Publication: Social Safety Nets in Iraq: Reform in a Time of Fragility, Conflict, and Violence
Date
2016-11
ISSN
Published
2016-11
Author(s)
Alkhoja, Ghassan
Neman, Ramzi
Hariz, Sara
Abstract
Iraq, once a relatively skilled and
economically prosperous society, has seen its development
thwarted by decades of conflict and economic decline. Today
it is an upper middle-income, resource-rich, yet fragile and
conflict-riven country. Progress on the twin goals of ending
extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity is inevitably
an uphill struggle in such a context. Indeed, there has been
no overall movement towards either poverty reduction or
reduced income equality in Iraq since 2007; headcount
poverty measured in 2014 has remained virtually unchanged at
22.5 percent. What limited gains in poverty reduction were
achieved through 2012 had been reversed by 2014, as a result
of a resurgence in violence and the worsening of the
economic environment. More than four million Iraqis have
been displaced by the country’s various conflicts.
Citation
“Alkhoja, Ghassan; Neman, Ramzi; Hariz, Sara. 2016. Social Safety Nets in Iraq: Reform in a Time of Fragility, Conflict, and Violence. MENA Knowledge and Learning Quick Notes Series;No. 161. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25342 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”