The Rehabilitation, Employment and Follow-up Center at the University of Basrah launched a leadership initiative for development and employment, with the direct support of the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia'a Al-Sudani.
The President of the University of Basrah, Dr. Saad Shaheen Hammadi, stated that the central appointment is no longer the solution for accommodating the large numbers of graduates every year, especially after the large number of faculties and majors and the return of scholars from outside Iraq. The first step to solve this problem came by establishing the Federal Service Council, which reduced random appointments in state departments. However, it was unable to include all the increasing and accumulated numbers of them, especially after most of the factories stopped, the lack of agriculture, and the lethargy of the private sector due to the lack of laws and a suitable environment to care for and support investment.
Shaheen added, "We were very pleased with the launch of the Riyada initiative, which is considered central sponsorship for student projects and is better than individual initiatives with oil companies and some departments to appoint limited numbers of graduates. Therefore, Riyada came to activate the private sector in a smart way, invest youth energies and support their small projects after submitting feasibility studies."
The Director of the Rehabilitation, Employment and Follow-up Center, Dr. Enas Abdel-Aziz Al-Nasser, indicated “ I was nominated as a trainer in this initiative, for which a special application was prepared under the name of “trainee leadership” and contains an electronic form to register the participants. After their acceptance, an invitation will be sent to them, as each center will host 20 students to receive intensive lectures for 5 hours every day, and the number of students covered by the initiative reached 1995 students.
