Ayat Nabeel, 13, collects rice grains she has found in an open sewer, in the...

Ayat Nabeel, 13, collects rice grains she has found in an open sewer, in the street outside her home in Baghdad, the capital. She hopes to sell the rice to neighbours to feed their chickens. Her parents are divorced and the father provides no support. Ayat lives with her two younger brothers and her mother, who works as a cleaner at a nearby school where she earns 3,000 Iraqi dinars (US$ 1= 2500 Iraqi dinars). Additional Info: Until January 2003, the situation of children and women in Iraq remains critical. One million children under five in southern and central Iraq continue to suffer from chronic malnutrition. Some 60 per cent of the entire population depend on monthly Government food rations, making them extremely vulnerable to any disruption in these supplies in the event of conflict. Widespread poverty and crumbling infrastructure, the result of years of conflict and 12 years of international economic sanctions, have affected all sectors, including massive deterioration of the country's water and sanitation systems. (photo)