Iraq after conflicts: “unrecognizable and remarkable” transformation, reveals UN Coordinator

Iraq is advancing its development after years of conflict and war.

Recently, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq concluded its mandate after 22 years, and the UN humanitarian coordinator for the country told reporters that the nation has been transformed.

“For those who lived through the difficult first years of the transition, today’s Iraq is unrecognizable and remarkable,” said coordinator Ghulam Isaczai in New York City.

Even before the US invasion and occupation, the subsequent chaos of insurgent resistance and ISIS looting, the Iraqi people had suffered a decade of debilitating sanctions. Before that, Saddam Hussein’s decision to invade Kuwait over a diagonal drilling violation led the country to endure war conditions again, having barely ended these after the grueling 8 years of the Iran-Iraq War, which began a decade before the sanctions.

It is fair to say that few alive today will remember a time when Iraq was prosperous and at peace.

Now, the nation’s poverty rate has fallen by around 3% in the last 7 years, while more than 5 million internal refugees have returned home now that security in most of the country has stabilized.

Iraq has enjoyed an upward trajectory on the UN Human Development Index, scoring 6.95 out of 10 in 2023, with a life expectancy at birth of 72 years and 12 years of schooling expected per child.

The recent elections saw a turnout of 56% and a third of parliamentary candidates were women.

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Perhaps the most symbolically impressive development of all these improvements is the fact that as the UN Assistance Mission evolves into a 5-year UN Development Project partnership, Iraq will be the donor, rather than the recipient of aid.

“That shows growing partnership and ownership on the part of the Government of Iraq to become a donor after having been a recipient of humanitarian and development aid for many years,” Mr. Isaczai said.