In 1980, Iraq had nearly US$35 billion in foreign exchange reserves and one of the best medical care systems among the Arab States. Long periods of war and internal conflicts have destroyed much of its social and economic structures. As a consequence, many of Iraq's development partners, including UNFPA and other United Nations agencies, severely curtailed their humanitarian relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts. Due to a lack of reliable data, it is difficult to know the current status of Iraqi citizens' standard of living. Prior to 2003, Iraq had a largely young population (40 per cent were under 15 years of age), and it ranked 73 out of 95 countries in the Human Poverty Index. read more