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At least 120,000 children killed or maimed by wars around the world across continents since 2005, an average of almost 20 a day

BAGHDAD, 6 June 2023 A staggering 315,000 grave violations against children in conflict were verified by the United Nations between 2005 and 2022 worldwide, a stark illustration of the devastating impact of war and conflict on children.

As states, donors and the humanitarian community meet in Norway for the Oslo Conference on Protecting Children in Armed Conflict*, UNICEF has reported that, since monitoring began in 2005 (since 2008 in the case of Iraq), the UN has verified 315,000 grave violations committed by parties to conflict in more than 30 conflict situations across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

These include:

More than 120,000 children killed or maimed.

At least 105,000 children recruited or used by armed forces or armed groups.

More than 32,500 children abducted.

More than 16,000 children subjected to sexual violence.

The UN has also verified globally more than 16,000 attacks on schools and hospitals, and more than 22,000 instances of denial of humanitarian access for children.

For Iraq, the numbers are staggering, with over 9,000 children killed or maimed (3,119 killed and 5,938 maimed) since 2008 to the end of 2022. Despite the considerable reduction on the number of reported cases in the last years, the overall number represents, on an average, more than 1 child killed every other day and one child maimed daily over the reported period.

As these are just the cases that have been verified, the true toll is likely to be far higher.

Additionally, many millions more children have been displaced globally from their homes and communities, lost friends or family, or separated from parents or caregivers.

Any war is ultimately a war on children, said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. Exposure to conflict has catastrophic, life-changing effects for children. While we know what must be done to protect children from war, the world is not doing enough. Year after year, the UN documents the visceral, tragic and all too predictable ways that childrens lives are torn apart. It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that children do not pay the price for the wars of adults, and to take the bold, concrete action required to improve the protection of some of the worlds most vulnerable children.

In this context, UNICEF has supported the care and protection of millions of affected children across conflict situations to enhance their well-being, including through the provision of mental health and psychosocial support, child protection case management, family tracing and reunification, and services for child survivors of gender-based violence. In 2022, UNICEF reached almost 12,500 children globally who exited armed forces or armed groups with reintegration or other protection support, and more than 9 million children with information that they can use to protect themselves from explosive remnants of war.

Sheema Sen Gupta, UNICEF Representative in Iraq, also present in the Conference, spoke about the need of reintegration for children in Iraq following so many years of conflict, As a response to years of conflict, UNICEF, in collaboration with the Government of Iraq and partners, target four profiles of children in need of reintegration, including children returning from North-East Syria, children released from detention, children perceived to be affiliated with armed groups, and other vulnerable children. These UNICEF reintegration programmes target three levels: individual, community and institutional. However, successful long-term reintegration is contingent on on-going basic service provision to ensure that children can access their rights, as highlighted in the Paris Principles.

Unfortunately, the scale of the child protection risks to children affected by conflict is not matched by the scale of funding available to address these issues. New analysis by Humanitarian Funding Forecasting, commissioned by UNICEF, Save the Children, the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and the Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility, reveals that by 2024, the child protection sector will require US$1.05 billion, increasing to US$1.37 billion by 2026, to address the protection needs of children in armed conflict. This includes critical services like family reunification, mental health support, and the prevention of recruitment into armed groups.

However, the study also indicates an impending funding shortfall. If the current pace of humanitarian funding continues, the projected shortfall would stand at US$835 million in 2024, growing to US$941 million by 2026. This gap could leave conflict-affected children exposed to the immediate and lasting impacts of war, child labor, trafficking, and violence.

As leaders convene in Oslo, UNICEF is calling for governments to make bold new commitments to:

Uphold and operationalize the international laws and norms already in place to protect children in war including to protect schools, hospitals and other protected objects like water and sanitation facilities from attack, to stop the recruitment and use of children by armed groups and forces, to stop the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

Hold perpetrators to account when childrens rights are violated.

Step up critical resources to fund the protection of children in conflict at the scale and speed required, in line with growing needs. This must include investment in humanitarian response and in national child protection workforces.

