Thursday 1 January 2009

Financial incentives to marry Iraqi widows

Marry one Iraqi widow and you will get 10 million Iraqi dinars [about US$8,500] !!!

This is not an ad or a government decision yet but it could be seen soon if the government agrees on the plan being drawn by Mazin al-Shihan, head of Baghdad’s Displacement Committee, to help them cope with their plight.

“Iraqi widows, especially internally displaced widows in camps, are having a tough time. Most have more than one child and are finding it very hard to feed them,” al-Shihan, told the UN IRINnews.

“We have reports that some… are being harassed and blackmailed by government officials… More attention must be focused on this segment of the Iraqi people before it is too late,” he continued.

But his plan found tough opposition from
women’s activist Hanaa Adwar, who heads al-Amal NGO, saying it smacked of “cruelty as the widow must get married to another man to get the government help”.

And she brings another idea which is to rehabilitate them to be independent and productive elements of society and to be more self-reliant in terms of feeding their children.

kassakhoon@gmail.com

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