UN Iraq

In 2011, we played a key role in supporting the design and creation of the old UN Iraq website (uniraq.org), which was built to serve as the central online platform for the United Nations system in Iraq. At that time, the primary objective was to create a functional, multilingual portal that could represent the diverse work of UNAMI and the 27 UN agencies, funds, and programmes operating in the country. This required not only an appealing design but also a robust structure to manage the wide range of press releases, reports, publications, and event coverage produced by the UN system.

Our contribution began with gathering requirements from UNAMI’s Strategic Communication and Public Information Office, as well as liaising with communication focal points from each UN agency to ensure that the website reflected the collective identity of the UN in Iraq. We worked closely with technical teams to design a clean and intuitive layout that would be user-friendly for both international audiences and local stakeholders. The site was developed to function in three languages — English, Arabic, and Kurdish — making Kurdish an especially notable achievement, as it is not an official UN language.

On the technical side, we supported the implementation of a content management system that allowed quick updates for news, feature stories, photo galleries, and key publications. We ensured that the website could handle high volumes of traffic during peak news events and that content was well-structured for easy navigation. The 2011 version of uniraq.org became a vital information hub, enabling the UN in Iraq to communicate more effectively with government partners, the media, civil society, and the general public. Our support not only contributed to its initial launch but also set a strong foundation for future updates and eventual integration into the global UN.org framework.