UNICEF is also calling on humanitarian actors to invest in policies that place children and their protection at the centre of humanitarian action in situations of armed conflict.

We must deliver a child protection response that is equal to the challenges we face, said Russell. We need to do everything we can to reach all children in need, particularly the most vulnerable. Protection services for children must build upon existing systems and community structures, and support childrens rights, participation, and their best interests. Programmes and advocacy in these contexts must unfailingly put children and their protection at the centre of humanitarian action.

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More than 9000 children have been killed or maimed in Iraq since ... - ReliefWeb

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Hussein, stressed the importance of Japanese companies participation in the reconstruction of infrastructure in Iraq, according to a statement cited by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

The statement explained that Hussein received the Assistant Foreign Minister and Director General for Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Kansuke Nagaoka, in Baghdad, where they discussed ways to enhance bilateral ties to serve the interests of the people of both countries.

Hussein valued the Japanese role in supporting Iraqs efforts in confronting terrorism and providing humanitarian aid, the statement illustrated.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister noted that Japans stance contributes effectively to strengthening bilateral relations, the statement clarified.

Hussein expressed that Baghdad is looking forward to seeing Tokyos greater role in various fields, emphasizing the importance of the participation of Japanese companies in the reconstruction of infrastructure and providing Iraq with scientific expertise that contributes to the construction process.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister also called on Japanese investment companies to expand their activities because of the great expertise they possess in this field, indicating Iraqs openness to joint cooperation to increase the volume of trade exchange between the two countries, the statement elaborated.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister highlighted the importance of the discussions held by the two sides to complete some agreements related to the oil industries, water management and purification, the statement added.

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Iraqi FM calls on Japanese companies to take part in reconstruction - Iraqi News

To visit Kurdistan in springtime is to suckle ones soul and senses with wildflowers and fresh fruit. The land is alive with flowers: the yellow of wild mustard, the pink of bindweed, the red poppies as well as the orange blossom on the pomegranate trees.

Driving past fields of ripe wheat, with a Kurdish friend who works for the Kurdistan Regional Government, we stopped near the town of Halabja to eat mulberries straight from the trees sour black ones and sweet white ones. On the mountain side of Sitak, he barbequed masgoof, butterflied carp, which we devoured with traditional flatbread, grilled tomatoes and onions.

I spent a Friday hiking in Mergapan with Barham Salih, a Kurdish politician who previously served as the president of Iraq and whom I have known for 20 years, from my time working for the Coalition in Iraq. We crossed a low-flowing river using stepping stones and the helping hands of peshmerga guards, traversed tall grasses amid Aleppo oaks in the foothills of the mountain, and stopped frequently to photograph the views across the valley.

As we walked, our conversation focused not on the continuing saga of Iraqi politics, but on the environmental crisis afflicting the country, driven by the inter-linked phenomena of climate change and poor management of natural resources.

Addressing the environmental crisis is a passion for Barham. He noted that Iraqs population has almost doubled to 40 million since the 2003 invasion, and is expected to double again by 2050. Demographics are increasing the demand for water at a time when desertification is affecting 39% of Iraq, and 54% of agricultural lands are threatened by salination.

As president he launched the Mesopotamia Revitalisation Project, an environmental strategy that includes afforestation, modernising the administration of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, generating clean energy, and encouraging investment through climate finance facilities. It was an ambitious plan. He laments that there has been little progress in implementing it.

Afterwards, on the patio outside his house, we feasted on dombalan (desert truffles), farika nok (green chickpeas), palpena (purslane) in our salad and soup, kardi (wild arum), garas (green plums), and drank yoghurt with qazwan (wild pistachios). His wife, Sarbagh, is a botanist with a PhD from the University of Bath who founded the Kurdistan Botanical Foundation, which has published three books on the regions fauna and flora, identifying tens of previously unrecorded species in Iraq. The food served in their home is local and organic.

