From the Los Angeles Times

Promises to Iraqi widows go unmet

The central government is sporadic with pension payments to the ever-increasing number of women who have lost their husbands. Without the money, these women are stranded in a patriarchal society.

By Tony Perry and Tina Susman
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

February 19, 2008

HUSAYBAH, IRAQ — The rumor had swept through this border town early in the morning, and soon several dozen women were clamoring outside a small government office.

The rumor would prove false, as it has on many other days. There would be no distribution of pension payments for the Iraqi widows. Often, months pass between payments, with no provisions made for back payments and no explanations given for the gaps in time.

"I have nothing," one widow cried to a government employee peeping out from a half-opened door.

"My children need help," cried another.

Of its unmet social needs, the central government's failure to follow through on promises made to these widows is one of the most visible. Scenes like the one outside the Social Guardship Net office in Qaim are common.

"These protests are taking place in all the [18] provinces," said Samira Musawi, a member of parliament and head of its committee on women and children. She has submitted legislation to provide housing, education and job training for widows and other low-income women, although it has yet to be acted on.

Even when the pension payments are made, they are pitifully small: For example, a widow without children is supposed to get about $34 a month; and a widow with five or more children, about $81 a month.

As with many measures of Iraqi society, there are no firm figures on the number of widows. U.S. government statisticians estimate the number of widows resulting from war at about half a million, saying many husbands were lost through the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991 or since the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003. Musawi believes hundreds of thousands of widows remain unaccounted for. Only 84,000 have registered with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs as pension-eligible, she said.

The prolonged fighting between U.S. Marines and insurgents for this region increased the number of widows. Many families were caught in the crossfire; when the tribal sheiks sided with the Americans, many men in their tribes joined the fighting.

"All the events that happened here took a lot of our young men," said Sheik Hadi Madrouj Kallefah.

In various spots across Anbar province, the U.S. military and State Department-financed provincial reconstruction teams have met with Iraqi women to discuss their household needs and concerns about their children's health. In Haditha, more than 200 women, many with children in tow, recently packed a small meeting room to explain their struggles to female military personnel.

"It was heart-rending," said Army Lt. Col. Linda Holloway. "They need so much and there is only so much we can do for them. That was one night I couldn't sleep."

The treatment of widows ranks high among the list of things the U.S. military wants to lobby the Baghdad government about to help Anbar province.

Widows are given preference in sewing classes offered by the U.S. Agency for International Development, backed by the Marines, in hopes they can become proficient enough to make clothes for sale.

In Husaybah, 20 of the 50 women, ages 17 to 25, in the sewing program are widows. There is a waiting list of 750 women who would like to enroll. Upon graduation, each woman gets a $75 sewing machine.

"We are looking for women who are looking for help," said Jamal Nasir, an official at the sewing program. "War is war."

In another class offered by the agency, local men learn how to lobby the provincial and central governments. "Many in the area want something done for the widows," said Husaybah Mayor Farhan Kettekhan Farhan.

Sheik Jasim Faraq Gawad told a reporter, "Tell the American people this province needs help. The nongovernmental agencies are helping us, but the [central and provincial] governments in Baghdad and Ramadi need to help too."

Marine Civil Affairs Groups have met with women in several cities, arranging for medical visits for the women and their children. Bundles of blankets, sheets and towels have been distributed.

Before the meetings can be held, tribal sheiks and the other men have to be convinced that the Americans are not trying to disrupt the cultural balance between men and women.

"We have to get across that we were genuinely trying to help them so they could learn to help themselves," said Staff Sgt. Tiffany Grovdahl.

In nearly any meeting between the Iraqi women and the female Marines and soldiers, the pension issue is a major topic. In a patriarchal society, anyone without a husband faces a difficult future.

"They can remarry, but often the new husband will not accept their children," said Hameed Nawar Salmany, a member of the Qaim city council. "It is very bad."

Some women can join a household as the second or third wife, but often their role in the marriage is relegated to the kitchen and bedroom.

Musawi is concerned that the government's failure to help widows might push the women into cooperating with the insurgency, possibly even as suicide bombers, to provide money for their children.

By noon on the day the widows went to the Social Guardship Net office in Qaim, the office had been locked to encourage the women, and their male relatives, to go home. The crowd had disbanded.

"They'll be back," said Salmany.

"What else can they do?"