Between Hope and Despair: Iraq's Youth Struggle for a Brighter Future

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[size=52]Between Hope and Despair: Iraq's Youth Struggle for a Brighter Future[/size]

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2023-05-12
The British newspaper “The Guardian” stated that the youth of Iraq are striving for a happier future, although they are a generation that grew up knowing only war, and in light of the difficult life, they seek to achieve their ambitions.[/size]
[size=45]The British newspaper said in a photo report on the lives of young people in Iraq that Baghdad has returned once again to life with its markets, colorful and crowded streets, its cafes crowded with crowds of young people, and the scent of cardamom wafting in the air.[/size]
[size=45]And after the report, which was translated by Shafaq News Agency, indicated; Referring to the wars that Iraq has gone through during the past 20 years, he said that the face of Baghdad is constantly changing, as concrete walls fall, new co-working spaces appear, and the banks of the Tigris River are being developed, while there is a boom in construction operations, while young people have turned gray walls into colorful murals. , empty buildings into restaurants, describing this generation, in their late teens and early twenties, as the generation on which a lot of hope is pinned.[/size]
[size=45]And the report continued: They are students, ballet instructors, artists, and people who lost their limbs during the war years, and they are business owners, and many of them were born during the war, and now they are lost between two options. The report quotes Anwar Ahmed (23 years old), an environmental activist, as saying, “The people of my generation either want to leave Iraq and start over in another place, or to stay here, invest, rebuild and move forward in our homeland.”[/size]
[size=45]"I think Baghdad needs me, and even when it's not always easy, I think I need it too," Anwar Ahmed continues.[/size]
[size=45]The report pointed out that more than half of Iraq's population of 42 million people are under the age of 25, according to the World Bank, and they are therefore one of the youngest population in the world, while many young people are full of ambition and feelings of leadership, despite the presence of desperation to the same extent.[/size]
[size=45]He added that the unemployment rate reaches about 14%, corruption in the government is widespread, and there is a common phenomenon represented in violence against women, while the process of reforming the sectarian political system has not occurred since the American invasion.[/size]
[size=45]For all these reasons, the report said that demonstrations broke out across Iraq in 2019, with young people at the forefront of these protests. According to Anwar Ahmed, who says, "We are the ones who determine the future of Baghdad and Iraq. It is not possible to ignore this."[/size]
[size=45]Anwar is involved in many fields, she is an artist and musician, but most importantly she is a full-time climate activist working with a local advocacy group whose goal is to protect the Tigris River, the main source of water in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]Anwar says, "Our generation is very aware when it comes to climate change because we live in one of the most affected countries in the world," adding, "There are frequent droughts, water scarcity, and sandstorms, and unfortunately this is our future."[/size]
[size=45]Ahmed's family has always supported her ambitions, the report went on, but she knows this is not necessarily a foregone conclusion - especially for young women.[/size]
[size=45]And while Anwar Ahmed’s ambitions are supported by her family, the report quotes Lizan Salam, 26, the first licensed ballet instructor in Baghdad, as saying that “many families, and to some extent society as a whole, have conservative traditions, and this can be particularly difficult for young women.” .[/size]
[size=45]Salam, despite her family's support, faced years of harassment and criticism on social media, as some considered her work "dirty and forbidden."[/size]
[size=45]Now, Salam trains 45 students in Baghdad, but she admits that things are not easy, and says that she is "confused about her order, because part of her wants to stay in Baghdad, and another part wants to leave." "I don't see myself as part of this society unless it changes, but at the same time, maybe I need to be here to do my part and help bring about that change," says Salam.[/size]
[size=45]For Mustafa al-Rahman, 26, the change came in a way he did not expect and did not want. When he was 10 years old, he and his mother ventured out to the local market in his hometown, Abu Ghraib, where a suicide bomber blew himself up. What caused the deaths of dozens, and he lost his leg, and after that he lived through years of pain and depression until last year when he joined a football team for amputees, and was able to move on, and now he is training three times a week, hoping to join the Iraqi national team.[/size]
[size=45]The report quoted Mustafa as saying, while taking a break on a soccer field during training, “There is one thing I realized, which is that the scars of war are everywhere, and we cannot ignore that, but we have to live with it and benefit from it in the best way. We have to move forward."[/size]
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