Sabreen Khalil lost her husband to COVID last year, leaving her to raise seven children alone, but Iraqi government funding to help her and hundreds of thousands of families in poverty is blocked by political stalemate, Reuters reports.
With politicians deadlocked over forming a new government since an election in October, rival Shia Muslim factions in Baghdad, on Friday, continued their weeks-long protests which have prevented Parliament from meeting.
The standoff has raised fears of renewed unrest in a country where militias wield significant power and is already taking a toll on the most vulnerable.
“I am a woman and, all of a sudden, I had to take the responsibility of seven children alone … it broke my back,” Khalil said, speaking of the impact of her husband’s death.
Sitting on the floor in her one-bedroom brick house in the village of Saada on the outskirts of Baghdad, she said she cannot afford treatment for her chronic illness and that her children have to skip some meals as food prices soar.
Nine months after applying for a government pension, she has received nothing from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. “Every time we go they tell us, ‘We are waiting for a budget’,” she said.
An official at the Ministry said Khalil qualifies for support, but confirmed there is no funding to provide it. “Our hands are tied because there is no budget,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
Her family is one of about 370,000 families who qualify for the pension but are not receiving it because of the political deadlock, the official said.
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Middle East Monitor
