Iraqi authorities acknowledged striking poverty indicators in the country, especially among children, as they are the weakest link in society. The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) announced on Sunday that one out of every four children in Iraq lives in poverty, and four million children need help in the aftermath of war against ISIS. The United Nations has verified 150 attacks on education facilities and 50 attacks on health centers and personnel since 2014, UNICEF said in a statement. Half of Iraq’s schools need repairs and over 3 million children have had their education interrupted, it said. Iraq declared victory over ISIS in December, having taken back all the territory captured by the militants in 2014 and 2015, and is seeking $100 billion in foreign investment in transport, energy and agriculture as part of a plan to rebuild parts of the country and revive the economy. The Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said that "the poverty rate in Iraq is already high." "The poverty rate in Iraq effects over 28 percent of the population, which is high in a supposedly rich country," said Dr. Abeer al-Chalabi, director of the Childrens Affairs Office in Iraq and director of special needs at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. But there are many reasons and factors led to it, including the war against ISIS. Chalabi added that "despite measures taken by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to reduce the level of poverty-- it is not enough. It requires comprehensive government plans to find suitable alternatives to reduce poverty." “The Ministry of Labor gives unemployed social protection salary as well as people with special needs, as well as soft loans provide income to the family, but these measures no matter how certainly not,” she explained. For his part, Planning Ministry spokesman Abdul-Zahra al-Hindawi told Asharq Al Awsat that “the indicators talked about by (UNICEF) are close to reality, as there are about 9 million Iraqis under the threat of poverty, mostly children.” “There is a so-called emergency or transitory poverty as a result of the war on a sympathetic organization, where the war has increased displacement among the population, and thus increased from 18 percent in 2014 to about 28 percent.” “The Ministry of Planning has launched the National Poverty Reduction Strategy, including a sustainable return of displaced persons… housing, health, education and income,” he added