Saddam Hussein was an Iraqi Socialist politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. As leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and later, the Ba'ath Party—Saddam implemented the most extensive welfare program in the middle east; there was free healthcare and free education, hospitals and schools were built to make it accessible to more people. Electricity and running water was brought to even the most remote areas of the country. Wages were increased, food was affordable, free TVs and refrigerators were given to the poor. (Saddam Hussein received a UNESCO award for improving living standards of his people). He rebuilt the country after most of the infrastructure was destroyed by the bombing in 1991 (Despite Iraq being the most sanctioned country). A famine was successfully avoided, by distributing food well and while there was a big decrease in living standards from the sanctions and a lot of people died due to certain essentials not being able to be imported, the best studies done recently have shown not nearly as many children died as was previously thought. Womens' rights in Ba'athist Iraq were among the best in the region; women got equal pay, job discrimination based on gender was banned, women were able to choose their husbands instead of having arranged marriages. The Ba'athists diversified the economy to make it less reliant on oil, the country developed heavy industry; steel plants, chemical plants etc. were built. Light industry was developed as well as increasing agricultural production. Internationally, they funded Palestinian resistance fighters, took in Palestinian refugees, hit Israel with thirty-nine scud missiles, helped Vietnam with oil and loans (the loans were all forgiven) as well as offering to give $94 million to poor Americans.