Poverty in Iraq..A government talk about a plan to reduce it

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Iraq coordinates with the European Union and the World Bank to conduct a "poverty survey"

Sunday 24th January 2021 18

 

  Baghdad: Rola is confident 

 

The Ministry of Planning is coordinating with the World Bank, the European Union and some United Nations organizations to conduct a large survey on poverty indicators in the country in the middle of this year, in light of the parliamentary warnings of the continuous increase in its rates.

The Ministry of Statistics' Central Bureau of Statistics recently conducted a simplified study on the impact of Corona on the standard of living, and the estimates showed that the level of poverty rose to 30 percent in some areas by an estimate and not in the field.

The head of the agency, Diaa Awad Kadhim, told Al-Sabah: “The agency is preparing to conduct a large survey to prepare new indicators for the poverty line in the country,” noting that “there is a plan to prepare the survey questionnaire in cooperation with the World Bank, the European Union and some United Nations organizations.” 

He added that "this survey is somewhat similar to its counterpart that was conducted in 2012 and was stopped due to financial allocation and health conditions," explaining that "it is hoped that it will take place in the middle of this year." 

He revealed, "Discussions will take place regarding what will be included in the form in terms of sections and sections regarding the family in terms of housing, fuel, energy, expenditures, health, transportation and communications," describing the survey as "large with some organizations participating."

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World Bank and EU to Help Iraq Strengthen Public Financial Management Oversight & Accountability

 

 

 

The Government of Iraq Signs Grant Agreement with the World Bank & the European Union on EU-funded Project

Baghdad, January 24, 2021 – The Government of Iraq, the World Bank Group, and the European Union signed today a grant agreement aimed at strengthening the Government of Iraq’s institutions and mechanisms of fiscal accountability and oversight at federal and sub-national levels.

The project titled “Strengthening Public Financial Management (PFM) Oversight and Accountability Institutions” will benefit from jointly implemented US$12.5 million and is part of a technical assistance grant program signed back in September 2018 with the European Union to strengthen public financial management (PFM) oversight and increase the efficiency of public service delivery.

The program aims at improving PFM systems by strengthening payroll management through an IT platform. It will support transparency and accountability in the oil sector through the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative. It will foster the anti-corruption agency which can help retrieve stolen assets and the auditor general as well as support the reform of State-Owned Enterprises. Other features will be strengthening procurement systems through e-procurement and supporting integrity in reconstruction programs. The project will also assist in further tackling revenue mobilization and fiscal federalism and can be revisited in one year to align further with government priorities.

This project compliments the ongoing World Bank-financed project titled “Modernization of Public Financial Management Systems” of US$41.5 million, which aims to improve financial information management and transparency, cash management, public investment management and public procurement modernization at selected federal and governorate agencies.

“Now, more than ever, the importance of a strong public financial management system is critical”, said Ramzi Afif Neman, Head of World Bank Iraq Office. “The World Bank is committed to helping equip the Government of Iraq with mechanisms of fiscal accountability that are essential for sustainable reform, creation of a positive economic impact, and the restoration of public trust in the country’s financial institutions.”

“The efficient management of public finances and the delivery of services is critical in the achievement of public policy objectives, as well as for restoring the trust and social contract between Iraqi citizens and the country’s institutions”, said Martin Huth, European Union Ambassador to Iraq.

The project will support economic governance reforms at the federal level and in the Kurdistan region through technical assistance to many fiscal agencies, under the guidance of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister’s office. The project is in line with the economic reform “White Paper” recently published by the Government of Iraq which supports the overall World Bank Group’s development objectives and portfolio in Iraq. The project is also in line with the SDGs and European Union’s development objectives.

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Iraq signs an agreement with the World Bank and the European Union to strengthen financial supervision

 

125 Policy 01/24/2021 14:14 Baghdad today -

Baghdad Today, the Government of Iraq, the World Bank Group and the European Union signed a grant agreement aimed at strengthening Iraqi government institutions and mechanisms for financial accountability and oversight at the federal and sub-national levels. The project titled “Strengthening Oversight and Accountability Institutions in Public Financial Management (PFM)” will benefit from a joint implementation of US $ 12.5 million and is part of the Technical Assistance Grant Program signed in September 2018 with the European Union to strengthen Public Financial Management (PFM) oversight And increase the efficiency of public service delivery. The program aims to improve public financial management systems by enhancing payroll management through an information technology platform. It will support transparency and accountability in the oil sector through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. It will strengthen the Anti-Corruption Agency that can help recover stolen assets and the Auditor General as well as support reform of state-owned enterprises. Other features will be to strengthen procurement systems through electronic procurement and support integrity in reconstruction programs. The project will also help address revenue mobilization and fiscal federalism and could be reconsidered within one year to align more closely with government priorities. This project complements the ongoing project, financed by the World Bank, entitled "Modernizing Public Financial Management Systems" with a value of US $ 41.5 million, which aims to improve financial information management and transparency, cash management, public investment management, and modernization of public procurement in selected federal agencies and governorates. "Now, more than ever, the importance of having a robust public financial management system is paramount," said Ramzi Afif Nieman, Head of the World Bank Office in Iraq. "The World Bank is committed to helping equip the Government of Iraq with the financial accountability mechanisms that are indispensable for sustainable reform, creating a positive economic impact, and restoring public confidence in the country's financial institutions." "Effective management of public finances and service provision is critical to achieving public policy objectives, as well as for restoring trust and social contract between Iraqi citizens and the country's institutions," said Martin Houth, the EU’s ambassador to Iraq. . The project will support economic governance reforms at the federal level and in the Kurdistan region through technical assistance to several financial bodies, under the guidance of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister's Office. The project is in line with the "white paper" on economic reform recently published by the Government of Iraq that supports the World Bank Group's overall development goals in Iraq. The project is also aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and the European Union's development goals.

