Humanitarian Situation Report for Children in Iraq

Capital: Baghdad

Area: 434,320 km2

Population: 41,413,510

Form of government: Federal republic

 

Iraq is a geopolitically important country in the Middle East with its oil reserves and arable land. The official languages are Arabic and Kurdish. However, they are also spoken in Turkmen, Syriac and Assyrian. 75% of the population is Arab. They are followed by Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians and Persians in smaller proportions. 95% of the population of Iraq is Muslim.

 

The country's status, which is ranked 11th in the Fragile States Index and listed under the "high alert" category, negatively affects children; it has caused them to experience trauma, panic and the fear of death to become part of their daily lives. The country has 15 million children aged 0-14, and 7,951,450 youth aged 15-24.

 

If we look at maternal and child mortality, we see that 25 out of every 1,000 children under the age of five, 21 out of every 1,000 children, and 25 out of every 100,000 mothers die. It is estimated that 3,500,000 children are affected by poverty in a country where one in four people lives below the poverty line.

 

Education in Iraq is free and compulsory until the age of twelve. However, inadequate schools and overcrowded classrooms do not allow children to receive a quality education. According to 2013 data, 1,200,000 school-age children were unable to access basic education. Targeting schools in conflicts costs the lives of thousands of children and teachers. Between 2016 and 2018, 161 schools were attacked in Iraq. As of 2015-2016, the number of students enrolled in primary education was 9,200,000.

 

There are 800,000 people displaced by the civil war in Iraq. According to a 2019 report, 232 children were displaced last year; they were subjected to serious human rights violations, including killing, maiming and recruitment into armed groups; records indicate that eight out of every 100 people who lost their lives in conflicts were children. Large numbers of children continue to be recruited by armed groups, especially terrorist networks.

 

Many children in the country are forced to work to meet their basic needs. Children who fall into the hands of drug dealers or prostitution mafias are the most tragic aspect of this issue.

 

According to a 2015 report, there are an estimated 5,000,000 orphans in Iraq. It is not known exactly how many children have been orphaned as a result of the civil war, the course of which has been constantly changing since the US attacks that began in 2003. According to UNICEF estimates for 2011, 800,000 children in the region have lost their parents in the process.

 

Data from 2009 indicate that there are 23 government orphanages in the country affiliated with the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. It is worth noting that there are four government orphanages in Baghdad, but they have not reached their capacity. It is reported that one in three children living in government orphanages, which are unable to provide the necessary and adequate education and care for children, are exposed to violence and no precautions are taken regarding this situation.

 

It is known that the missionaries wanted to assess the difficult conditions after the siege and occupation in Iraq, and that they carried out extensive work, especially in the Kurdistan Region. Missionary organizations working in the field of orphans include Samaritan's Purse and World Orphans. There are also orphanages in Masjid Suleiman, Shahriza, Mahshahr, Mindawab and Marand.