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Poverty & Hunger

Iraq

In the early years of the 21st Century

Description: Description: Description: Iraq

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Iraq in the early years of the 21st Century.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated, misleading or even false.   No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE

Students

If you are looking for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this page and others to see which aspects of poverty are of particular interest to you.  You might be interested in exploring the relationship between distribution of labor and per-capita GDP, for example.  Perhaps your paper could focus on life expectancy or infant mortality.  Other factors of interest might be unemployment, literacy, access to basic services, etc.  On the other hand, you might choose to include some of the possible outgrowths of poverty such as Human Trafficking, Street Children, or even Prostitution.  There is a lot to the subject of Poverty.  Scan other countries as well as this one.  Draw comparisons between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions.  Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources that are available on-line.

Teachers

Check out some of the Resources for Teachers attached to this website.

*** Extreme Weather ***

Climate change is intensifying the wet and dry seasons in Iraq, leading to extreme events like droughts and floods. The southern and central regions of Iraq have experienced decreased precipitation patterns. In 2022, about 12 million people in Iraq (60% of the country’s population) faced hunger due to drought hampering wheat production. – adapted from Microsoft BING Copilot

*** ARCHIVES ***

The World Factbook - Iraq

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency CIA

www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/iz.html

[accessed 29 December 2020]

World Factbook website has moved to ---> www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iraq/

[accessed 5 January 2021]

Inflation has remained under control since 2006. However, Iraqi leaders remain hard-pressed to translate macroeconomic gains into an improved standard of living for the Iraqi populace. Unemployment remains a problem throughout the country despite a bloated public sector. Overregulation has made it difficult for Iraqi citizens and foreign investors to start new businesses. Corruption and lack of economic reforms - such as restructuring banks and developing the private sector – have inhibited the growth of the private sector.

GDP - per capita (PPP): $16,700 (2017 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 21.6%

industry: 18.7%

services: 59.8% (2008 est.)

Unemployment rate: 16% (2012 est.)

Population below poverty line: 23% (2014 est.)

Maternal mortality rate: 79 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 19.5 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.6 years

Drinking water source: improved: total: 97.9% of population

Physicians density: 0.84 physicians/1,000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access: improved: total: 95.2% of population

Electricity access: electrification - total population: 100% (2016)

The Borgen Project - Iraq

borgenproject.org/category/iraq/

[accessed 7 February 2021]

The Borgen Project works with U.S. leaders to utilize the United States’ platform behind efforts toward improving living conditions for the world’s poor.  It is an innovative, national campaign that is working to make poverty a focus of U.S. foreign policy.  It believes that leaders of the most powerful nation on earth should be doing more to address global poverty. From ending segregation to providing women with the right to vote, nearly every wrong ever righted in history was achieved through advocacy. The Borgen Project addresses the big picture, operating at the political level advancing policies and programs that improve living conditions for those living on less than $1 per day.

~ Innovations To Reduce Poverty In Iraq

borgenproject.org/innovations-to-reduce-povert-in-iraq/

~ The Process Of Combating Hunger In Iraq

borgenproject.org/hunger-in-iraq/

~ Combating The Electricity Shortage In Iraq

borgenproject.org/electricity-in-iraq/

~ Women’s Access To Healthcare In Iraq

borgenproject.org/healthcare-in-iraq/

~ Food Insecurity In Iraq

borgenproject.org/food-insecurity-in-iraq/

~ 4 Facts About Poverty In Iraq

borgenproject.org/facts-about-poverty-in-iraq/

Focus on Boys Trapped in Commercial Sex Trade

www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/consequences/2005/0808trapped.htm

[accessed 29 December 2020]

A 16-year-old boy has started a desperate new life since being forced into the sex trade in Baghdad, joining a growing number of adolescents soliciting in Iraq under the threat of street gangs or the force of poverty.  "Every day I cry at night," Feiraz said. "I'm a homosexual and was forced to work as a prostitute because one of the people I had sex with took pictures of me in bed and said that, if I didn't work for him, he was going to send the pictures to my family."

Poverty Wages War on Iraqi Children

Amit Pyakurel (ammykumars), OhmyNews, 2007-03-15

english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?at_code=398032

[accessed 31 May 2011]

The number of street children has greatly risen in Iraq since the U.S.-led occupation began in 2003. The foremost reason for this is the deteriorating economic condition of the country, according to the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI).

And, as many have died since the start of the war, the significant increment of the number of widows and orphans has also largely resulted in children who have to beg and try to sustain their lives on the streets across the country.

The NCCI reported that the families facing fragile economic conditions (especially if their male member/s, who are mostly synonymous to the major or sole breadwinner of the family, are killed in the conflict) often send their children to beg on streets as a mean of supplementing their income.

Whereas, Cedric Turlan, the information officer of the NCCI, said that some families also send their children to work, and this also to sustain their livelihood or at least to feed themselves.

Children lured into drugs and prostitution

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, Baghdad, February 12, 2007

www.irinnews.org/report/70094/iraq-children-lured-into-drugs-and-prostitution

[accessed 29 December 2020]

Sami Rubaie, 12, lives on the streets of Baghdad. He said he ran away from home because he could not stand the beatings he got from his father for not bringing home enough money from begging all day. He soon turned to glue sniffing. To support his habit, he recently joined a gang and now men have sex with him in exchange for glue and money.

"I cry every time a man has sex with me and they usually hit me because I am crying. After I do it, my boss gives me a good quantity of glue and around US $3 dollars for food. I know what I'm doing is wrong but it's better than living with daily beatings from my father for not bringing him enough money," Sami said.

Action Against Hunger - Iraq

www.actionagainsthunger.org/countries/middle-east/iraqi-kurdistan

[accessed 21 March 2021]

In Iraq, an estimated 4.1 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. Iraq’s 2014-2017 conflict with Islamic State (IS) resulted in several waves of displacements. The time spent under IS rule and the military campaigns exacerbated many issues, such as limited opportunities for livelihoods, damaged or destroyed housing and water supplies, and a breakdown of social cohesion due to past hostilities between different groups. Although the conflict with IS has since ended, the consequences of this instability and volatility continue to affect the most vulnerable groups in Iraqi society.

The World Bank in Iraq

www.worldbank.org/en/country/iraq/overview

[accessed 22 April 2021]

The World Bank Group mobilizes financial and technical assistance in support of Iraq’s efforts to regain the trust of its citizens by stabilizing its economy, improving governance, and rebuilding of livelihoods. The World Bank works closely with international partners to support economic reforms.

Looking back a few years

Advameg, Inc., Encyclopedia of the Nations

www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Iraq-ECONOMY.html

[accessed 29 December 2020]

The effect of war in Kuwait and continuing economic sanctions reduced real GDP by at least 75% in 1991, on the basis of an 85% decline in oil production, and the destruction of the industrial and service sectors of the economy. Living standards deteriorated and the inflation rate reached 8000% in 1992. Estimates for 1993 indicated that unemployment hovered around 50% and that inflation was as high as 1000%.

All material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use.  PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.  Cite this webpage as: Prof. Martin Patt, "Poverty - Iraq", http://gvnet.com/poverty/Iraq.htm, [accessed <date>]