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Iraq signs an agreement with the World Bank and the European Union

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1/24/2021 14:28:00

 

Iraq signs an agreement with the World Bank and the European Union

 

Today, the Government of Iraq, the World Bank Group and the European Union signed a grant agreement aimed at strengthening Iraqi government institutions and mechanisms for financial accountability and oversight at the federal and sub-national levels.

The project titled “Strengthening Oversight and Accountability Institutions in Public Financial Management (PFM)” will benefit from a joint implementation of US $ 12.5 million and is part of the Technical Assistance Grant Program signed in September 2018 with the European Union to strengthen Public Financial Management (PFM) oversight And increase the efficiency of public service delivery.

The program aims to improve public financial management systems by enhancing payroll management through an information technology platform. It will support transparency and accountability in the oil sector through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. It will strengthen the Anti-Corruption Agency that can help recover stolen assets and the Auditor General as well as support reform of state-owned enterprises. Other features will be to strengthen procurement systems through electronic procurement and support integrity in reconstruction programs. The project will also help address revenue mobilization and fiscal federalism and could be reconsidered within one year to align more closely with government priorities.

This project complements the ongoing project, financed by the World Bank, entitled "Modernizing Public Financial Management Systems" with a value of US $ 41.5 million, which aims to improve financial information management and transparency, cash management, public investment management, and modernization of public procurement in selected federal agencies and governorates.

"Now, more than ever, the importance of having a robust public financial management system is paramount," said Ramzi Afif Nieman, Head of the World Bank Office in Iraq. "The World Bank is committed to helping equip the Government of Iraq with the financial accountability mechanisms that are indispensable for sustainable reform, creating a positive economic impact, and restoring public confidence in the country's financial institutions."

"Effective management of public finances and service provision is critical to achieving public policy goals, as well as for restoring trust and social contract between Iraqi citizens and the country's institutions," said Martin Hoth, the EU’s ambassador to Iraq.

The project will support economic governance reforms at the federal level and in the Kurdistan region through technical assistance to several financial bodies, under the guidance of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister's Office. The project is in line with the "white paper" on economic reform recently published by the Government of Iraq that supports the World Bank Group's overall development goals in Iraq. The project is also aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and the European Union's development goals.

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Planning and the World Bank discuss the implementation of an economic and social survey

Economie

2021-02-14 | 09:24

 

 

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Today, Sunday, the Ministry of Planning and the Central Bank discussed the implementation of the Economic and Social Survey and the Youth Empowerment Program in Iraq.

The Ministry of Planning In a statement received by Alsumaria News, you stated that "an intensive round of discussions and discussions were held between the two technical teams from the Ministry and the World Bank, regarding the nature of the support provided by the World Bank in a number of areas."

 

 

 

She added, "Agent The Ministry of Planning Maher Hammad Johan The meeting was chaired and attended by the General Director of International Cooperation W.Government investment Poverty Alleviation Strategy, the Assistant Director General of the Regional and Local Planning Department, and a number of stakeholders, while the World Bank was represented in Iraq Ramzi Numan And his accompanying delegation. "

 

 

She added, "During the meeting, a discussion was held for the third economic and social survey of the family in Iraq, Which you intend to The Ministry of Planning Its implementation during the current year 2021, as well as the discussion of the training program for economic inclusion, which will be engaged with the paths of the poverty alleviation strategy through the creation of sustainable job opportunities in coordination with Ministry of Labor And social affairs, by developing the skills and technical capabilities of young people, and granting them soft loans, enabling them to establish sustainable, income-generating small projects. 

 

 

 

She explained, "The World Bank team showed its high willingness to work jointly with The Ministry of Planning And the possibility of financing a number of important projects, to serve the achievement of human development Iraq".

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Planning and the World Bank discuss a third household survey and the youth empowerment program in Iraq

•  Time: 02/14/2021 11:28:48
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•  Read: 1,729 times

  

{Baghdad: Al Furat News} An intensive round of discussions and discussions between the two technical teams from the Ministry and the World Bank was held at the Ministry of Planning, today, Sunday, on the nature of the support provided by the World Bank in a number of areas.

