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Iraq: Women and youth, 8 million people below poverty line
5-12-2019
In its issue of today, An Nahar shed light on the participation of women and youth in the ongoing popular uprising in Iraq in protest over the living conditions. The newspaper mentioned a 57-year old widow, Um Salah, who is one of the regulars in demonstrators south of the country with her 7 unemployed sons despite oppressive forces which have killed hundreds. Um Salah said she walks daily to the protest squares because she cannot afford to pay for a cab, to demand an improvement to the dire economic and living situation. For his part, young university instructor, holder of master’s degree in PE, Mohanad Fadel, is another demonstrator whose monthly wage barely exceeds USD 40 and is forced to work on a taxi to meet his basic needs. On this, professor of economics, Musa Khalaf, explained that the economic factor is the main cause of the protests which covered most of the cities in central and southern Iraq. The low per capita income, (USD 600 per year), coupled with a high poverty rate (25%) and unemployment (30%), have accumulated to set off the continuing revolt against the government, Khalaf said. There are more than 8 million people below the poverty line in the 40-million population country. (An Nahar, December 5, 2019)
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