Shafaq News- Baghdad
Every day, nine-year-old Mahmoud takes his place at abusy intersection in Baghdad. With one hand, he raises a bottle of water towarddrivers waiting at the traffic lights. With the other, he arranges more bottlesalong the pavement, hoping to sell enough to get through the day.
For many motorists, Mahmoud is just another childweaving between cars under Iraq's scorching summer sun. Few stop to ask why aboy his age is working on the streets instead of playing with friends orfocusing on school.
"My father lost a limb in a terrorist attack andlater died from a serious illness," Mahmoud told Shafaq News. "Sincethen, I've sold water to support my mother, my younger sister, and myself, andto pay for my school expenses." A third-grade pupil, Mahmoud said thatselling water allows him to work around his school schedule. The money he earnsis his family's main source of income.
But balancing work and education comes at a cost.
Some passersby offer him money without taking a bottle. Others respond with insults. At school, he says, some classmates refuse to sitbeside him because of his job. "It hurts when they look down on me,"Mahmoud noted. "I've complained to the school many times about the hurtfulthings they say."
: The loss of innocence: 5% of Iraq's children pushed to labor
Mahmoud's story is far from unique as selling bottledwater has become one of the most common forms of child labor in Baghdad. Forsome children, it is a necessity driven by poverty. For others, it is a way toearn quick money, encouraged by families aware of the public sympathy young vendorsattract. Ten-year-old Sanaa is one of them. Her mother, who is divorced,receives financial support from Sanaa's father but still urges her to work."My mother wants me to sell water so we can earn more money," Sanaatold Shafaq News.
Unlike Mahmoud, Sanaa has never been enrolled in school. She cannot read or write. Instead, she spends her days walking the streets inworn clothes, offering water bottles to drivers and pedestrians. She earnsbetween 10,000 and 15,000 Iraqi dinars a day ($7.60–$11.50), but says hermother expects her to hand over at least 10,000 dinars daily.
Not all children selling water say they are forced intoit; eleven-year-old Ali Mohsen says he chose to work despite his father'sobjections. "No one made me sell water," he explained. "I wantto depend on myself and buy what I need."
The growing presence of child vendors on Baghdad'sstreets has sparked mixed reactions among residents. Some see their work as areflection of resilience and responsibility. Others view it as a troubling signof deepening social and economic hardship.
"There is a difference between children working tohelp their families survive and those who leave school simply to earnmoney," commented Abbas Al-Khafaji, a Baghdad resident.
Years of conflict, poverty, and economic instabilityhave left thousands of Iraqi families struggling to make ends meet, he added,pointing to the growing number of orphans, widows, and female-headed households.
: From Children to breadwinners: how to tackle child labor in Iraq?
Social researcher Manahil Saleh warned that child laboris becoming increasingly widespread across Iraq. "Poverty, familybreakdown, school dropout rates, unemployment, and the growing number ofvulnerable households are all driving more children into work," she toldShafaq News, describing selling water as one of the easiest and most commonjobs for children, and calling on authorities to strengthen measures thatprotect children from economic hardship and guarantee their right to education.
Iraq's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs haspreviously announced a strategy to curb child labor, including marketinspections, legal penalties for violators, efforts to prevent the exploitationof children in street work and begging, and the expansion of social protectionprograms for low-income families.
Yet for children like Mahmoud and Sanaa, those measuresremain distant promises. As traffic lights turn red and engines idle in themidday heat, they continues moving between rows of cars, clutching bottles ofwater and carrying responsibilities far heavier than their years.
: Iraq's children face alarming crisis: rising labor, violence, and legal gaps
