Author:Alive in Baghdad
About the film
Baghdad, Iraq - A few months back, Iraq's Ministry of Planning reported that Iraq's unemployment rate had dropped to the uninspiring rate of 20%. However, previous to this the rate was quoted at 60-70%, where it's been since 2004. Critics have suggested the rate was still approximately 60-70% as 2007 came to an end, yet still others suggest it is that high now.

The website IraqUpdates.com reported in January that Iraq's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs hopes 2008 will be the year of reducing unemployment all around Iraq.

Such hopes may ring empty to men like Mohammed and Ahmed, who are concerned not just with the difficulty of finding employment, but also the corruption rampant in the process. We reported in December about the difficulties for Iraqi refugees in Syria looking for work, yet it is perhaps nearly as difficult for Iraqis still at home to find work.

Even those who can find work are still beset by the difficulties of security and stability. Those who must travel from their homes to look for work often feel they are taking their lives into their hands each day. Others such as Ahmed find it difficult to complete their work because of the lack of steady electricity or gasoline to fuel generators to make up for the lack of available power. Some Iraqis such as Ahmed, or these Iraqi teens we interviewed previously, have taken to working from home as much as possible, to limit their insecurity, particularly given the chance of traveling a long distance for work only to find their workplace lacks electricity or other resources necessary to operate.

***

Alive in Baghdad is running low on funds. We depend on you the viewer for our support. Please, if you value this type of in-depth visual coverage that you can find nowhere else, become a paying subscriber today. Make a donation, or purchase a DVD!