In a statement, the Euphrates News received a copy of it, the ministry stated, “The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning, Maher Hammad Johan, chaired the meeting and was attended by the Director General of International Cooperation and Government Investment and Poverty Alleviation Strategy, the Assistant Director General of the Regional and Local Planning Department, and a number of stakeholders, while Ramzi Numan and his accompanying delegation represented the World Bank in Iraq. The
statement stated that “during the meeting, a discussion was held for the third economic and social survey of the family in Iraq, which the Ministry of Planning intends to implement during the current year 2021, as well as the training program for economic inclusion, which was discussed. It will be engaged with the paths of the poverty alleviation strategy by creating sustainable job opportunities in coordination with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, by developing the skills and technical capabilities of youth, and granting them soft loans that enable them to establish sustainable income-generating small projects.
And he continued, "The World Bank team showed its high willingness to work jointly with the Ministry of Planning, and the possibility of financing a number of important projects, in order to serve the achievement of human development in Iraq."

Forgiveness Al-Khalidi

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Planning and the World Bank discuss a youth empowerment program

Monday 15th February 2021 51

 

  Baghdad: Muhammad Al-Ansari

 

The Ministry of Planning and the World Bank discussed the implementation of the Economic and Social Survey and the Youth Empowerment Program in Iraq, while the General Electric Foundation, in cooperation with the Capita company, launched the “Energies” initiative to support 50 micro-companies owned by Iraqi youth. 

The Ministry of Planning stated in a statement, that "an intensive round of discussions and discussions were held between the two technical teams from the Ministry and the World Bank, on the nature of the support provided by the World Bank in a number of areas."

She added that "the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning, Maher Hammad Johan, chaired the meeting, and was attended by the Director General of International Cooperation, Governmental Investment and Poverty Reduction Strategy, and the Assistant Director General of the Regional and Local Planning Department, and a number of stakeholders, while the World Bank was represented in Iraq by Ramzi Numan and his accompanying delegation." 

During the meeting, a discussion took place on the third economic and social survey project for the family in Iraq, which the Ministry of Planning intends to implement during the current year 2021, as well as the training program for economic inclusion, which will be engaged with strategic pathways for poverty alleviation by creating sustainable job opportunities in coordination with the Ministry Labor and social affairs, by developing the skills and technical capabilities of young people, and granting them soft loans that enable them to establish small, sustainable income-generating projects.

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Planning and the World Bank discuss a youth empowerment program

 

The Ministry of Planning building

money and business Economy News - Baghdad The Ministry of Planning and the World Bank discussed the implementation of the economic and social survey and the youth empowerment program in Iraq.   The Ministry of Planning stated in a statement seen by "Al-Eqtisad News", that "an intensive round of discussions and discussions were held between the two technical teams from the Ministry and the World Bank, regarding the nature of the support provided by the World Bank in a number of areas." She added that "the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning, Maher Hammad Johan, chaired the meeting, and was attended by the Director General of International Cooperation, Government Investment and Poverty Reduction Strategy, and the Assistant Director General of the Regional and Local Planning Department, and a number of stakeholders, while the World Bank was represented in Iraq by Ramzi Numan and his accompanying delegation." During the meeting, they discussed the third economic and social survey project for the family in Iraq, which the Ministry of Planning intends to implement during the current year 2021, as well as the training program for economic inclusion, which will be engaged with strategic pathways for poverty alleviation by creating sustainable job opportunities in coordination with the Ministry. Labor and social affairs, by developing the skills and technical capabilities of young people, and granting them soft loans, enabling them to establish sustainable, income-generating small projects. The ministry's statement indicated, "The World Bank team has expressed its high readiness to work jointly with the Ministry of Planning, and the possibility of financing a number of important projects, in a way that serves the achievement of human development in Iraq."

Number of observations 128   Date of addendum 02/15/2021

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Planning announces an increase in poverty in Iraq, and it is likely that many details will be changed in the budget

•  Time: 02/16/2021 12:06:44
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•  Read: 2,171 times

  

{Baghdad: Al Furat News} A spokesman for the Ministry of Planning, Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, confirmed today, Tuesday, setting priorities for stalled projects and projects under implementation within the general budget for 2021 to ensure that they are not stopped.

"The economic downturn today is less effective than it is in other countries, such as Turkey, Iran and others, as a result of the collapse of their currency," Al-Hindawi told Al-Furat News. 
He continued: "It is no secret to us that the recession caused the suspension of many economic activities and caused the loss of many job opportunities that were a source of livelihood for many families, and this in turn led to an increase in poverty rates in the country to 25%."
In another context, Al-Hindawi said that "the budget is still a draft and many details and data may change according to the vision of the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Planning added, "There are about 6 thousand projects or more in progress," indicating that "these projects have different rates of completion, some are at advanced levels, some are in the middle, and some are at the beginning or have not been started."
He explained: "We have set priorities for these projects within the general budget. The need for this is to ensure that projects do not stop, because stopping them causes the loss of many job opportunities for young people."
"The projects are distributed in several governorates, and we also have a project to complete the stalled hospitals, and we have about 52 hospitals with completion rates, some of them advanced by advanced Turkish, German and local companies." 
"We have strategic projects, including the large Faw project, the Baghdad suspension train project, the building of 1,000 schools, in addition to the airports of Mosul and Dhi Qar," he added. 
Al-Hindawi concluded that "all these projects are included in the budget law and do not necessarily complete them in this year."

