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Iraq

‘I have to work to help my family’: Child laborers in Raqqa face dangerous conditions

Shadow of ISIS

The campaign to liberate Raqqa in northeastern Syria from ISIS in 2017 left the city in ruins. Today, children make up a significant portion of the workforce that is rebuilding the city. One family knows the dangers of this work firsthand.

The exterior of the Ancient Church of the East in Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 27, 2023.

A newly launched news channel in Iraq tries to preserve the ancient Syriac language

Language
Salah Fareeq Al-Feroun's farm sits unattended without the necessary water to cultivate Iraq's signature anbar rice, Al-Meshkhab, Najaf Province, Iraq, Aug. 30, 2023.

Iraq’s signature anbar rice is disappearing amid water shortages

Food
The shrines of Imam Husayn and his brother Aba Fadl Abbas in Karbala, Iraq, 2022.

‘I can get close to God’: Millions from around the globe participate in religious Arbaeen walk in Iraq

Sacred Nation
people with boat

Parts of Iraq are drying up, impacting already vulnerable communities

Environment
Ayyad Mohmmed Ali works on his farm where he grows date palm trees and vegetables, Iraq.

This startup is fighting to keep Iraq’s palm trees alive

The Big Fix

Decades of war, mismanagement and the impact of climate change have taken a toll on Iraq’s iconic palm trees. One group is trying to help change that.

app

Crowdsourcing morality: How an app allows the Iraqi government to arrest ‘indecent’ influencers

Digital and human rights activists say Ballegh’s very existence flies in the face of free speech provisions enshrined in Iraq’s post-Saddam Hussein constitution 20 years ago.

man at home

This Iraqi lost an eye in a protest. He’s still fighting for ‘real democracy.’

Mohannad Saad Mohammad lost an eye in Iraq’s protests that became known as the Tishreen or the October movement. The demonstrations that began in 2019 have mostly dissipated but Mohammad says he won’t stop fighting for a better Iraq.

people walking down the street in a devastated area of the city

4 years later, the legacy of ISIS prevents these Iraqi children from going to school

Conflict & Justice

​​​​​​​Thousands of Iraqi children who lived under the brutal rule of ISIS in northern Iraq still face obstacles. Iraqi families who were issued official identification documents by ISIS continue to have a hard time getting their kids into school, because the government doesn’t recognize their paperwork.

Smoke rises from the Trade Ministry in Baghdad after it was hit by a missile during US-led attacks, March 20, 2003.

An Iraq vet grapples with lingering toll of war

Military

Former US Army Sgt. Kayla Williams, who is currently a senior policy researcher at RAND Corporation, was among the 160,000 coalition troops who were deployed for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Now, 20 years later, she reflects on her experiences with The World’s host Marco Werman.

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