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Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs provides services and benefits to Iraq's most needy citizens. The Ministry's 3,870 career professionals administer the private social security pension fund and welfare program - giving the nation's children, elderly, disables, widows and retirees the financial means to survive. Services and benefits in the Kurdish regions mirror those offered by the national Ministry in Baghdad.

The Ministry's national programmatic services facilities include:

• 22 orphanages
• 45 day care centers
• Five nursing homes
• 22 homes for the hearing impaired
• three centers for the visually impaired
• 17 facilities for the mentally disabled
• Eight disability employment centers
• Four workshops for persons with disabilities
• Five rehabilitation centers
• Two centers for persons with missing limbs

Like many government buildings in Iraq, the Ministry's administrative facilities were burned and looted shortly after the war ended. While structurally sound, the buildings were a hollow shell and required renovations and refurbishments. CPA was working with international NGO's to complete the renovations of these buildings by August 2003. Simultaneously, the Ministry acquired Iraqi security to protect its facilities, paid all Ministry employees through June 2003, and had begun paying social security and welfare recipients for the firdst time since February 2003.

The Ministry faces four, long term challenges. They are:

1. It must provide equal access to services and benefits for all Iraq's eligible constituents. As of mid-2003, the Ministry provides benefits to 82,000 Iraqis. The number of eligible recipients is estimated to be much higher than the figures being served. As a result, the Ministry must begin hiring more social workers and increasing its case load in order to provide assistance to individuals and families in need.
2. The Ministry must develop and expand its ability to complement financial assistance by providing training and employment services. By providing new, marketable skills for Iraq's workforce, the number of displaced workers will be able to obtain employment, provide for themselves and their families, and contribute to the nation's economy.
3. The Ministry must elevate its participation in the international community, by coordinating programmatic resources with NGO's and IO's, the Ministry can obtain its objectives in a shorter period of time.
4. The Ministry must advocate changes in Iraq's labor laws. Worker rights and clarity in employer obligations are necessary to define the mutual relationship between the nation's workforce and employer community. The may only be achieved once a democratically elected, legislative body has been chosen by the Iraqi people.