Tagged: Iraq

A woman in a blue headscarf holds a baby outside a tent.

An early arrival

Children in emergencies

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Story also available in: العربية
Thirteen year old Mona is washing dishes out front of her tent. Living with her mother, Harzia, aunt and grandmother, Sabria, the tent is a largely female space. Except there is Ali. At four months old, he does not take up much space in these close quarters, but his presence is notable. He is nestled into one corner of the tent so he… Read more →←
A boy in a green shirt stands in front of piled up boxes.

Three years without a home

Children in emergencies

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Story also available in: العربية Español Français 中文
“I’m from Zummar, a village close to the Syrian border. It’s been three years since my family and I left there. We had to go because of all the rockets and things. It was really dangerous. So we went to Mosul.” “I used to go to school in Zummar, but not in Mosul. I don’t know how to read or write. It’s been so long since I… Read more →←
A boy holding a box with a UNICEF label on it

Bringing aid to Mosul : An insider’s perspective

Insider

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Story also available in: العربية Français
Atheer leans back in his chair to gather his thoughts. We’re sitting in the anonymity of a crowded lunch room on the UN compound in Erbil — as UNICEF Iraq’s Emergency Coordinator for the Mosul crisis, Atheer makes every minute of his day count. He is a man with a lot on his mind. Military operations to retake Mosul and the… Read more →←
Sajad applies for asylum.

“I’d be a superhero…” Sajad Al-Faraji: after Iraq

Children in emergencies

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Presevo, Serbia, November 2015   “I don’t have any hope, I was born without hope,” says Sajad Al-Faraji, a 15-year-old boy traveling from Basra, Iraq. Sajad is with his older sister, younger brother and his mother on his way to a train station that’s exclusively serving refugees in southern Serbia. I’m on assignment for… Read more →←
People stand around machinery in a room

Creative solutions to restore critical services in Mosul

Children in emergencies

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The conflict in Mosul has displaced nearly 100,000 people, but almost a million people are still in the city. Many of those in newly retaken neighbourhoods have been left without any proper services. UNICEF’s Chief of Water and Sanitation Ruben Um Bayiha talks about the challenges of providing safe water and sanitation services to both… Read more →←
A boy in a shirt and tie in his classroom.

Schools rise from the rubble in Anbar

Children in emergencies

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Story also available in: العربية Español Français
UNICEF Representative in Iraq Peter Hawkins recently visited schools in Anbar province. As tens of thousands of families return to Anbar, UNICEF is rehabilitating 100 schools and in August launched a ‘Back to School’ campaign to reach about 70,000 girls, boys and families to encourage enrollment.   I visited Anbar earlier this… Read more →←
A woman stands with her family.

“We can’t go home, so we need to send our children to school.”

Children in emergencies

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Story also available in: Français
The village of Hasansham, which until a few months ago was the scene of heavy fighting, has a surreal quality. It’s situated in a beautiful, seemingly tranquil river valley; one that’s dotted by stark stone outcrops. The houses are either a drab sandy colour, or bare concrete. As such, they blend with the arid countryside, so it’s… Read more →←
Little girl standing in front of an open gate

Water on the front line near Mosul

Children in emergencies

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Story also available in: Français
Al Houd, south of Mosul , was retaken by Iraqi security forces last week. Two days later, UNICEF sent a mission to deliver clean water and hygiene kits to the town’s 1,500 families. UNICEF Chief of Communication Sharon Behn Nogueira was there. The sky was filled with ominous black clouds from oil fields that were set on fire by ISIL… Read more →←
Five little girls sit at their school desk, smiling, their books open on the desk

Time to invest Iraq’s wealth in its future

Children in emergencies

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Story also available in: العربية
Recently I visited a primary school in Basra as part of a UNICEF team. As our plane landed at Basra airport by night, I could see flames shooting out of the oil wells that dot the landscape. Basra, which used to be best known for its port – Sinbad the Sailor journeyed from there – is now synonymous with oil. Basra has the largest oil… Read more →←
A woman with others standing around her.

Families adrift in northern Iraq

Children in emergencies

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Story also available in: العربية
She is only 36, but looks about ten years older. Her name, Ghaniyah, means “wealthy woman” in Arabic. But she sleeps in the open with her husband and four children on thin mattresses opposite a construction site, separated from the sky by a poorly fixed strip of cloth that hangs overhead, blowing in the wind. After they had to run… Read more →←

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