax each) with flipcharts and whiteboards.
Service Provider Profile and Qualifications:
1. Experience: Minimum 5 years of experience in organizing high-level conferences, workshops, or trainings for international organizations (UN, NGOs) or government entities. Proven track record of managing events with simultaneous interpretation and complex logistics.
2. Location: The services are to be delivered exclusively on-site in Baghdad. The Service Provider must have a physical presence or established operational capacity in Baghdad.
Coordination
The service provider will liaise and report to Nazar Al-Hashamat al-hashamat@ilo.org , Miran Bakragha at bakragha@ilo.org, Gashaw sharref at shareef@ilo.org and Marina Rai at marina@ilo.org
Payment
According to the ILO policy, the payments of services are performed 30 days after receipt of service. Payments will be made upon satisfactory receipt of service provider and services invoices.
Means of payment: the payment will be paid via wire transfer to the designated bank account of the service provider
Important Notes:
The service provider will be billed to ILO based on the actual number of participants and service.
How to apply
To apply for the job, please click on the provided link and follow the instructions on the website. Make sure to read the job description carefully before submitting your application. You may be asked to create an account.