The Government of Iraq has over the past five years accorded utmost attention and priority to the agricultural sector in search for food security and self-reliance. But despite efforts to enormously increase purchase prices of grains and cereals from farmers, Iraq today seems more dependent on food imports than last year or five years ago due to modest harvest and poor performance of the agriculture sector where lack of machinery and spare parts as well as other agri- cultural components are not available. The poor economic situation in the country has had its adversities on the social sector where social characteristics and behaviour are undergoing a total change in a society once known for its virtual attributes. Car theft has also included government, UN Agencies and other diplomatic missions operating in the country. House theft and murder cases, driven by economic hardship have significantly risen, although no official statistics are available.
Street children are today widely visible in the country and even in the capital Baghdad.
Since beginning of the Gulf crisis, children have been seen selling petty things at traffic lights, but today many more have turned to beggary, one step before delinquency. Child labour is also visible in the streets where small young girls are seen selling a variety of items even drinking water. This situation is unlikely to witness immediate improvement even if the economic and trade sanctions are lifted or eased. Large numbers of boys and girls are still leaving or postponing schooling in order to support their families by working in the market. MOH figures indicated that the monthly average of mortality cases among children of the same age group due to acute respiratory infections, water-borne diseases and malnutrition stood at 4,409 for 1994 against 742 cases in 1990, while the average of monthly mortality cases by end of July 1995 stands at 4,475.