BAGHDAD (AFP) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Iraq for his first visit in six years Tuesday in a show of “solidarity” after a drawn-out political crisis in the country.
Guterres said he wanted to demonstrate “solidarity with the people and the democratic institutions of Iraq and a solidarity that means that the United Nations is totally committed to support the consolidation of the institutions in this country.”
He said he also wanted to express his “confidence that Iraqis will be able to overcome the difficulties and challenges they still face through an open and inclusive dialogue.”
Guterres urged Iraq to “break cycles of instability and fragility” after talks with senior officials in Baghdad on Wednesday, following a drawn-out political crisis in the war-torn country.
The UN chief said he wanted to demonstrate “solidarity” with Iraq “in the consolidation of its democratic institutions and advancing peace”.
“I am here in Baghdad with a measure of hope: hope that Iraq can break cycles of instability and fragility; hope that it can set a sustainable course towards greater prosperity, freedom, and peace,” said Guterres during a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
Despite its immense oil and gas reserves, about one-third of Iraq’s 42 million population now lives in poverty, while some 35 percent of young people are unemployed, according to the UN.
The country also ranks near the bottom of Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index, at 157 out of 180 countries.
It suffers from water and power shortages, as well as drought and desertification, with the UN saying Iraq is one of the five countries most exposed to impacts of climate change.
On Thursday, Guterres will visit a camp for displaced people in the north of the country, before going to Irbil to meet with representatives of the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan.
His last visit to the country was back in spring 2017.