The story: Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia' Al-Sudani has kicked off a major campaign to expand the country’s social safety net. This comes only weeks after the Baghdad government’s announcement that the public sector will add more than 370,000 employees to its payroll. Some observers are criticizing the announced hiring as political, warning that it may undermine state coffers.

The coverage: Sudani on Jan. 15 launched “the largest social inspection campaign in the history of…[Iraqi] governments,” targeting around 1.75M families.

• The targeted families will be assessed for their eligibility for state support as part of the social safety net.
  
  
• Sudani added that the personal details of some 1.5M families which are already covered by the safety net are also being updated.
  
  
• The campaign follows the Iraqi planning ministry’s Jan. 7 statement that the poverty rate last year reached 25%...