Hussein Hatem

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Baghdad is in the lead .. 3.5 million Iraqis live in slums, and they constitute 12% of the population

 

Spokesman for the Ministry of Planning, Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, "Economy News"

Reconstruction and building Economy News - Baghdad The Ministry of Planning announced a new statistic regarding the number of Iraqis who live in the slums, indicating that Karbala Governorate came at the bottom of the list of cities in terms of the number of slums. The ministry’s spokesman, Abdul Zahra al-Hindawi, said in an interview on state television, which was seen by “Al-Iqtisad News,” that the Ministry of Planning conducted a special survey of slums in Iraq in 2017, but it did not include all Iraqi provinces due to the general conditions of the country at that time. He added, "The survey showed that the number of slums in Iraq is close to 4000, containing 522,000 housing units," but they do not resemble natural housing units, as he put it. Al-Hindawi said that in these slums live "approximately 3.5 million people, who make up 12% of the Iraqi population." He pointed out that "Baghdad occupies the first place with 1022 slums, followed by Basra governorate with 700 slums, then Nineveh Governorate, while Karbala governorate came last as the least governorate in terms of the number of slums, at 98 random." He pointed out that "76% of the informal settlements were built on state-owned land, and the rest of the slums were built on lands belonging to the private sector." The ministry asserted, "towards the implementation of a broad survey, which we called the Economic and Social Survey of Informal Settlements, but this survey is linked to the law, as we want a law cover for every activity we perform within the roadmap prepared by the Ministry of Planning since 2016." He indicated that "the road map prepared by the ministry was in cooperation with the United Nations Program for Human Settlements. It contains multiple paths and is implemented in two phases. The first stage is to limit the spread of informal settlements, and the second stage is to address these informal settlements." He confirmed the ministry's intention, "to issue a law for dealing with informal settlements, which includes establishing a fund to which the revenues of slums sold to citizens will go." The ministry spokesman added, "The Ministry of Planning sent a bill to deal with slums to the House of Representatives in its previous session, but it was not read. The parliament proposed another law, but it exacerbated the problem of slums and did not solve it."

Number of observations 119   Date of addendum 02/16/2021

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Parliamentary work: efforts to amend the law determining the poverty rate to include four new categories

12 hours ago

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The head of the Parliamentary Labor, Immigration and Displacement Committee, Raad Al-Dahlaki, revealed, today, Thursday, that efforts will be taken to amend the law determining the percentage of poverty to include widowed and divorced women and the wives of the convicted without restrictions or conditions.

Al-Dahlaki said in a statement received by 7sky, that “during his visit to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the meeting with the Director General of the Social Protection Network, he discussed a number of files, including the establishment of a distribution mechanism for the new inclusion of applicants in order to obtain the social welfare salary for different segments and determine the percentage of each governorate and district based on density Population and the poverty rate for each governorate.

Al-Dahlaki added, "It has also been emphasized to ensure the share of each governorate without discrimination between the governorates, and to rely on the criterion of the population percentage and the percentage of poverty in the governorate in addition to determining the percentage of each district in the same governorate," noting that "an electronic window will be opened for submission after the budget is approved in order to facilitate Procedures for applicants. ”

And he stressed "proceeding with procedures to amend the law to determine the percentage of poverty, to include women (widow, divorced and the wife of the convicted) without any restrictions or conditions in determining the percentage of poverty."

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Financial planning and poverty alleviation

Monday 01st March 2021 58

 

Dr.. Ahmed Al-Husseini 

 

It seems that financial planning in Iraq has not taken upon itself seriously to address the main societal issues, such as trying to reduce poverty rates. Despite the official announcement of two strategies to alleviate poverty (2010-2014) and (2018-2022), the Ministry of Planning recently announced the possibility of higher rates of poverty. Poverty in Iraq reached 32 percent, and she attributed the reason to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Perhaps the effects of the pandemic are clearly visible and its aftermath of a general stagnation in the Iraqi market, disruption of economic activity and high unemployment rates, especially among vulnerable groups that depend on their daily work to earn a living, but it seems that the Ministry of Planning has overlooked other reasons that may be more rhythmic and influential than the effects. The pandemic, the most important of which is the decisions of the Supreme Committee for National Safety and Health, to impose a curfew that lasted for quite some time, which affected the entry levels of those groups, which represent most of the Iraqi people, and this led at a later stage to an increase in the rates of economic recession in the markets, because these groups are the most consuming It is driving aggregate demand in Economy.

 The aforementioned committee was supposed to recommend the necessity of covering the living expenses of those groups, if they wanted to achieve the maximum benefit from the health curfew decision, but we did not notice this thing, in addition to the recent decisions of the Iraqi government related to reducing the value of the dinar and imposing progressive taxes targeting certain groups without Others, and the proposal to reduce allocations to more than 3 million employees within government institutions, all of these factors are expected to negatively affect the movement of economic activity, and then negatively affect the vulnerable and poorest groups in Iraq, especially if we know that most of the groups are classified within the poverty line NBK or below it works in simple businesses related to local markets, transportation, and retail stores.As a result, the reduction in the pace of personal spending due to the decisions issued will indirectly affect the generation of recession waves in the local markets, which will later affect the entry of vulnerable and poor groups, and according to this analysis it was imposed on the financial planner, especially when he drew the financial plan for the current year 2021, which Translated into the general budget, it takes into account those effects and the reflection of the financial plan on those groups of Iraqi society.

