![Marwa Ahmed (standing) and Hiba Mohammed Mustafa handle public relations for the International Iraqi Company for Exhibitions and Conferences. Both found employment at the Baghdad graphics company through apprenticeships provided by the Iraqi Youth Initiative’s Youth Employment Program. Training Helps Graduate Land Job in Iraq](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/iraq2.jpg?itok=20bYROpQ)
Marwa Ahmed’s normal life ended in 2006 when her father was killed and her family fled to Syria in the midst of the violence that then gripped Iraq. Eventually, she and her three siblings returned to Baghdad.
“I was proud of being Iraqi and just wanted to live peacefully in my own country,” she remembers.
![Rana Mohammed Ali, 29, is one of 15 young Iraqis who found jobs at five Tikrit pharmacies thanks to Wedad Abdul-Halim, 55 (center), a licensed pharmacist active in Salah ad Din’s medical services community. A corporate supporter of USAID’s Iraqi Youth Initiative, Wedad also placed 13 IYI graduates in local medical diagnostic clinics as laboratory assistants. Fifteen of the 28 now have permanent jobs paying higher salaries. Active in the volunteer community, Wedad approached a local orphanage she supports and convinced it to employ two young people as care givers. They, too, now have lasting employment. Iraqi Youth Find Employment](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/iraqyouth.jpg?itok=oZQOk98-)
![USAID helped Ahmad Alsaabari establish a demonstration feedlot to raise sheep and teach farmers new feeding, monitoring and mark USAID helped Ahmad Alsaabari establish a demonstration feedlot to raise sheep and teach farmers new feeding, monitoring and mark](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/sheep-farmer_crop.jpg?itok=fykDKhx0)
The herders of south-central Iraq have traditionally let their sheep graze on the land. But grass and reeds are scarce and the animals are often small when taken to market. Ahmad Alsaabari, an engineer by training, had read about the success of Western foodlots and recognized the opportunity when the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) proposed founding of a demonstration facility in Babil Province, where lambs are considered among the best in Iraq.
![Officials Learn to Embrace Citizenry Officials Learn to Embrace Citizenry](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/babil-photo_0.jpg?itok=o71cdIUO)
Until recently, citizen participation in government decision-making was a rarity in Iraq. But thanks to a USAID project known as the Local Governance Program – Phase III (LGP III) – provincial leaders have started to recogni
![Beekeeper Ali Hussain Heremish founded this apiary with support from the USAID-funded Community Action Program, which helps Iraqis develop initiatives that improve their communities. Beekeeper Ali Hussain Heremish founded this apiary with support from the USAID-funded Community Action Program, which helps Iraq](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/beekeeper_cap_0.jpg?itok=hMa92hQG)
Ali Hussain Heremish knew the Iraqi buzz about honey. There was a huge demand for local honey and Iraqis paid a premium for imported honey.
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