URU, Alm.del - 2007-08 (2. samling) - Bilag 82: Invitation til møde om børn og uddannelse i Irak

Rekindling Childhoodin IraqIn 2007, Iraqi children’s lives and their family livelihoodswere precarious. Conflict split children’s communities andtook the lives of approximately 19,500 of their friends andfamilies (according to United Nations data for 2007).Thousands of children lost mothers and fathers to bombsand shootings. Others fell into poverty after their mainfamily wage-earner was kidnapped or killed.UNICEF/Arar/2007: Children in a Baghdad IDP camp

Throughout the year, many schools did not open regularlyor overcrowded, local health centres were under-stocked and water supplies a growing challenge.By the end of the year, the number of Iraqis forced to flee their homes since 2006 reached 1.2million, 50% of them children.Child health suffered as the number of people living in camps and temporary shelters increased.Vaccination rates fell, food supplies ran short and safe water became a premium in the cripplingsummer heat, leading, at the end of summer, to the biggest cholera outbreak in recent memory.

Living with so much anxiety and loss took a heavy toll on children’s psychological and socialwellbeing. Many became anxious and conflict-weary, unable to sleep or concentrate at school.More and more turned to the streets. Chilling reports emerged from the Multi-National Forces(Iraq), NGOs and media of children recruited by armed groups forced to risk their lives in theinsurgency.Despite so much turmoil, there were still rays of hope,Children in the northern Kurdistan Region continued torecover from the poverty and repression of the 1990s.Education and healthcare services in this region wereexpanded and improved, and the regional government setout a new vision for curriculum reform.

Even in the more insecure central and southern parts ofIraq, families defied the odds to protect children. House-to-house immunization drives, supported by UNICEF and theWorld Health Organization (WHO), succeeded in immunizingmore than 4 million children against polio and more than 3million against measles, mumps and rubella (reaching over90% of their goal). Millions of children returned to school inNovember, despite insecurity and falling enrollment rates.UNICEF had been working over the summer holiday months to rebuild and restore their schools,provide critical learning materials and add extra classrooms for displaced children. And inresponse to the cholera epidemic, UNICEF was part of a team responding by providing hygienesupport and safe water to thousands of affected families in Kirkuk, Suleimaniyah, Erbil, Basra andBaghdad.UNICEF provided assistance worth over $40 million to help Iraq’s children and their familiessurvive last year. But unless more resources become available soon, we risk cutting manychildren off from a vital lifeline. The future of Iraq depends how well we meet children’s mosturgent needs today.

State of Iraq’sChildren 2007At least 2 million Iraqi childrenlacked adequate nutrition(according to the WFPassessment of food insecurityin 2006) and faced a range ofother threats includinginterrupted education, lack ofimmunization services anddiarrhoea diseases.Only 28% of Iraq’s 17 year olds sat their final exams in summer, and only40% of those sitting exams achieved a passing grade in South and CentralIraq. Early estimates from the Ministry of Education show that net primaryenrolment rates may have fallen from 86% in 2004 to 46% in 2006(although the estimated 2 million refugees and the lack of a currentcensus may have contributed to thisUNICEF/Arar/2007: Children of Baghdaddecline). However, millions were ableto return to school in November, despite the many challenges.Many of the 220,000 school-aged internally displaced children had theireducation interrupted, adding to the estimated 760,000 children out ofprimary school in 2006.One quarter of children in remote and hard-to-reach areas hadimmunization coverage lower than the 80% recommended for diseasecontrol (28 out of 117 districts according to Iraq’s Ministry of Health).Only 40% of children nationwide had reliable access to safe drinkingwater, and only 20% outside Baghdad had a working sewerage service.An estimated 600,000 children had been displaced since 2006, the vastmajority unable to return home. By the end of the year, approximately75,000 children and their families were living in temporary shelters. A fewfamilies did begin to return: 50,000 refugees and 10,000 IDPs wereregistered between September and December 2007, according to the IraqMinistry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) and InternationalOrganization for Migration (IOM).Hundreds of children lost their lives to violence and thousands fell intopoverty after their main family wage-earner was kidnapped or killed. Adrop in violent incidents was reported by the UN from July 2007,particularly around Baghdad.Approximately 1,350 children were detained by military and policeauthorities, many for alleged security violations (this includes a smallnumber of detentions that may have occurred in 2006 or previously).

