Iraq Community Action Program

The Iraq Community Action Program (ICAP) aims to foster democratic principles of governance at the grassroots level by working with community action groups and local government councils and representatives to identify and prioritize needs for their communities and collaborate on projects that respond to these needs. Since its inception, ICAP has helped citizens determine, organize, and fund neighborhood priorities, including infrastructure and essential services projects such as building or repairing roads, markets, schools, and water and sanitation networks; developing small businesses; and assisting civilian victims of conflict, including internally displaced persons (IDP). ICAP also helps communities take steps to effectively communicate their needs to the Iraqi government.

The Iraq Community Action Program (ICAP) aims to foster democratic principles of governance at the grassroots level by working with community action groups and local government councils and representatives to identify and prioritize needs for their communities and collaborate on projects that respond to these needs. Since its inception, ICAP has helped citizens determine, organize, and fund neighborhood priorities, including infrastructure and essential services projects such as building or repairing roads, markets, schools, and water and sanitation networks; developing small businesses; and assisting civilian victims of conflict, including internally displaced persons (IDP). ICAP also helps communities take steps to effectively communicate their needs to the Iraqi government.

ICAP fosters increased citizen participation in local governance by building the skills of community action group members to advocate on behalf of their communities. The project also works with local neighborhood and district councils to strengthen public outreach so they can better understand and respond to citizen expectations. The improved interaction of citizens and councils helps to create informed communities and increases the legitimacy of local government in the eyes of community residents.

ICAP is unique in allowing communities to choose the projects and activities that will most benefit residents while facilitating participation, buy-in, and cost sharing from local governments to ensure project sustainability. ICAP pays special attention to broadening citizen involvement, which it does through a training regimen that focuses on communication, conflict mitigation, and inclusive citizen participation. A major indicator of success is the involvement of IDP in community action group activities. In Baghdad alone, more than half of the groups include IDP representatives.

Working with 115 community action groups throughout Baghdad—where 30 percent of Iraq’s citizens reside—ICAP provides training in areas such as leadership, transparency, advocacy, project design and monitoring, budgeting, and the roles and responsibilities of citizen representatives. The trainings encourage development of more thoughtful and responsive community plans, and they also help the all-volunteer community action groups see the way to a more sustainable future.

With an eye to diversifying their funding sources, the groups have worked with ICAP advisors to fine-tune their governance structures, including bringing in new, more active members, documenting their planning processes, and developing a set of packaged project proposals—all of which are designed to attract support from a broader base of international funding agencies.

These initiatives have paid off. Already, one community action group has registered as a nongovernmental organization, and several others are preparing to submit applications to earn this formal status—a prerequisite for working with many international donors. Proof of their progress came at a recent ICAP-sponsored conference that, for the first time, brought together community action groups and major donors, including bilateral and multilateral agencies.