The International Labour Organization (ILO) and its training arm, the International Training Centre (ITCILO), held workshops in Erbil for heads of social security departments and social security inspectors to build their capacities in areas related to inspection.

The workshops, organised under the "Social Protection Programme for Iraq: Leveraging Effective Response and Accelerating Reform," supported by the European Union, brought together 41 officials from across Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.

The workshops covered various components, including the principles, functions, and core features of social security inspection, and relevant international labour standards, as well as key issues in relation to Occupational Safety and Health and work-related accidents. In addition, they shed light on international experiences from various countries including Spain, Tunisia and Oman on labour inspection and social security.

This was followed by a capacity building training for social security inspectors in charge of monitoring compliance with labour and social security regulations.

In March this year, the Government of Iraq ratified ILO Social Security Convention No. 102. In May, the Council of Representatives in Federal Iraq voted to adopt the new Social Security Law for Private Sector Workers, which introduces far-reaching reforms to the social security system for private-sector workers. 

The ILO has been working with its tripartite constituents - government, employer, and worker representatives - and the parliamentary committee in the review of the social security law, while supporting the government of both Federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and partners in their efforts to upgrade institutional capacity that allows for more efficient delivery of services related to social security.