Iraqi Children’s LivesSurvival at stakeProtecting Iraqi children’s survival and developmentbecame tougher in 2007. With violence anddisplacement still at high levels in the first half of theyear, many families were not traveling to healthcentres. Specialist doctors and other key health staffcontinued to seek refuge outside Iraq. Insecurity inand around Baghdad delayed the supply of medicinesand vaccines to governorates, causing local shortages.Ahmed Yehya, a medical warehouse manager in thegovernorate of Anbar, says “We ran out of children’smedicines,intravenousfluids,antibioticsandanesthetics. We had to tell sick people to go outsidethe province, or leave the country.”

Health outreach services for children were also seriouslyaffected by insecurity. Ministry of Health data shows fallingimmunization rates: only 44 out of 117 districts hadimmunization coverage above 80% in 2007, compared to 56districts in 2006. By spring, at least one million Iraqi childrenhad no immunity against measles. Iraq’s Ministry of Healthlaunched a mass immunization campaign with the support ofUNICEF and WHO, sending vaccinators house-to-house toimmunize children between one and five years of age.

The campaign was a success, reaching nearly 3.4 million children (over 90% of its goal). Buttragically, three health staff in Diyala were attacked and killed while driving vaccines to a nearbyhealth centre. Their colleagues were able to retrieve the vaccines and deliver it to vaccinators.Thanks to efforts such as this, Iraq reported just 156 cases of measles in the first 10 months of2007 compared to over 9,000 cases in 2004.The risks of infectious disease were highlighted when a cholera outbreak hit Iraq at end of summer,quickly becoming the largest in Iraq’s recent history with over 4,500 people affected. UNICEF, WHOand other organizations rushed medical supplies, Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), tankered water andhygiene supplies to the most stricken governorates in northern Iraq and Baghdad.Malnutrition was also a growing concern in 2007. A 2006 UNICEF-supported survey showed that 21%of Iraq’s children were malnourished, 8% underweight and 4% wasted. Conditions have certainlyworsened since. Food insecurity has grown as a result of insecurity. The Public Distribution System(PDS), which provided critical food items to families prior to the 2003 war, was only delivering at60% efficiency in 2007, according to WFP.Women are among the worst affected by poor nutrition. Iraq’s maternal mortality ratio was stillunacceptably high, at 84 deaths per 100,000 (WHO, Iraq Family Health Survey 2007), with anaemiaa leading cause of maternal deaths. Insecurity kept many pregnant women from seeking essentialante-natal services or receiving emergency obstetric care.

“There are not enough doctors and once the queue at theHealth Centre was so long that I missed my appointmentsaid Nadtha, a young expectant mother in Basra.” Toimprove life for mothers like Nadtha, UNICEF and WHOlaunched a programme to train Iraq’s doctors and nursesto provide better care to mothers and newborns. UNICEFalso supported a government programme to fortify wheatwith iron, reducing the risk of anaemia.As the year ends, enormous efforts are still underway inIraq to safeguard children’s health and supportbeleaguered doctors and nurses. Mobile health teams arevisiting IDP camps to check on children’s condition andtreat the sick. Vaccinators are still trekking into remoteUNICEF/Arar/2007: A public awareness campaign for cholera inareas to deliver vital immunizations. Iraqis, with theone of Iraq’s IDP camps.support of UNICEF, WHO and other organizations, appearto have contained the cholera outbreak. But much more supportwill be needed to ensure that Iraq’s children can survive and thrive in the year ahead.

Health: action for Iraq 2007Delivered $1.4 million of emergency medical supplies and other criticalhealth care to IDPs, cholera victims and casualties of conflict in Sinjar,working with the Ministry of Health, WHO, other UN Agencies and NGOs;Transported medical supplies to communities under siege: safely delivered 66truckloads (US$ 3 million) of critical drugs and supplies to Anbar and, withWHO, helped to negotiate release and transport of 10 million doses of poliovaccine from the security-blockaded national warehouse in Baghdad;Helped to immunize 4.4 million children against polio and 3.5million against measles through house-to-house campaigns, inpartnership with WHO and with support from the EuropeanCommission;Began rebuilding nine Primary Health Care Centres serving260,000 of the poorest Iraqis (40,000 children under five),with the support of Japan;Prevented and treated malnutrition in women and childrenthrough fortification of staple foods with micronutrients andprovision of therapeutic milk in the 36 districts with the highestmalnutrition rates, in partnership with WFP.

