ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) said on Friday they have asked the United Nations Human Rights Council to pressure Iraq to reverse its decision to halt payments of the salaries of more than a million civil servants in the Kurdistan Region.
“The delay and cutting of salaries has a major impact on every family in the region. However, women and children are most affected due to the decision to cut and withhold salaries of civilian service employees, retirees, and government sector employees in general,” read the report from the foundation.
“The majority of Kurdistan Region citizens believe this decision has political motivations behind it,” it added.
“We have formally delivered our report to Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations,” BCF President Musa Ahmad told Rudaw on Friday.
Last week, Iraqi Finance Minister Taif Sami said her ministry can no longer finance the Kurdistan Region, alleging that Erbil has exceeded its 12.67 percent share of the 2025 federal budget.
In back and forth exchanges, regional and federal authorities have each accused the other of failing to meet their obligations outlined in the budget.
The BCF report to the UN said that Baghdad has used people's livelihoods in the Kurdistan Region as a political tool for over a decade. “This psychological warfare against civilian citizens has left many children in poverty, creating a situation where families have lost the ability to provide their basic daily needs,” it said.
The foundation urged the UN to pressure the Iraqi federal government to end its use of budget and salary cuts as a “weapon.” It also called on Baghdad to uphold the rights of children across Iraq, warning against policies that push “children’s future toward darkness and despair.”
BCF has been a member of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2016 and annually participates in seminars, conferences, and meetings related to humanitarian affairs and international development in Geneva, New York, and Vienna.
“At the upcoming human rights conference being held in Geneva, the same report that opposes the cutting of Kurdistan Region salaries by the Iraqi Government will be presented to the conference participants,” Ahmad said.
As an ECOSOC observer, the foundation said it has the right to raise concerns and submit reports on humanitarian conditions in the region.
Founded in 2005, BCF is a humanitarian organization based in the Kurdistan Region.
