Increasing female illiteracy

In 1977 the Iraqi Government set up a campaign to eradicate illiteracy, which at that time affected over 600,000 men and over 2 and a half million women aged between 15 and 45. In a single decade, the percentage of illiterate women fell from 62.4% to 25.2% (for men from 24.4 to 13%). In recognition, Iraq received five UNESCO awards. 

In 1995 illiteracy had risen to 65% among women, a figure which was similar to that for other countries in the region, but which clearly showed the regression undergone. According to estimates by the Iraqi Ministry of Education, illiteracy rates in the country were increasing by 5% a year from the introduction of sanctions.

Most primary and secondary school teachers were women. Daughters of an illiterate generation of mothers, they strived to keep up the education system in the face of the deteriorated situation and increasing illiteracy: «They want us to be an illiterate people again, but we won’t tolerate it», was the comment to the writer by a teacher from Faluya in 2005. She was teaching in tents, under unbearable heat, following the first US attack on the city, located 65 km to the east of Baghdad.