Pilot Conditional Cash Transfer Program (Sadr City 2 CCT Pilot)
Iraq's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA), with technical and financial support from the World Bank Group and the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), piloted a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program beginning July 2017 in the Sadr City 2 district of Baghdad. The program pays roughly 6,700 extremely poor households a monthly cash benefit conditioned on children's school enrollment/attendance and use of maternal and child health services, aiming to build human capital and later inform a nationwide CCT scale-up under Iraq's Social Protection Strategic Roadmap. It was designed under MOLSA's Social Protection Law (Law 11/2014) and overseen by an Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee including the Ministries of Education, Health, and Planning.
Conditional Cash Transfer, Iraq, World Bank, UK DFID, Baghdad, Sadr City, Human Capital, Education and Health Conditionality, Female-Headed Household Bonus, Fragile and Conflict-Affected State
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Iraq Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA)
- City
- Baghdad
- Country
- Iraq
Contact
- Website
- https://molsa.gov.iq/
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 6,700
- Funding type
- Government, Research Pilot
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- Distribution Type
- Cash (delivered through MOLSA's social protection payment system, exact channel - cash-in-hand vs. bank/mobile - not specified in available sources)
- Benefit details
The base monthly transfer was IQD 175,000 (~US$147) for male-headed households and IQD 225,000 (~US$189) for female-headed households, plus additional top-up payments per child, per vaccination, and per maternal health visit. Combined, average monthly payments were roughly US$220 per eligible family, equivalent to about 40% of the per-capita poverty line and roughly three-quarters of the food poverty line for a family of six. The pilot also tested new behavioral-insight communication approaches with beneficiaries and used a grievance redress mechanism (GRM).
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligible households were extremely poor families already enrolled in MOLSA's poverty/welfare (Proxy Means Test) database and residing in the Sadr City 2 ("Sadr 2") Qada of Baghdad Governorate, an area selected by the CCT Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee because it had available schools, health clinics, and social workers, high school dropout rates (especially among girls), and high infant/maternal mortality. Continued receipt required compliance with education and health co-responsibilities for children in the household.
Financial
- Currently receiving government benefits
- Required
Geography
- Countries covered
- Iraq
- Cities covered
- Baghdad (Sadr City / Sadr 2 district)
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Required
- Complementary program enrollment required
- Enrollment in MOLSA's poverty/welfare beneficiary database (the PMT-based social protection registry underlying Iraq's Social Safety Net) was a precondition for CCT eligibility.
- Research / participation requirements
The pilot was designed by MOLSA in 2016 and directed by a CCT Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee (MOLSA, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Planning), which monitored enrollment, compliance with education/health co-responsibilities, and case management, and tested new behavioral-insight communication interventions on beneficiaries. Findings were intended to inform a phased plan to scale the CCT to additional governorates, as documented in the World Bank's 2018 Project Appraisal Document for the Emergency Social Stabilization and Resilience Project (P165114).
Application Process
- How to apply
There was no open self-application process; MOLSA identified eligible households that were already registered in its Proxy Means Test (PMT)-based welfare/beneficiary database and located within the Sadr City 2 pilot area. MOLSA social workers conducted outreach, registration, database cross-checking, and eligibility verification for these pre-identified households.
- Selection process
Households were selected using MOLSA's PMT-based poverty targeting system, restricted to families already enrolled in the MOLSA welfare database and living in the Sadr City 2 (Sadr 2) Qada of Baghdad, a geographic area chosen by the CCT Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee (MOLSA, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Planning) for having sufficient schools, health clinics, and social workers to support the program, along with high girls' school dropout rates and high infant/maternal mortality.