 It is also expected that if the House of Representatives passes the draft budget proposal for 2021 in its current form, poverty rates will rise to more than 38 percent in the first quarter of 2021, and what reinforces our expectation is the emergence of a new strain of the Corona virus under the name of Covid-20, which recorded many countries Confirmed cases of infection with this type of virus, not to mention the political influence, whether at the local, regional or international level, which is a major driver and influence in the movement of economic activity in Iraq.

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European statement after a 'high' meeting brought together the Iraqi Finance Minister and the World Bank

 

Tuesday 2 March 2021 - 18:41

 

https://akhbaar.org/home/2021/3/280683.html

 

Baghdad (People) - The German embassy in Baghdad announced, Tuesday, its support for the Iraqi government's ambitious economic reform agenda, stressing that it stands ready to intensify and deepen support.  

 

The embassy stated in a statement, which "people" received a copy of (March 2, 2021), that "the co-chairs of Germany and the European Union held a meeting of the directors of the Iraqi Economic Contact Group."  

 

"As friends of Iraq, we support the ambitious economic reform agenda of the Iraqi government and stand ready to intensify and deepen our support," the statement added.  

 

The statement added, "The meeting was chaired in partnership by Finance Minister Ali Allawi and the World Bank, with the participation of representatives from the Group of Seven countries and the International Monetary Fund, who pledged to support the implementation of the white paper for economic reform adopted by the Iraqi government

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In the Middle East, poverty is down but economic grievance is up. Why?

Steven HeydemannTuesday, March 2, 2021

 

 

Steven Heydemann explores the understudied solidarity-based social mechanisms that have created and sustained economic resilience in the Middle East past, but which are now coming under increasing strain. This piece was originally published by the Lebanese American University.

The political economies of the Arab world present a fascinating but puzzling paradox. On the one hand, the region’s trajectory over the past decade has reflected growing anger and frustration among Arab publics in societies wracked by economic stress and deepening economic precarity. On the other hand, these widely-held economic grievances co-exist with the lowest levels of extreme poverty among developing regions, defined by the number of people living on less than $1.90/day, the current International Poverty Line (IPL).

 

Steven Heydemann

Nonresident Senior Fellow

 

How can we account for the region’s apparent success in achieving such low rates of extreme poverty even while widely-held economic grievances and anxieties continue to grow and middle classes come under increasing economic strain? Can the relative success in reducing extreme poverty be sustained given the economic collapse of conflict-affected states such as Syria, Libya, and Yemen, or in the face of corrupt, predatory governments in Iraq, Algeria, and Lebanon? How have the economic strains associated with the COVID-19 pandemic affected the least well-off within Arab societies, those who were compelled by necessity to develop effective economic survival strategies?

These are crucial questions for understanding sources of social and economic resilience in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and for exploring the understudied solidarity-based social mechanisms that have created and sustained such resilience in the past, but which are now coming under increasing strain.

For most observers, it is the first of these features that define the region’s political landscape. The uprisings of 2010 and 2011, the more recent wave of protests that erupted in 2019 in Lebanon, Iraq, and Algeria, along with more limited episodes of unrest and labor activism in Egypt and Jordan, are read correctly as potent indicators of the fear, anger, and anxiety felt by millions of people across the Arab world fed up with governments that enable corruption, fail to provide economic security or social mobility, reject accountability, and treat citizens with blistering contempt.

The pandemic’s arrival in March 2020 may have temporarily suppressed protest movements that spilled into the streets in 2019, but the anger that animated them remains a tangible presence across the region, amplified by the grinding hardship that has accompanied the spread of COVID-19.

 

 

The outpouring of mass grievances since late 2010, as well as the strategies regimes have developed to contain and suppress popular mobilization, are an understandable focus of attention. Yet the second feature I highlight — the MENA region’s surprisingly low levels of extreme poverty — is no less noteworthy, both because it remains an understudied and underappreciated aspect of the region’s political economies, and because trends of the past decade, now exacerbated by COVID-19, place this achievement at risk.

The following graph from the World Bank makes clear just how low extreme poverty rates are in the MENA region relative to other developing regions in the period up to the start of the Arab uprisings in 2011. Beginning from a low starting point of less than 10% of the population reported to live in conditions of extreme poverty in 1987, the countries of the Middle East and North Africa — at least, those for which data are available — cut that level to around 3% by 2013. In other world regions, such as East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia, declines in extreme poverty were far more rapid, they only approached the levels found in MENA around 2010. And despite their incredible success they continue to show higher levels of extreme poverty than MENA, a region that overall performs less well on many indicators of economic and social development.

