Building the safety net. Child protection in a time of conflict

This year marks twenty years since the 2003 US/UK invasion of Iraq. Launched on the basis that Saddam Hussain’s government possessed ‘weapons of mass destruction’, which could hit neighbouring countries in '45 minutes’, the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq started a chain reaction of events, which can still be felt to this day. 

The following is taken from the 2013 article Iraq Ten Years On: What You Don’t Hear! by Hussein Al-alak which was published by the Palestine Chronicle and the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram. According to the Iraqi Children Foundation, more than 800,000 children were orphaned as result of the Iraq war. 

Throughout the US/UK occupation, the Association of Psychologists of Iraq repeatedly warned about the damage being caused to Iraq’s children, with “learning impediments” having been brought on by the fear of guns, bullets, death and a general “fear of the occupation”. 

The Integrated Regional Information Networks also reported how violence and a lack of resources have undermined the education sector in Iraq. “No student will graduate with sufficient competence to perform his or her job, and pupils will end the year with less than 60 percent of the knowledge that was supposed to have been imparted to them”. 

According to one primary school teacher in Baghdad’s Mansour district, teachers have become unable to complete a year’s curriculum because of violence, low attendance as a result of fear and a general lack of teaching materials provided by the authorities.

IRAQ 20: WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? 

Just one year after the publication of Hussein Al-alak’s article, in 2014 Iraq witnessed the invasion of Mosul and other parts of the country by the group known as IS, which displaced more than 1.3 million. 

Organisations like the AMAR Foundation have a longstanding commitment to education and in 2016, AMAR’s School for Orphans was built in Basra. The school has modern facilities and provides a broad curriculum, so children get the best start in life. 

In Baghdad, the Iraqi Children Foundation also run three mobile schools called the Hope Buses. These deliver tutoring, healthcare and social support to orphans, street kids and displaced children living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods across Baghdad. 

PTSD is caused by highly stressful, frightening or distressing events. Escaping Darkness is a specialist Mental Health service that was established by the AMAR Foundation, to support Yazidi women and girls overcome the trauma of kidnap, abuse and modern day slavery at the hands of IS.