KRG Labor Minister Asks Baghdad To Fund Welfare, Disability Aid

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Kwestan Mohammed has sent a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi asking that the 2027 federal budget fund the Region’s social protection network and benefits for people with disabilities, she told Kurdistan 24. She said the request is part of continuing efforts to secure the rights of people with special needs.

Mohammed said more than 100,000 poor families and 30,000 people with disabilities are waiting for their rights, while a disability benefit in the Kurdistan Region is only 150,000 dinars.

Her letter makes several requests: an annual allocation of 467 billion dinars for the social protection network and for people with disabilities; an increase in the disability benefit to 250,000 dinars, as in the other Iraqi provinces; and the reopening of new registration for people with disabilities, which has been halted since 2013, together with the registration of 100,000 poor families. She said she will visit Baghdad several more times if needed to secure the rights of people with disabilities and poor families. She noted that Articles 14, 30 and 32 of Iraq’s constitution guarantee their rights and prohibit discrimination among them.

The request comes as Erbil and Baghdad negotiate over the draft 2027 federal budget, which Iraq’s parliamentary Finance Committee says will reach parliament by November 15.

The KRG says its share should be about 14.14 percent, based on the census. Kurdistan 24 reported that the draft’s listed allocation for the Region falls by nearly one-fifth from the 2023 level, while its social welfare line rises from 1.158 trillion dinars to 2 trillion dinars. In an earlier interview with Iraqi media, Mohammed said her ministry had sought meetings with the prime minister, finance minister and labor minister about two months earlier but had received no reply. She said registration for people with disabilities was halted in 2013 during the Region’s financial crisis and that nearly 30,000 people with disabilities have no salary. She said payments of 100,000 to 150,000 dinars, depending on the household and employment status, are not enough for a person who heads a family with several children.

Disability groups in the Region have long demanded the 250,000 dinar benefit paid in federal provinces. In a 2025 interview, Mohammed said her ministry had asked for the benefit to be raised to at least 250,000 dinars and was waiting for approval from Baghdad’s Finance Ministry.