Searching for Safe WaterA growing number of Iraqi families in 2007 becamedependent on outside help to access safe water. Lack ofsafe water and hygiene is now perhaps the biggestthreat to the lives of Iraqi children, increasing the risk ofillness and death from waterborne disease.Iraq’s large water and sanitation network was furtherundermined by chronic under-investment, frequentpower shortages, lack of qualified personnel, illegalwater tapping and acts of sabotage. The Ministry ofMunicipalities and Public Works (MMPW) has reportedthat 600 municipal workers were killed attempting torepair these networks since 2005.UNICEF/Arar/2007: Children in Baghdad drink from a public tap

Violence from military or non-state armed groups alsodamaged water infrastructure, particularly in Baghdad,Salah-Al Din, Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Mosul and Sinjar (the site of a bombing which destroyed fourvillages and killed at least 430 people in August).Sanitation was another persistent problem throughout 2007. Less than 20% of people outsideBaghdad are connected to working sewerage systems. Where such systems do exist, they experiencefrequent breakdowns. Without sufficient electricity, sewage pumping stations and sewage treatmentplants can only operate intermittently. Less than 17% of Iraq’s sewage is treated – the rest oftenfloods communities and discharges as raw waste-water into Iraq’s rivers.The rise in the numbers of Iraq’s internally displaced in 2007stressed water facilities in host communities nationwide. Atleast 22% of displaced families were living in camps andtemporary shelters without a safe water source (according tothe International Organization for Migration, IOM). By July,diarrhoea rates around IDP areas in the southern governorateof Najaf were twice the seasonal averages. Long queues atwater distribution centres were frequently reported.

International and local relief organizations distributed hygieneand water purification supplies to those they were able toreach. UNICEF had been tankering water to families living without safe supplies in Baghdad andsurrounding governorates since 2003. However, in March 2007, funds for this activity ran out.UNICEF appealed urgently for additional support – and eventually was able to restart this vitalservice in April.By the time summer ended, worse news was on the horizon. On 14 August, a man suffering fromacute watery diarrhoea in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk was confirmed to have cholera. Despiteemergency control measures the disease spread like wildfire in Erbil, Suleimaniyah and Kirkuk, andhas quickly become Iraq’s biggest outbreak in recent memory.“It was a frightening and dangerous situation” said one of UNICEF’s emergency facilitators workingon the ground in Suleimaniyah. “At first more than 200 cases were coming in each day, and hospitalswere so overwhelmed they couldn’t even test them all.”

UNICEF and WHO sent medical supplies and ORS tohospitals treating the sick. ORS costs just a few cents apack and is critical to stop a severely dehydrated persondying from diarrhoea. UNICEF also started to distributehygiene kits and water purification tablets to families atrisk, and supported a public awareness drive to helpcontain the outbreak. The disease spread to Baghdad,but appears to now be under control nationwide.The search for safe water in Iraq is unlikely to end soon.National systems need a major overhaul and significantadditional investment over the years to come.UNICEF/Arar/2007: UNICEF water tankering operationsEfforts by UNICEF and other partners in resurrecting theare the only source of safe water for many families.water and sanitation sector continue to be under-funded, as Iraq’s government is urged to invest more of its own significant national resources in thiscritical service. Iraq’s MMPW is working to improve its performance, and was the only Iraqi socialservice ministry to spend their budget entirely in 2007. But without support to bridge gaps incapacity, families will continue to suffer needlessly.

Water & Sanitation: action for Iraq 2007Delivered 470 million litres of safe drinking water to over 200,000 people inBaghdad, Sinjar and Diyala, including schools and hospitals;Provided emergency water/hygiene relief to over 500,000 IDPs and victims ofviolence in Sinjar, Najaf, Baghdad, Suleimaniya, Salah-Al Din, Diyala and others;Helped the government to prevent cholera by distributing, 2.9million water purification tablets and 12,000 family water kitsproviding support for water testing and sending tankers withsafe drinking water to risk-prone areas including to 18,000additional people per day in Baghdad;Restored local water networks for 550,000 people, with workongoing on projects reaching 1 million more in Wassit, Kirkuk,Basra and Kerbala;Developed a solid waste management plan for Basra inpartnership with UNHABITAT;Provided training and equipment to improve the capacity ofIraq’s Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works (MMPW).

