BAGHDAD – Nearly a quarter of all Iraqis – 22 percent – live in poverty, according to the United Nations. The name of the Zero Quarter in Baghdad’s Sadr neighbourhood reflects the poverty and lack of basic services. “You find work one day, but for the next day you don’t,” said resident Haidar Hafiz who has to work temporary jobs to care for his family of four children. He typically finds employment just one day a week, earning 25,000 dinars ($20). “To whom should I give this money? I have four children. All of them are students and need money,” he said. The United Nations’ World Food Programme is working with the Iraqi government to maximize the resources it has. “Iraq and the government have many resources,” said Marianne Ward, chief of operational reporting for WFP in Iraq. “We’re working very closely with the public distribution system to help that work better and to also target those who are most vulnerable and food insecure,” she explained. Government corruption, unemployment, and dilapidated infrastructure are some of the factors blamed for the high poverty rates. The government drew up a strategy to address the issue, launching it in 2010. But the four year plan was interrupted by the war against ISIS. Nearly a year after the official defeat of ISIS, more than 1.8 million Iraqis remain displaced and the country faces a massive reconstruction task. Back in Baghdad’s Zero Quarter, people have lost hope in the government. “Our situation is not good. We don’t have basic services; we don’t have a septic system,” said resident Zainab Kadhim, holding her daughter. “We don’t have enough money. My children need milk to drink.”
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