[{"bbox": [96, 152, 1136, 576], "category": "Text", "text": "The **agricultural sector** contributed to about 6% to the national GDP in 2020 but dropped to 2.9% in 2022⁵⁹ mostly due to continued drought and water shortages. Yet it is an important source of livelihood for 25% of the Iraqi population⁶⁰. Women are a growing share of agricultural labour with an estimated percentage of women in the agriculture increased from more than 50% in 2000 to about 60% in 2012, making women the main agricultural labour force in Iraq. Agriculture is primarily by small-scale farms that are rain-fed in the north and irrigated in other regions. Climate change threatens to exacerbate the effects of existing poor practices in agriculture. Deforestation, land degradation, overgrazing by livestock, war, and rapid urbanisation all hasten desertification and land degradation. The implications of climate change and land degradation pose serious threats, primarily to food and water security. It is estimated that approximately 60% of cultivated land has been seriously negatively affected by salinity, and 20 to 30% has been abandoned. Even on non-abandoned agricultural land, yields have declined by 30 to 60% as a consequence of salinisation⁶¹, affecting notably poor farmers and their livelihoods. The effects of climate change threaten further salinisation. Poor water quality threatens agricultural livelihoods, since it affects the quality and quantity of crops cultivated and the availability of clean water for livestock. EU action is needed and requested by the Iraqi authorities to promote sustainable climate-smart agricultural practices that create decent jobs in the agri-food sector and afforestation/reforestation, while contributing to combatting soil erosion and desertification."}, {"bbox": [96, 603, 1136, 817], "category": "Text", "text": "Iraq has been struggling with **water scarcity** for decades. Due to a combination of factors, including climate change and mismanagement of water resources, this has led to serious consequences for the people of Iraq, affecting their health, livelihoods, and overall well-being. In Iraq, only 59.7% of the total population has access to safely managed drinking water, dropping to 47.6% in rural areas⁶² while levels of 'water stress' (79.51% in 2020) leave only a 20% buffer to address future water demand⁶³. Extreme weather conditions, drought, and changes in water recharge patterns are making it more difficult to access safe drinking water, especially for the most vulnerable. Conflict, regional disputes over water, climate change, water pollution and scarcity, and environmental waste have created a water crisis in large parts of Iraq."}, {"bbox": [96, 843, 1136, 1188], "category": "Text", "text": "Moreover, decades of underinvestment in main water facilities such as pumping stations and water rehabilitation plants has resulted in decaying infrastructure. Households, health care facilities and schools often do not have clean water on site, all of which can contribute to making vulnerable populations, among them children and women, more vulnerable to preventable diseases or from attending school. Nearly 3 out of 5 children in Iraq have no access to safely managed water services and less than half of all schools in the country have access to basic water risking children's health, nutrition, cognitive development, and future livelihoods⁶⁴. Girls' access to education is limited, among other factors, also by the lack of appropriate sanitation facilities⁶⁵. Basra, located in the southern part of the country, is the worst affected governorate, and a lack of proper sanitation and hygiene facilities have only compounded the situation. As a result, in 2018, at least 118,000 people⁶⁶, half of them children, had to go to hospitals because of an outbreak of water-borne diseases that doctors related to poor water quality, including viruses, parasites, bacteria, and toxic metals from sewage and agricultural and industrial pollution. EU action is needed and requested by the Iraqi authorities to promote the accessibility of clean drinking water in major Iraqi cities through innovative approaches to water facilities."}, {"bbox": [85, 1253, 1145, 1405], "category": "Footnote", "text": "Development Partners' engagement. In view of the EU's ambition to contribute to change and achieve tangible results for people, but also the intention of building on successful engagements with Government that benefit from Government commitment, three promising intervention areas have been selected. It was assessed that the thematic area of climate change policy is already over-subscribed by Development Partners; the thematic area of gas flaring is not feasible in light of unsuccessful past EU attempts; while the areas of renewable energy (PPPs and PPAs), waste management (including plastic waste), and green transport require substantial investment notably through financial instruments. In addition the selection of these intervention areas allow for synergies, as conflicts over water and land, as well as environmental damages linked to water pollution, forest degradation and soil erosion are the key areas for environmental justice."}, {"bbox": [85, 1405, 680, 1426], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁵⁹ World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files."}, {"bbox": [85, 1426, 720, 1448], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶⁰ International Labour Organization. \"ILO modelled estimates database\" [ILOSTAT]."}, {"bbox": [85, 1448, 367, 1469], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶¹ Climate Central Surging Seas data."}, {"bbox": [85, 1469, 819, 1491], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶² WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene."}, {"bbox": [85, 1491, 999, 1537], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶³ SDG Indicator 6.4.2: Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources (%) ER_H2O_STRESS (already counting environmental flow requirements)"}, {"bbox": [85, 1537, 806, 1559], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶⁴ UNICEF, Running dry: water scarcity and children in the Middle East and North Africa, 2021"}, {"bbox": [85, 1559, 1144, 1625], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶⁵ UNESCO, #HerEducationOurFuture: The latest facts on gender equality in education, 2020 Indicator 6.2.1. Series: Proportion of population using safely managed sanitation services, by urban/rural (%) SH_SAN_SAFE - in 2022: 53 % of total population, 55% in urban areas dropping to 48% in rural areas"}, {"bbox": [85, 1625, 806, 1646], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶⁶ UNICEF, Running dry: water scarcity and children in the Middle East and North Africa, 2021"}, {"bbox": [1027, 1682, 1145, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 10 of 30"}]