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The Child Labourers of Baghdad

This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Child labour is illegal in Iraq. But if there is death or disease in the family, minors are often forced to work. The authorities responsible for policing labour laws take a range of different attitudes to that.

Just a few days after the beginning of the new school term in Baghdad and Mohammed Ali dropped out. He is 12. His father was killed in a bombing in the city a few months ago and now as the eldest of three sons he feels adult responsibility weighing heavily upon him.

“I just had to search for a job, any job, in order to bring food to my brothers and to my mother who is taking care of them,” says Ali, who NIQASH met on the street. “I will never let her go out to search for a job as long as I am there for her.”

Ali is sweating and he wears ragged clothing. He works as a porter and carries building materials, rocks and other heavy items around the city. He leaves home at sunrise and returns at sunset, eats just one meal a day that costs him about IQD1,000 (US$0.83) and gives the rest of his daily wages, IQD15,000 (around US$12) to his mother for housekeeping. He makes sure that his younger brothers are doing all right and he sleeps next to them in the same bed before getting up the next day to go out and do the same all over again.

Ali is just one of many underage labourers in Iraq. The number of child workers has increased significantly since 2003. Last year the United Nations children’s’ agency, UNICEF, said that more than half a million Iraqi children are thought to be working rather than at school. A lot of those cases are due to violence or displacement, as in Ali’s situation. Iraq’s own Ministry of Planning has higher numbers, saying that about one in five children, aged mostly between five and 14, work to support their families and themselves.

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#GivingTuesday: Help Iraq’s Street Children

On Tuesday, the Iraqi Children Foundation (ICF) competes with other charities for a share of $75,000 in bonus funds.

The more you give, the more bonus funds we earn for Iraqi orphans, street kids, and children displaced by conflict.

EXTRA BONUS:  New monthly donors are eligible for  a 1-month match.  Sign up for $10, $25, $50, $100 – up to $200 – in monthly giving and get an extra month match.

Still not sure whether to give?  Think of these children (All names changed for privacy):

  • Rana (10) who loved the Hope Bus but still worked on the streets and died after being hit by car;
  • Teenage Hasan who wanted a job to support a poor widowed mother but got targeted by a man trafficking in human organs who wanted his kidney;
  • Noor (13) who worked on the street and was nearly married off by a poor aunt who needed the dowry;
  • Little orphan boys, Khalid and Ali (6 and7), who were exploited by an uncle who forced them to beg on the street.

All of these children – and hundreds more – have been helped by your gifts.   Many more are waiting…

(Source: ICF)

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US Providing Essential Support for Iraq’s Children

Hundreds of thousands of children and their families in Iraq who have suffered the pain of brutal conflict and displacement will have regular access to lifesaving clean drinking water and services that respond to gender based violence thanks to help from the U.S. government.

With the latest contribution of nearly 9 million US$ from the United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), UNICEF and its partners will be able to provide safe drinking water to families living in displacement camps as part of its emergency first line response, as well as repair damaged water supply infrastructure.

OFDA’s generous assistance will also help bring age-appropriate and survivor-centered community-based multi-sector services to survivors of gender based violence.

Hamida Ramadhani, UNICEF’s deputy representative in Iraq, said:

“The provision of multi-sector support services to women and children who carry invisible wounds as a result of conflict, gender-based violence and large-scale displacement is particularly important to help them cope and to re-build their lives.”

Nearly five million children are in dire need of humanitarian assistance in Iraq. UNICEF continues to count on the United States as a major global donor of humanitarian and development assistance to respond to the most urgent needs of the most vulnerable children around the world.

(Source: UN)

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Reserve 5 mins For Iraqi Children on October 5th!

On Thursday – October 5th – The Iraqi Children Foundation (ICF) and awesome IRONMAN challenger Mais Abousy are joining forces to compete for a share of $50,000 in cash for Iraq’s most vulnerable kids.

Mais, an Iraqi-American mother and lawyer, is training for the October IRONMAN where she will compete carrying US and Iraqi flags.  She will swim 1.2 miles (1.9K), bike 56 miles (90K), and run 13.1 miles (21K) along with some 2,800 athletes and thousands of observers from around the world.

October 5th is a great opportunity to make a high-impact gift and finish your year-end giving early.  The donation “race” starts at 9:00:01 am and ends 11:59:59 pm Washington DC time (EDT).  How much we raise October 5th determines what portion of the $50,000 pot ICF wins.  Plus, for every new monthly donation, ICF gets a 1-month match.

If you are “in”:

  1. Post this link on your calendar for October 5th
  2. Decide on a 1-time gift or monthly donations
  3. Execute October 5th!

Want to know what your gifts do?

  • $10 covers four nutritious, yummy meals for kids
  • $25 reserves a seat on the Hope Bus for a boy or girl for a whole week with tutoring, a healthy lunch, fun, & more
  • $30 a month can support a social worker to help kids stop working, go to school, access health care, and get loving interventions to stop abuse and neglect
  • $50 a month helps cover the salary of a “street lawyer”  to defend kids in court, help kids get documents to go to school, and teach children to protect themselves against dangers on the streets from criminals, human traffickers, and extremists
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New Iraqi Child and Adolescent Health Strategy (2018-2020)

Under the Patronage of Her Excellency the Minister of Health & Environment Dr Adeelah Hamoud Hussien, the Public Health Directorate (PHD) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nation Children’s’ Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched on 20 July 2017 the National Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health Strategy (RMNCAH) 2018–2020.

The strategy was developed in alignment with the national development plans and strategies to map the road for galvanizing actions to achieve the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) for health in Iraq.

With the present diverse health challenges and public health risks and threats such as disease outbreaks and high maternal and child mortality rates, the community of health professionals in Iraq needs an updated national RMNCAH strategy (2018–2020) that would support stepping up joint efforts to complete the unfinished work of the Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs).

The RMNCAH strategy aims to address the inequities among underserved areas in Iraq, stricter compliance to measurement and monitoring of progress, the inclusion of the humanitarian aspects and adherence to the 2030 agenda for SDGs, particularly those related to the health of women, children and adolescents, and the inclusion of innovative approaches for monitoring progress during the implementation of the RMNCA strategy 2018–-2020.

Together with the national health authorities and civil society, WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA will work to support the government of Iraq with the necessary technical and operational modalities to improve the health and well-being of women, children, and adolescents in the country.

(Source: WHO)