Figure 1: Share of population living in extreme poverty by world region (1987 – 2013)

Many economists view the current IPL of $1.90 as too low to capture the much larger numbers of people who scrape by on meagre incomes that barely exceed this level. They view a poverty line of $3.20/day as a more accurate indicator of overall poverty. Not surprisingly, when the $3.20/day level is applied to MENA’s population in poverty increases significantly, as the second graph, below, from a World Bank website, indicates. At this level, the MENA region performs less well than some other world regions yet still has less than half the poverty levels of South Asia and less than one-third of those in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Figure 2: Poverty rates at the $3.20 (USD) line, by region (1990 – 2018)

At either level, but especially if we accept the current IPL of $1.90 as relevant, our opening question remains: How can we account for the performance of MENA in achieving such low levels of extreme poverty? There are any number of candidate explanations, including the possibility that governments lie about poverty data (as we discovered in Tunisia following the overthrow of the Ben Ali regime), and concerns about undercounting the poor. It is unlikely, however, that bad data can explain persistent, systematic regional trends over such an extended period of time, not least because it implies that only MENA’s data are so deeply skewed while data from other developing regions are not.

More plausible possibilities include the legacy effects of very high levels of public spending in MENA from 1965 to 1985, the persistence of high subsidies, the role of remittances in supporting household income, or, more recently, the impact of cash transfer programs, such as the Takaful and Karama programs that provide support to 2.5 million of Egypt’s poorest families. Yet declines in extreme poverty have been consistent, while remittances vary. Public spending in MENA has declined since 1985 even as extreme poverty also declined. And cash transfer programs are a recent phenomenon.

Without dismissing the importance of these factors, I argue that they overlook what could be the most important mechanisms providing a measure of economic security to the region’s least well-off: localized, informal, solidarity-based institutions anchored in personal relationships and social networks that offer the very poor (and sometimes the not so poor) the means to tap into sources of financial assistance and in-kind support that would not otherwise be available.

These mechanisms, I argue, represent crucial sources of social and economic resilience for the least well-off in the MENA region. As Julia Elyachar noted in her book, “Markets of Dispossession”: “The informal economy and the ability of the poor to survive without help from the state, had at their core social networks built around community reservoirs of trust.”

Solidarity-based mechanisms arise in a variety of contexts, from neighborhoods to factories, to bureaucracies, to small enterprises, to urban neighborhoods, and extended families. These are not micro-finance enterprises that are externally funded and conform to practices established by global micro-finance entrepreneurs. They are not created or sustained by international donors. They operate almost entirely outside the scope of the state. And they are anchored in and built up around social affinities of different kinds, including a range of identity-based attributes — neighborhood, village of origin, faith-based identities — that create the conditions of trust within which solidarity networks are able to form and sustain themselves.

Collectively, these informal, localized institutions provide frameworks of trust and solidarity that, in a sense, constitute the micro-foundations of a moral economy.

Collectively, these informal, localized institutions provide frameworks of trust and solidarity that, in a sense, constitute the micro-foundations of a moral economy. Individuals, who belong to such solidarity-based networks often lack the means to fund expenses that arise in moments of need — weddings, funerals, business opportunities — and have thus developed shared norms and practices that network members understand and accept in exchange for access to resources, including a commitment to provide resources in turn to others in the network.

Perhaps the most important and most widespread of these institutions are informal, neighborhood-based rotating credit associations. These are typically run by women, collect dues from members, charge no interest, and make small loans on a rotating basis to association members. There’s been no comprehensive inventory of these associations as far as I know. But informal estimates suggest that they number in the tens of thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands in the Middle East.

Other such institutions include associations established by urban migrants to help others from the same home village. They also include neighborhood-based Zakat associations (Islamic charitable or social welfare groups). In Egypt alone, it was estimated that in the 1990s there were more than 6,000 of these associations, serving as many as 20 million people. According to Anne Marie Baylouny — in the only study of its kind of which I am aware — neo-liberal economic reforms in the 1980s and beyond gave rise to hundreds of new kinship-based rotating credit associations in Jordan and Lebanon. In the Jordanian case, Baylouny indicates, these kinship-based NGOs grew to encompass as much as half of Jordan’s population.

 

 

Collectively, the Middle East exhibits a social and economic landscape that is densely populated with informal or non-state solidarity-based mechanisms of social and economic resilience that for the most part operate out of sight. The impact of such mechanisms is hard to quantify. We don’t know for sure that regions where extreme poverty levels are higher lack comparable institutions. Regions with more very poor people no doubt possess their own versions of the institutions I refer to here.

So, integrating solidary-based institutions into our explanations raises questions of its own. Yet it seems highly likely that if we want to understand fully why extreme poverty levels in the MENA region are exceptionally low, we need to give these mechanisms much more attention than they have received in the past.

The need for such attention has become more urgent in the past decade, and even more so with the onset of COVID-19. The political and economic turmoil that followed the 2010-2011 protests led to a small but noticeable increase in extreme poverty in the MENA region. The violent conflicts that followed mass protests in Syria, Libya, and Yemen have no doubt contributed to rising levels of extreme poverty, as well. This trend had become evident by 2015, as reflected in the following graph from the World Bank. Since 2010, MENA has fallen behind Latin America. It is the only world region to experience an increase in extreme poverty in the past decade, prior to the onset of COVID-19. And we have to assume that conditions have deteriorated further in the past year.

Figure 3: Share of population living in extreme poverty by world region (1981 – 2015)

Setbacks specific to MENA have become global in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic but have hit the least-well-off with particular force. Lockdowns, business closures, and forced unemployment in a number of MENA countries have increased the demand for, while simultaneously eating away at, the meagre financial resources that might otherwise accumulate in rotating credit networks during normal times. Public health restrictions may also be fraying the social ties that are essential to the functioning of informal self-help mechanisms.

