Iraqi rural communities particularly vulnerable to COVID-19

Lack of awareness and crisis fatigue present significant challenges for the response to the pandemic in rural areas .

Two months have passed since the first COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Iraq. As of April 26, Iraq’s Ministry of Health had recorded 1,820 confirmed cases and 87 deaths.[i] Experts, including Iraqi epidemiologists, fear the real numbers are significantly higher. The Government of Iraq (GoI) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have adopted aggressive containment measures, including a countrywide curfew, although some areas begin to ease restrictions. Army and security forces have been re-deployed from the frontlines of the fight against remnants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh), to oversee the strict implementation of the curfew in main population centers.  

Various Iraqi communities, however, still do not seem to take the pandemic seriously. ARK’s observations on the ground and interviews with citizens across the country indicate that many lack awareness of the virus and its potential effects. While this lack of awareness has been visible in urban centers, based on anecdotal evidence collected by ARK the situation seems to be particularly worrying in rural areas.

Instances of curfew violations in urban areas have been a regular occurrence. In Baghdad province, for instance, thousands of Shiite pilgrimages gathered at the site of Imam Musa Al-Kadim shrine on March 21 to commemorate his death.[ii] In Erbil, dozens of people contracted the virus after attending funeral ceremonies.[iii] These events took place despite the authorities’ ban on any form of social, religious or political gathering. 

The curfew has also created an obstacle for daily or informal laborers to provide for their families, a challenge that is particularly salient in urban centers, whereas in rural areas the agricultural sector remains relatively unaffected by the curfew. As elsewhere in the MENA region, many Iraqis who depend on informal daily labor violated the curfew orders in order to provide for their families. “I would rather die of Coronavirus than see my children die of starvation”, said an Iraqi citizen from Kirkuk province during an interview with ARK. 

The natural risks posed by the greater population density of urban centers have been partially offset by the work of many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations (CSOs), and companies from the private sector. These various entities have responded to the call from the GoI and KRG to support the government-led response to the pandemic in the form of donations, food distribution, awareness campaigns and other preventative measures.

The fact that the rural areas are often sparsely populated has been among the factors that led the GoI and KRG to prioritize urban population centers in their response plans. But these networks of NGOs, CSOs and strong private sector entities, which have played an important role in supporting the government-led response, are not as present in rural areas. 

The lack of awareness campaigns in the countryside as well as the inadequate and ill-equipped medical facilities in these areas have left many communities particularly vulnerable to infection, increasing the chances of transmission. A related challenge is the high rate of illiteracy in rural communities. Even with the limited access to the internet, content related to COVID-19 could be incomprehensible to many. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics in the Ministry of Planning, the illiteracy rate among young people in Iraq reached 8.3 percent during 2017, although experts suggest the rate could be higher, even exceeding 15 percent.[iv]

“There is nothing called Coronavirus, it does not exist”, said a resident of a village in Nineveh province during a phone interview with ARK. ‘’I am still meeting with my friends and relatives in my village; we shake hands and practice all of our social habits and traditions on a daily basis”, the interviewee added. 

Crisis fatigue represents another key factor that has led many Iraqi communities in both urban centers and rural areas to ignore warnings from the government on various threats, including COVID-19. Having lived through many conflicts – from the US invasion in 2003 and emergence of the brutal Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, to sectarian violence and the ongoing ISIS insurgency – these communities do not see an invisible virus as a serious threat to their lives. Many have developed a complacent attitude against any and all risks. Such perceptions could be catastrophic and impede the governments’ efforts to contain the outbreak.  

A plethora of communication tools have been used to deliver messages related to COVID-19 – including social media platforms, newspapers, radio, billboards, television, music and mobile phones. But the limited awareness about the pandemic and the attitude of complacency, especially in rural areas, signals the need for direct communication with communities in order to help them understand and acknowledge the seriousness of the threat.   

A primary target of awareness campaigns should be community leaders, who in turn can converse with their communities. A 2015 research paper written by the Humanitarian Working Group, Overseas Development Institute, on the Ebola Response in West Africa explored the efficiency of such communication approaches in rural areas. According to its findings, “People listen to people they trust, which places a tactical emphasis on employing insiders (i.e. members of the community) rather than outsiders”.[v]

[i] Iraq’s Ministry of Health, 26 April 2020, https://bit.ly/2ScbZfU

[ii] “Iraqi Shias break curfews to commemorate imam,” The Arab Weekly, 22 March 2020, https://bit.ly/2xxe3YU

[iii] “Coronavirus: Secret funeral in Iraq's Kurdish region prompts infection spike,” The Middle East Eye, 7 April 2020, https://bit.ly/2Kj7onC

[iv] “The danger of illiteracy in Iraq has increased,” The Baghdad Post, 17 October 2018, https://bit.ly/3aD0PHw

[v] Marc DuBois and Caitlin Wake (2015), ‘The Ebola Response in West Africa: Exposing the Politics and Culture of International Aid’, Humanitarian Working Group, Overseas Development Institute https://bit.ly/2XUaW7M