Battling to LearnIn 2007, children’s education was seriously damaged byIraq’songoingconflict,despiteextraordinarycommittment by local officials and families to keep schoolsfunctioning. Estimates from the Ministry of Educationindicate that net primary enrolment rates may havehalved from 2004 levels from 86% to 46% (although lackof accurate population data may affect these numbers).Many schools did not open as normal in October 2006,particularly in Baghdad and the surrounding governoratesdue violence and the exodus of teaching staff. Pupils werealso kept at home by frightened parents or else preventedfrom attending by security measures such as checkpoints.

An unnaceptable number of Iraqi schools, teachers andpupils were targeted or caught in the crossfire of local conflict – particularly in southern and centralIraq. Girls trying to learn suffered most severely in many parts of the country. Girls make up anestimated 63% of children not in school, with more being kept from the classroom every day becauseof insecurity and rising social conservativism in many areas.“I love my school,” said 11-year-old Tamara, a Baghdad primary school pupil. “But this year we couldnot always come to class because of the explosions in my area. My mother was afraid for me, so Imissed many lessons.”Even those children who braved all obstacles to reach school still found learning a challenge. Learningspaces and teachers came under serious stress from violence and displacement. Children reportedpower cuts, leaving many to study by hurricane lamp. Classrooms were frequently unbearably hot inthe absence of air conditioning. Children living with constant anxiety and loss found it hard toconcentrate in over-crowded classrooms. And with so many teachers fleeing the country, too few wereleft to give adequate time and attention to students.UNICEF stepped up its support to Iraq’s schools – working withUHABITAT to add classrooms and washrooms to schools across15 governorate of Iraq, providing recreation kits for children andboosting training and support to teachers. In spring 2007,essential learning materials, including books, bags, pencils andpens, were distributed for all of Iraq’s 4.7 million primaryschoolchildren – with the support of the European Commission.But rebuilding schools could not ease all children’s difficulties anddid little to support attendance in the most violent areas. AnAccelerated Learning Programme for those not enrolled or unableto attend regular school in 12 governorates lifted the pressure ona few young people, but the majority continued to struggle.

Displacement raised additional barriers to learning. Iraq’s rates of internal displacement peaked inApril and May 2007, with almost 200,000 school-age children displaced, rising to 220,000 by year-end.Lack of proper documentation prevented re-enrollment in many areas, adding to high drop-out rates ofup to 5% for primary levels. Arabic teachers were also dispatched to the Kurdistan Region to helptens of thousands of displaced Arabic-speaking children struggling in Kurdish language classrooms.

So much disruption and ongoing violence affectedexam results. One exam centre in Diwaniya was hitby a shower of bullets during an examinationsession, injuring schoolgirls and killing a motherwho was waiting for her daughter outside.Not suprisingly, results were poor, particularly forSouthern and Central Iraq. According to figuresreleased by Iraq’s Ministry of Education, only 28%of all 17 year-old Iraqis sat their final exams tograduate high schoolThe erosion ofthis summer. And inlearning in Iraq2006, only 40% ofthreatens itsthose that sat theirUNICEF/Arar/2007: Few recreational activities are available torecovery. Few thingsexams received aschoolchildren in Iraq, and schools are often under-equipped.are more criticalpassinggradeinthan education to liftSouthern and Central Iraq, compared to the national results of 60%.After a summer of uncertainty, Iraq’s new school year started inNovember. Even if lower enrolment rates are confirmed, millions of Iraqichildren returned to the classroom. Many are not living in their ownhomes any more. They are missing friends, neighbours and even family.