At the same time, economic crises in countries like Iraq and Lebanon, as well as in conflict-affected states like Syria, have pushed large numbers of those who once lived on incomes slightly higher than the IPL, even those previously considered middle class, into conditions of extreme poverty. Increases in crimes associated with economic hardship and the erosion of solidarity as people experience severe economic suffering are only two indicators of the damage that economic crises and the COVID-19 pandemic may well be inflicting on solidarity-based mechanisms of social and economic resilience.

What these trends suggest is that a concerted effort will be needed once the pandemic recedes to support the restoration and repair of the social bonds and social solidarities that play a crucial role in sustaining the economic resilience of the least well-off in the MENA region. The poor who have been battered by the pandemic have shown tremendous resilience before, and as conditions normalize may well exhibit the energy, creativity, and drive that has served them well in the past.

But states have a role to play, especially through the revitalization of social welfare and public spending, the expansion of cash transfer programs, and other forms of low intervention-high-impact public policies that respect the desire of MENA’s citizens for autonomy and dignity. The alternative to such measures is likely to be a further, sustained increase in extreme poverty and the further erosion of crucial sources of social resilience.

[yota691]

Planning reveals its plans to combat poverty in Iraq

Political| 03:37 - 04/24/2021

 

 

 

 

Baghdad - Mawazine News The
Ministry of Planning revealed, on Saturday, its plans to combat poverty in the country, indicating that Al-Muthanna Governorate has the highest poverty rate.
"The Ministry of Planning has policies and strategic plans to reduce poverty in the country, including the strategy to combat poverty in Iraq, which it launched in 2018 and continues until 2022, as well as the five-year development plan 2018-2022, which includes Empowering the poor to achieve income, housing, education, and improve their living conditions. "
Al-Hindawi added, "The ministry is working to support the poorest villages in the governorates, by establishing the Social Fund for Development, which is one of the formations of the Ministry of Planning. The fund’s work includes implementing service projects, health centers, schools, and municipal services such as water, electricity and roads in these villages."
He emphasized, "These projects achieve two things, the first is to provide services, and the second is to provide job opportunities to contribute to achieving income for families in these villages." Dohuk. "
He stated, "A number of projects have been implemented and the ministry is working in the second phase, and other governorates will be included with the same mechanism and the poorest villages will be chosen during the current year."
He noted that "
Regarding the poorest governorates, he revealed that “Muthanna is the most governorate, with 52% of the population being poor, followed by Diwaniyah, then Dhi Qar with 47%, then the central and southern governorates, and finally the western governorates and the Kurdistan region with a lower rate of poverty in the country, and for the most provinces in which there are numbers. The poor are more, so Baghdad is the most poor, because it represents the largest population block in Iraq, followed by Nineveh because it is the second population block in the country.

[horsesoldier]

They're deliberately creating deflection here. This is simple really. Take ALL government officials and ALL those on the take; whos ever left which is probably 90% of the country IS IN POVERTY !

 

To pass the time here is a photo of me during last seasons deer hunting trip . . . did I have a blast or what !!!

 

 

[CSM (R) Thack]

2 hours ago, horsesoldier said:

They're deliberately creating deflection here. This is simple really. Take ALL government officials and ALL those on the take; whos ever left which is probably 90% of the country IS IN POVERTY !

 

To pass the time here is a photo of me during last seasons deer hunting trip . . . did I have a blast or what !!!

 

 

🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂👍🇺🇸

[yota691]

 

Planning: extreme poverty did not exceed 2% of the poverty rate in Iraq

 

•  

 2021-04-27 05:53

 

Shafaq News / The Ministry of Planning announced, on Tuesday, that extreme poverty did not exceed 2% of the poverty rate in Iraq, indicating that the highest poverty rate in Iraq is concentrated in Muthanna Governorate and the lowest poverty rate is concentrated in the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad.

The ministry's spokesman, Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, said in an interview with Shafaq News: "Extreme poverty is very few and ranges between 1.5 to 2% of the poverty rate in Iraq, which is 30%, according to the latest census for the year 2020," indicating that "the ministry is currently working on updating its data regarding the poverty rate in Iraq for the year 2021." 

Al-Hindawi added, "Al-Muthanna Governorate is still the highest among the governorates in which the poverty rate is very high, at 52%, followed by Diwaniyah and Dhi Qar Governorate from 48 to 49%, and then Nineveh Governorate by 41%, and the poverty rate in other southern governorates is approximately 32%." .

He added that the poverty rate in the central governorates ranges from 20 to 21%, while the poverty rate in Anbar and the governorates of Kirkuk, Diyala and Salah al-Din ranges between 17 to 18%, noting that “the poverty rate in the governorates of the Kurdistan Region ranges between 12.5 to 13. %, Which is the same percentage in Baghdad governorate.

The economic conditions and the deterioration of services during the last period led to demonstrations in Iraq, which caused the dismissal of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi and the appointment of Mustafa Al-Kazemi as Prime Minister until the next elections are held at the end of this year.

