IRD implements the Community Stabilization Program (CSP), a $644 million US Government initiative awarded to IRD by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2006 to help stabilize and economically revitalize Iraq. CSP mitigates conflict and boosts employment through vocational training, job placement, business development, community infrastructure rehabilitation and youth engagement in 18 key cities nationwide— Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, Al Qaim, Kirkuk, Mosul, and Tal Afar, Baquba, Hillah, Iskandariya, Habbaniyah, Hit, Haditha, Samarra, Tikrit, Bayji, Tuz Khurmatu and Basra.

CSP is a community-based program run in direct partnership with the citizens of Iraq, engaging GoI officials all the way from a community level to the highest government offices. The program is implemented by Iraqis, for Iraqis, and each city strategy is tailored to its unique circumstances. It is imperative that Iraqi citizens perceive their government as effective and legitimate, especially with regards to the delivery of essential services such as water, electricity, and transportation. CSP also works closely with USAID and U.S. military Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) to select and implement projects.

Core CSP activities include:

Community Infrastructure and Essential Services: In effort to revitalize Iraqi communities, CSP implements public works programs such as community clean-up campaigns and small-scale infrastructure repair such as rehabilitation of schools, clinics, streets, business districts, and canals. CSP also renovates soccer fields, sports clubs, parks, and other recreational facilities to provide communities with a healthy environment to engage in social and athletic activities.

Employment Generation and Youth (EGY): CSP engages unemployed Iraqi males age 17-25 and other groups at high risk for recruitment into insurgency by enrolling them in youth activities and/or providing them with training and employment. CSP also encourages enrollment of women, particularly unemployed widows. The EGY program has been a huge success to date, and it has been widely embraced by Iraqis nationwide, with enrollment numbers growing at an increasingly rapid pace.

Business Development Programs: In order to promote economic growth and create jobs, CSP supports established local businesses and helps develop new businesses through its Micro-Small-Medium Enterprises grant program. Business grants range from $500-$100,000 and are designed to encourage existing business owners and potential entrepreneurs to expand or initiate a business. CSP also offers grantees business management training courses, providing them with essential managerial skills that will better enable them to successfully start or maintain their business.

Accomplishments to Date
- Almost 45,000 Iraqis have been placed in long-term jobs through grants, vocational training and apprenticeships and other CSP-sponsored initiatives.
- More than 1,500 high-visibility, high-impact community infrastructure and essential service projects have been completed, providing immediate short-term employment for some 17,000 workers daily. CSP CIES projects have provided Iraqis with immediate short-term employment in the form of street cleaning campaigns, construction and rehabilitation of schools, health clinics and recreational facilities, irrigation canals, water and sewage networks.
- Nearly $80 million in CSP grants have been awarded to nearly 11,000 businesses. Almost 4,000 Iraqi women have gained long-term employment either through receiving a CSP grant or being hired by a CSP grantee.
- More than 316,000 Iraqi youth, including almost 25,000 women, have participated over 643 CSP-sponsored activities, including soccer, volleyball, swimming, fun runs, wrestling, ping-pong tournaments, English courses, public debates, civic education, computer training, first aid classes, conflict mitigation training, T-wall mural painting, plays, music recitals, pottery classes, operas, arts shows, crafts exhibits, poetry festivals, oil painting, and calligraphy.

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