Education: action for Iraq 2007Rebuilt 48 schools affected by violence/displacement, with work ongoing in42 more, adding classrooms, toilets for girls and recreation areas to improvelearning for over 80,000 pupils and 9,300 teachers – in partnership withUNHABITAT;Distributed school books, pens, schoolbags, crayons and other basic learningmaterials to Iraq’s 4.7 million primary school children thanks to support fromthe European Commission;Enrolled 22,000 young people not in school into an AcceleratedLearning Programme in 12 governorates;Distributed Early Childhood Learning kits for 82,500 childrennationwide;Provided emergency education kits for 10,000 childrenaffected by insecurity and is providing education supplies for100,000 vulnerable children in total;Worked with the Ministry of Education to develop a home-learning programme for children cut off from school byviolence.

In Need of Protection2007 condemned a growing number of Iraqichildren to a more lonely life. Many struggledwith fear and loss, as well as very real threatsto their safety. While little hard statistics areavailable on abuses against children, far toomany were stripped of their protectiveenvironment of family support, fundamentallegal protections and access to school andhealth care.An unacceptably large number of children andwomen fell victim to military operations,insurgency, criminal and random violenceduring the year. Mass casualty attacksaffecting hundreds of people became morefrequent. The UN estimates 19,500 violentUNICEF/Arar/2007: Violence and displacement has reduced many children topoverty and increased the risk of abuse.civilian deaths in 2007. Other estimates arehigher (up to 24,000 according to Iraq BodyCount), but still fall below 2006 figures. The majority of casualties were men; however hundreds ofwomen and children are certainly among the dead. Many thousands more became widows andorphans after losing their main family wage-earner to violence, exposing them to poverty.High levels of displacement in the first months of 2007 created additional threats to children. Somewere separated from their families in the move. Others felt unable to fit in after arriving in their newareas, particularly if their families had to struggle to find work and enroll them in school. “I feltunsettled when we moved from Baghdad,” said 17 year-old Shelan, whose family fled to the relativesafety of Suleimaniyah early in the year. “There were new friends, new school, new neighbourhoodand new society. I am often very isolated and I feel like I am a stranger in many ways.”Instability also took a growing toll on children’s behaviour. A report by the WHO in March 2007 saidthat 30% of Iraqi children were showing classic signs of anxiety and distress: including bedwetting,poor concentration and violence.Economic hardship affected millionsgovernorates and food prices rising.money. Local NGOs reported a rise inalso emerged that some children werein 2007, with unemployment rates at over 15% in manyMany parents were forced to ask children to work to earnthe number of children visibly working on the street. Reportsbeing recruited to work for non-state armed groups.

As the number of children without caregivers increased,capacity to support them in communities and institutionsdwindled. In August 2007, several children were discoveredbeing kept in appalling conditions in Baghdad’s Dar El-Hanan home for severely disabled patients.The images laid bare the risks facing Iraqi children living without a family’s protection. UNICEF andother organizations pushed for a nationwide assessment of Iraq’s orphanages, which will beconducted through an international NGO in 2008.

Arrest and detention rates for children also increasedover the summer, as a result of increased securitymeasures in Iraq’s central governorates. By year end,the Multi-National Forces-Iraq announced that over 950children aged between 10 and 17 years old were beingdetained in their facilities for alleged security violations,in addition to at least 400 in Iraqi facilities. Ensuringthese most vulnerable children receive treatment in linewith international human rights law and standards forjuvenile justice is a major UNICEF priority for 2008.The rise of extremism has added extra burdens forwomen and girls. Many women living in the highlyconservative central provinces of Anbar and Diyalafeared to step outside, even in full Islamic dress. Reports from Basra now suggest that women arealso being targeted there. Basra police reported in December that 113 women were been killed insuch attacks during the year.UNICEF/Arar/2007: Reports indicate that more Iraqichildren are involved in dangerous forms of labour.

