The increased revenues coming in from the oil sector have not yet been translated into tangible reconstruction and development. Therefore, while the country’s GDP is expected to grow by 9% in 2013 by the International Monetary Fund, the sectors of industry and agriculture are still facing challenges from poor infrastructure to mismanagement and climate change. The profits of the oil sector have yet to transform the state of the country’s poor infrastructure and help recover the basic services of housing, medicine, and education.

Iraq currently has the fifth largest reserve of crude oil in the world. According to IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the United Nations, the revenues made from oil in 2012 reached USD 94 billion and are expected to reach more than USD 100 billion over 2013. This revenue however, has so far mostly been generated into expanding the public sector, therefore only creating more jobs among public officials. Not only are more officials hired, their salaries have also increased. While this supports the growth of the middle class, it does nothing to alleviate poverty from the country. It also diverts spending from more pressing sectors such as infrastructure and health. Moreover, given the inflation that the country has seen, the rise in salaries has not yielded a higher purchasing power. The World Bank estimates that 22.9% of the Iraqi population is living below the poverty line.

Struggling to strike a balance among the country’s political factions, the pre-occupied government remains highly corrupt. According to Transparency International, Iraq ranked 18th in corruption among all other countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index completed for 2012. As a result, the absence of basic services such as water and electricity continue to burden the daily lives of the Iraqi people. Additionally, the lack of investment into industry and the low levels of agricultural production have opened up the country to cheaper imports, discouraging local production even further.

In addition to that, the country’s health sector, already suffering from sanctions and brain drain under Saddam, the basic facilities were also shattered after the invasion and sectarian violence during the 2000s. Coupled with the deplorable state of basic service delivery such as clean water and electricity, the reform of the health sector has been very slow and has failed to reach remote rural areas. The IRIN report “Iraq Ten Years On” cites a survey by the Iraq Knowledge Survey that found 40% of Iraqis believe that health care services are either ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’. The majority of Iraqis do not have health insurance.

Today Iraq is plagued by constant and worsening violence and sectarian hostilities. The looming social and security challenges cast a dark shadow over the country and threaten the fabric of Iraqi society. Reversing the cycle of violence requires a National Development Plan in a way that gives all Iraqis equal access to security, justice, employment and essential services, thus contributing to poverty alleviation.