Iraqi Minister: “Unemployment at 50 Percent’

In an article reported by Radio Free Europe, “Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih has said that the number of unemployed Iraqis has reached 50 percent.” RFE reports that “some 70 percent of Iraqi women are unemployed,” and that local NGO’s have reported that growing numbers of female professionals are taking jobs as domestic servants in order to provide for their families.” Mayada Zuhair, vice president of the Women’s Rights Association of Iraq says, “You can find doctors working as hairdressers, dentists working as chefs, and engineers working in Laundromats. They’re desperate, and with poverty increasing, the situation could get much worse,” RFP reports.

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