Women interviewed after displacement also reported sexual violence and forced “temporarymarriages”. Honor-killings were also consistently reported, particularly in the Kurdistan Region –including more than 300 cases of burned women last year according to the KRG. These cases aremostly presented as suicide attempts or accidents, which hampers data collection.As 2008 starts, children and women are as vulnerable as ever – if not more so. It is not clear howmany children in Iraq’s institutions are in poor living conditions and are susceptible to abuse andexploitation. And despite security improvements in some areas, many women still live in fear withfew lifelines for support. Iraq is a State Party to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and theConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women –which obligates theState to protect the rights of children and women under any and all circumstances. Turning theserights into a reality will be a major challenge for 2008 – and essential to Iraq’s ultimate recover

Child Protection: action for Iraq 2007Reunited 154 street children in Baghdad with families and communitiesthrough a UNICEF-supported Child-Reintegration initiative, in partnershipwith an international NGO and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs;Held a multi-stakeholder consultation to set out a prevention and supportstrategy for Iraq’s detained children and children at risk of detention, toensure juvenile justice in line with international standards;Supported an assessment of Iraq’s child institutions, includingorphanages;Conducted Mine Risk Education activities for 310,000 people inmined areas across Iraq, with an international NGO;Negotiated the release of 50 street children arrested in Erbil;Helped to develop Iraq’s first Social Work degree programme;Provided emergency recreation supplies for 2,000 IDP childrenand children in institutions in Baghdad, Sinjar and other areas.

Over the course of 2007, the number of Iraqis internallydisplaced since the 22 February 2006 bombing of the Al-Askari Shrine in Samarra grew from 700,000 in January toover 1.2 million. Most were driven out by violence andintimidation. Half of the displaced were children.As waves of displaced families descended upon alreadyimpoverished villages and towns, local people struggled tocope. Schools, hospitals and other public services buckledunder the strain of thousands of new arrivals – all needingshelter, food, water, medicines, jobs and a place in theclassroom for their children.Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were also displaced intoneighbouring countries, mainly Syria and Jordan,generating several appeals for funds from relieforganizations. It is estimated that 2 million Iraqis have left Iraq in total since 2003 - many of themdoctors, teachers and engineers widening Iraq’s existing gap in social service provision for children.UNICEF/Arar/2007: Children of Sinjar wait in tents for aidafter the destruction of their homes in a deadly bombing.

According to IOM, 59% of internally displaced families were ableto rent homes in their new area. But nearly a quarter (22%)resorted to camps and temporary shelters. includingapproximately 70,000 children displaced with their familiesduring the year. Many of the displaced were unable to accessbasic services and food rations. IOM reports that only 22%regularly accessed PDS rations and an average 14% lackedaccess to basic healthcare nationwide, rising to around 50% inDiyala and Kirkuk.

Camps, once almost unknown in Iraq, because more visible. InMay, a major “tent city” sprang up on the outskirts of Baghdad.About 6,000 people fleeing fighting in Diyala had left their homesat night, many without a single possession. They arrived in needof shelter, food and basic life essentials. Many lived in the open or in tents provided by the Iraqi RedCrescent Organization, and received hygiene and medical supplies from UNICEF.Further south in Najaf governorate, the number of people living in camps outside the city swelled to50,000 by mid-summer. Heat and crowded living conditions were contributing factors to an increasein diarrhoea rates and Iraq’s first cholera cases of the year, which emerged in Najaf in May and June.UNICEF helped the government send mobile health teams into the area to check on children,distributed water, hygiene and medical supplies.Other southern cities, including Basra, found the pressure on schools and hospitals too much tomanage, at one point declining to accept new arrivals. Elsewhere, in the Kurdistan Region, 167,000displaced ethnic Arabs needed shelter and assistance to enroll their children into Arabic-languageclassrooms. The Kurdistan Regional Government did all it could to provide additional educationservices– and Iraq’s Ministry of Education dispatched extra teachers to the North.

Displacement narrowed humanitarian space, hampering access to and delivery of essential servicesCommunities with mixed ethnic and religious profiles became increasingly factionalized andinaccessible to outsiders. Baghdad saw the greatest deterioration, accounting for more internaldisplacement than any other governorate (30% according to UN and government at December 2007)as well as the most dramatic sectarian shifts.The UN aimed to help local authorities to provide displaced children, and the children in communitieshosting them, with equal access to nutrition, schooling, health care, water and sanitation and others.Special efforts were made to ensure that national immunization and nutrition drives reacheddisplaced children, even those in highly insecure areas.Despite a slowing of displacement rates in late 2007, the majority of families are still unable orunwilling to return. Those that do may also face risks. Nearly 50,000 refugees returned to Iraq fromSyria between September and December 2007, according to the Iraq Red Crescent Organization.Most had reached the end of their finances or visas in neighbouring countries, although bettersecurity in Baghdad had also contributed to their decision. In addition, almost 10,000 IDP familiesregistered in December as returnees to Baghdad (IOM). Many found their properties occupied andwere at risk of secondary displacement.Many of the changes caused by displacement in 2006 and 2007 will be permanent. Children whomissed a year of schooling after being displaced, who were forced to live in suffocating tents anddrink unsafe water, who lost their friends, will never be able to reclaim this year of their childhood.More will suffer like this every day unless we act decisively to meet their immediate needs.