According to a report by UNICEF of the United Nations, more than 40% of Iraqi children are below the poverty line, while Iraq sits on global oil reserves of 145.5 billion barrels, and these black gold reserves represent a share of about 12.2% of the total reserves of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Extreme poverty, or absolute poverty, was originally defined by the United Nations in 1995 as “a state characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but Also get services. "

Currently; Extreme poverty broadly refers to earning below the international poverty line of US $ 1.25 / day (in 2005 prices).

[yota691]

An economist expects the increase in poverty in Iraq and lists the reasons

•  Time: 05/04/2021 12:17:00
•  
•  Read: 2,392 times

  

{Economic: Al-Furat News} An economist expects the increase in poverty rates in Iraq

 

Basem Jamil Antoine told Al-Furat News, "The state has worked on economic reform, but the citizen pays the price in all its categories."

He stated, "The Iraqi citizen and the businessman have been forced to adapt to this situation," indicating that "the ruling opponent is the one who determines and implements the price of the dollar, and there is no other solution as if the state made economic reform and the citizen paid the price for it in all its categories," pointing out that "this has become reality and stability." It cannot be changed. "

Antoine emphasized, "Poverty rates will increase because what happened is a reduction in the purchasing power of the citizen, meaning that the same amount that he used to buy ten units with, now it is reduced to 8 eight units and the state took a quarter of what the Iraqi citizen owns."

The economist added, "At the same time, greedy merchants took advantage of the situation and took 25% of the purchasing power, and the citizen now pays the difference of 50% of his income, so he has a large monetary inflation in exchange for reducing the purchasing power, and he is forced to adapt to it by any means."

He continued, "The state brought it big differences from oil and by reducing the value of the dinar against the dollar, and it went into the government's pockets."

Forgiveness Al-Khalidi

[horsesoldier]

Good for the people know the why of for why they're starving. Will anything be done to alleviate their suffering - " Soon " huh

[boosterbglee]

The Iraqi people are the ones suffering from the thievery of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves!🤬

[3n1]

i find it strange that no one ever screams to bring back the iqd purchasing power that the citizens had up to the year 1990 and the kuwait invasion ... maybe most of that citizanary has been killed off that knew of it ......... letsroll cbi  

[Flamtap]

58 minutes ago, boosterbglee said:

The Iraqi people are the ones suffering from the thievery of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves!🤬

Good one Boosterbglee!  I'm also more than sure more than 40 plus one will be caught with their hand still in the cookie jar! I can hardly wait! 

[GreedyDinar07]

Wow!! They will have to fix this or eventually all hell is going to break loose. Maybe this is the process where they are removing the 000's from the face value of the dinar by pulling in as many large denominations as they can by making the citizens spend more dinar before they RV. If that is not the case then nothing good is going to come of this. I understand they did this to keep the dinar from collapsing and to build their reserves but the question is how long can they keep this rate while keeping the peace among the people at the same time. Poverty breeds crime. Al-Khazemi just took a tour of the of the new CBI building that is suppose to be completed in 2021. So what is the point of a new CBI, with a beautiful design, to hold worthless currency. There are a lot positive things going on in Iraq but at the same time I can't put my finger on which direction they are going in. Iran is a problem and so is corruption. Iran is still lobbying missiles at The American Embassy  but at the same time conducting business with Iraq. Pure insanity!! It is sad to see a Country with so much potential remain a failed state because of greed, corruption and incompetence. They still haven't passed the HCl which is mind boggling and it is not a good look for the GOI to sale out their Country and People to Iran. The opportunity and resources are there, the question is will they take advantage of it. If they intend on leaving the exchange rate at 1450 for a "long time" there will be no Iraq to invest in!! 

[PrehistoricMan]

1 hour ago, GreedyDinar07 said:

Wow!! They will have to fix this or eventually all hell is going to break loose. Maybe this is the process where they are removing the 000's from the face value of the dinar by pulling in as many large denominations as they can by making the citizens spend more dinar before they RV. If that is not the case then nothing good is going to come of this. I understand they did this to keep the dinar from collapsing and to build their reserves but the question is how long can they keep this rate while keeping the peace among the people at the same time. Poverty breeds crime. Al-Khazemi just took a tour of the of the new CBI building that is suppose to be completed in 2021. So what is the point of a new CBI, with a beautiful design, to hold worthless currency. There are a lot positive things going on in Iraq but at the same time I can't put my finger on which direction they are going in. Iran is a problem and so is corruption. Iran is still lobbying missiles at The American Embassy  but at the same time conducting business with Iraq. Pure insanity!! It is sad to see a Country with so much potential remain a failed state because of greed, corruption and incompetence. They still haven't passed the HCl which is mind boggling and it is not a good look for the GOI to sale out their Country and People to Iran. The opportunity and resources are there, the question is will they take advantage of it. If they intend on leaving the exchange rate at 1450 for a "long time" there will be no Iraq to invest in!! 

Eh, I remember first getting into this.  I followed another site for a few years.  He wrote this big story like you just did about how the RV had to happen in Febuary of 2012 or the world would fall off the cliff economically.  He said if it happened after that it would be too late.  Made a big drama out of it.  So....Iraq will still be around years from now even if nothing happens.