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REPORT FROM IRAQ

This is a report supplied to ExchangeEveryDay by Solène Edouard-Binkley from the Christian Children's Fund on her recent work in Iraq:

"For 3 weeks in May 2003, 3 international assessors, accompanied by 10 Iraqi staff (social workers, engineers, etc) traveled to the South and Central governorates of Iraq to assess the situation of institutions for children, in the post-war context. The objectives of the assessment were to identify life-saving measures related to groups of children most at risk, to prevent/ reduce further harm through identifying the main threats to children's safety and security and to lay the foundations for intermediate and long-term interventions related to child protection and development.

"The 3 teams visited a total of 29 institutes (orphanages, schools for disabled children and rehabilitation centers for delinquents). Twenty institutions out of the 29 had been looted, 13 were closed and only 4 were running with full staff and all the registered children. Seven institutes that had been looted were opened to children, threatening their security (non protected electric wires hanging from the ceilings, absence of doors, bad hygienic conditions) and the fulfillment of their basic needs (lack of food in general, lack of fresh food, small numbers of bathrooms available…).

"The children that were not back in the institutes were still with families and relatives, where they were sent three days before the war. They are many questions being raised about these children, especially concerning the conditions they’re currently living in. According to the staff of the institutes most of the girls that were sent back to their families were not back in school where the schools have reopened. A tracing program should be set up urgently and a follow-up of the children in their families should start rapidly, as soon as Iraqi Social Workers have been trained.

"Some children didn’t make it to their families and relatives and street children are now being seen in Baghdad. Most of these children come from Dar Al Rhama Institute (punishment center where street children used to be put together with juvenile delinquents) and were 'released' a few days before the war. Since then, the children have been living on the streets, suffering from unbalanced diets, fearing for themselves or their siblings and threatened by gang leaders. Daily reports from the social workers who visit these children show use of drugs (mostly sniffing gasoline) and reported cases of sexual abuse on the children at night. An emergency program should start soon providing the street children with food, clothing and emotional support during the day (using a mobile unit in a caravan) and shelter at night (setting up of a refuge).

"Last but not least, the question of the payment of the salaries of the staff remains. In fact in the vast majority of the institutions we visited, the personnel were present and working on a voluntary basis (salaries hadn’t been paid for months). These adults have been the adults-referent for the children in the institutions, before during and after the war. It seems then extremely important for the safety and security feelings of the children to keep these adults with the children in the institutions. The presence of the staff, trusted and well known by the children, has a stabilizing effect on the children when the whole country suffers from chaos. It would be a terrible loss if the staff had to leave the institute to find alternate sources of income."

The full report of this assessment funded by UNICEF and implemented by Enfants du Monde-Droits de l’Homme (EMDH, French NGO) in partnership with Christian Children's Fund (CCF) will soon by on the Humanitarian Information Center (HIC) website (www.agoodplacetostart.org).
 

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