Displacement: action for Iraq 2007Provided emergency water and sanitation relief for over 500,000 people incrisis, including the displaced and communities hosting them nationwide;Transported mobile health teams from the Ministry of Health to IDP camps inWasit, Najaf, Baghdad and elsewhere.Built and began construction of 80 additional classrooms in partnership withUNHABITAT to ease the burden on schools overcrowded by displacedstudents in 10 governorates including Basra, Najaf, Missan, Muthanna,Kirkuk and Dohuk;Provided recreation materials for 2,000 displaced childrenprimarily in Sinjar, Baghdad and Najaf;Provided emergency education kits for 10,000 childrenaffected by insecurity in schools nationwide and is providingeducation supplies for 100,000 vulnerable children in total.UNICEF’s support for emergency relief in 2007 wascarried out in partnership with UN Agencies andthe Iraq Red Crescent Organization.

Falling vaccination rates mean that 1 million children are now not protectedagainst measles – a serious outbreak risk. UNICEF and WHO support a house-to-house immunization drive to bring the measles, mumps and rubella vaccineto 3.6 million children between one and five years of age.The first cholera cases of the year are reported in Najaf, all in children under12. The number of displaced people living in temporary shelters is swelling,putting children at risk.A bomb blast in Sadriya market in Baghdad kills up to 170 people.

Concerns run high as summer temperatures begin to rise. Diarrhoea rates inNajaf governorate are already twice seasonal averages. Diarrhoea is one oftwo primary killers of young children in Iraq.Violence in Diyala sends more than 6,000 people fleeing to camps on theoutskirts of Baghdad. UNICEF and the Iraqi Red Crescent Organizationorganize distribution of essential supplies, including hygiene kits. UNICEF alsotransports health workers into the area to monitor children.To respond to the growing humanitarian crisis in Iraq, UNICEF issues an“Immediate Needs Document” outlining $34 million urgently required for reliefwork inside Iraq. Less than $2 million is received in response by year-end.

The plight of children in Iraq’s institutions is thrown into stark relief by thediscovery of children kept in appalling conditions in Baghdad’s Dar El-Hananhome for the severely disabled. UNICEF estimates that tens of thousands ofIraqi children could have lost a parent within the last year, making them veryvulnerable to institutionalization.Water shortages and possible outbreaks of diarrhoeal diseases are now amajor concern, as summer heat sets in. UNICEF estimates that only 1 in 3children have access to a reliable source of safe water. UNICEF steps up itswork to rehabilitate local networks, but funding shortages hold back efforts.

The number of displaced people in Iraq tops 1 million. A displaced child in Al-Manathera camp, Najaf, dies from a heat-related illness. At least 50,000displaced people are now living in Najaf, many in mud huts and camps.School examinations begin, and many children struggle to reach exam centresin southern and central Iraq. A mother waiting for her daughter outside anexam centre in Diwaniya is killed after being caught in the crossfire betweenunknown groups. Several schoolgirl sitting exams are also injured.On 8 July, the northern Sunni province of Salah Al-Din suffers the second mostdevastating single car bomb explosion since the 2003 war, reportedly killingover 150 people. Fears remain high that violence is moving northwards.

A devastating series of bomb blasts in the northern district of Sinjar destroysseveral villages and kills more than 500 people (at least 1/3rdof themchildren). UNICEF rushes aid to the scene, including medical supplies andhygiene kits. UNICEF also begins tankering water to families made homeless.A cholera outbreak is reported in Kirkuk and Suleimaniyah. Ten people die anda further 2,000 people, most of them adults, suffer from severe diarrhoea.Local hospitals report an overload of patients. UNICEF works with WHO on theground to support doctors, provide ORS and run a public information drive.UNICEF and WHO help local Baghdad health workers to negotiate access toIraq’s national vaccine storage warehouse, which has been blocked as part ofincreased military security in the area. UNICEF is able to collect and transport10 million doses of polio vaccine to Iraq’s governorates.

The Multi-National Forces in Iraq reveal that 950 children aged between 10and 17 are being detained for alleged security violations. More are being heldin Iraqi prisons, many without access to due process. UNICEF holdsdiscussions with all parties to find a way to bring these children out ofinstitutions and back into the care of a family.Reports increase that children are being recruited into sectarian militia groupsTensions between Turkey and Iraq increase over border activities by theKurdish Workers Party (PKK). Villages inside the Iraqi border are shelled bythe Turkish airforce, and the UN prepares to assist displaced families.

Millions of Iraqi children head back to school, braving the odds. Exam resultsfor 2007 indicated that only 28% of all 17 year-olds sat their final exams –highlighting a serious deterioration in both access to and quality of learning.Thecholera outbreak hits Baghdad, and cases begin to spiral. UNICEFcontinues to provide oral rehydration salts and other critical supplies, andbegins to tanker water to stricken parts of the city. Two children die fromdehydration at the notorious Dar El-Hanan home.

Iraq 2008More Impact for Children and FamiliesIn 2008, Iraqi children and their familiesneed more help than ever. Whether livingin an area disrupted by violence, waitingfor aid in a makeshift tent or returninganxiously to an abandoned home, theydepend on support from the internationalcommunity.Reports of improving security in Baghdadgive some cause for cautious optimism.But better security will uncover moreunmet needs currently hidden from view.It will also increase opportunities to meetthose needs – and help fulfill our obligationto the innocent victims of Iraq’s conflict.Despite the challenges of 2007, a greatdeal of assistance did reach vulnerableIraqis and made a difference in their lives. The work of the UN, international and local NGOs provesthat much can be done, if only the will is there.The UN Security Council Resolution 1770 calls on the international community to do more to helpIraq achieve both its political goals and to meet the basic needs of its people. In 2008, UNICEF willstrengthen and expand its work to deliver lifesaving assistance inside Iraq as part of ourcommitment to building an Iraq fit for children.UNICEF is promoting a more concerted emergency approach, IMPACT: Iraq. This will strengthencoordination with the UN Country Team, Government and NGOs to deliver a complete package ofservices and supplies wherever children and their families are vulnerable, operating via a network oflocal teams, more responsive to needs assessment and rapid delivery.Iraq’s basic services and its vulnerable families are as critical to the country’s future as any politicaland security concerns. Where children’s lives can be protected and revived, community recoveryoften swiftly follows. Iraq’s children should be central to all policy and funding decisions becausethey are, without question, the foundation for Iraq’s recovery. In 2008 and beyond, we owe themour very best efforts and support.UNICEF/Arar/2007: Children at school in southern Iraq.

Key Actions for Iraq’s Children inrefugee or returnee. Assistance must be balanced equitably between refugees and2008those inside the country. Iraq’s government must also mobilize more of itsPRIORITIZE THE IMMEDIATE NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIESINSIDE IRAQ,focusing on vulnerability rather than identification as an IDP,significant national resources for essential social services. Education is aparticularly critical area for attention and investment in 2008.

CONTINUE TO SUPPORT IRAQ’S RECOVERY AND DEVELOPMENTGOALS.Iraq’s hard-won achievements towards the Millennium Development Goals,PROTECT HUMANITARIAN ACCESSand its efforts to strengthen2.implementation of the International Compact with Iraq,TO IRAQICHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIESwhether can assume fullits own governance, need nurturing towards the day when Iraqinconflict zones, behind security barriersresponsibility for meeting all the needs of its citizens. or in detentioncentres. Assistance reaching Iraqi communities is bestdelivered by neutral organizations for better protectionof humanitarian space and to rebuild trust in theinternational community.

United Nations Children’s Fund

UNICEF Iraq (Support Centre in Amman)

P.O. Box 1551

Amman 11821 – Jordan

www.unicef.org

Telephone: +962 6 551 5921

Fax: +962 6 551 3745

[email protected]