Sadly, this pastoral idyll is threatened by the increasingly unpredictable weather. Over the last few years, Iraq has experienced drought and the lowest levels of rainfall on record, with temperatures soaring to 50C, rising much faster than the global average. During the week of my visit, unseasonal thunderstorms set fields on fire near Kirkuk and flooding damaged the harvest across the north. The UN has identified Iraq as the fifth most vulnerable country in the world to climate change, with the World Bank warning that Iraq will face extreme water scarcity by 2030, and Iraqs ministry of water resources predicting a shortfall of almost 11bn cubic metres of water by 2035.

Leon McCarron, an explorer and author from Northern Ireland, recently published Wounded Tigris: A River Journey through the Cradle of Civilisation, an account of his 2021 three-month journey by boat from the source of the Tigris in Turkey, down through Iraq, to the Gulf. On his journey, he observes how the river is being destroyed by illegal gravel mines, dam construction, untreated waste and how pastoralists and farmers are being forced to leave their land.

Yet he also comes across grassroots activists working to protect the river, to revive community and heritage. This remarkable book warns of the death of a great river that might no longer flow to the Gulf by 2040 and is a call to action to prevent the birthplace of civilisation from becoming uninhabitable.

While in Sulaymaniyah, I attended a talk at the American University of Iraq on the political and economic implications of the recent oil deal between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government. Afterwards, I asked the main speaker about Iraqs progress towards net zero. He laughed.

Few political leaders have made it a priority, despite the Iraqi parliament ratifying the Paris Agreement in 2021. In its nationally determined contributions (NDC), Iraq has committed to reducing flaring at oil and gas facilities, switching from liquid fuels to natural gas, improving energy efficiency, expanding renewable energy technology, and deploying sustainable public transportation technologies. Iraq is a signatory to the global methane pledge, committing to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 15& by 2030.

However, Iraq has yet to diversify its economy. Oil exports account for around 90% of government revenues. It is the energy sector that is responsible for 75% of Iraqs total emissions. While driving around, I observed gas being flared from oil production, emitting large amounts of black carbon into the atmosphere. Despite commitments to capture and utilise the gas, the World Bank reports that Iraq flares around 17bn cubic metres of gas every year, worth around $8bn (6.4bn). And at the same time, Iraq continues to import gas from Iran.

There is also insufficient public awareness about the climate crisis, and the need to protect the environment. I was shocked at the sight of rubbish thrown in streams, piles of domestic waste left at the sides of the road, blots on a charming countryside, polluting the natural environment. Local government is not effectively disposing of waste. Littering goes unpunished. Roads are heavily congested with traffic. With public transport undeveloped, people use private vehicles.

The International Organisation for Migration reports increasing displacement in Iraq due to the combined effects of conflict, rising temperatures and environmental degradation. The Iraqi government buys wheat and barley directly from farmers at double the international prices but the area planted with irrigated crops has shrunk in order to decrease water consumption. Increasing numbers of Iraqis are moving from the countryside to the cities to find jobs, putting further strain on services. The population of the Kurdistan region has grown by nearly 30% due to the influx of Syrian refugees and Iraqis displaced from areas destroyed by Isis.

According to Azzam Alwash, Iraqs leading environmentalist and the CEO of Nature Iraq, agriculture was sustainable in Mesopotamia for centuries due to cyclical flooding that washed away the salts resulting from evaporation, fertilising the land with silt. However, in recent decades, upstream dam-building has stopped floods, and precipitation has declined significantly. Currently, 90% of the water flow in the Euphrates and 40% of the flow in the Tigris comes from Turkey; and Iran has been diverting tributaries to meet its own water needs.

Azzam has urged Iraq, Iran and Turkey to work together to reach an agreement to coordinate dam-building, rerouting of rivers and management of water resources. Azzam strongly believes that with the right policies and investments in renewable energy, in particular solar power and green hydrogen, Iraq could once again become a major food producer and breadbasket of the Middle East.

The survival of future generations in the region requires collaboration. In recognition of the fact that the region is on track for a five-degree rise in temperature by the end of the century if it goes about business as usual, the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Climate Change Initiative (EMME-CCI) was launched on November 8, 2022 at Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh. Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman and Palestine adopted a resolution to coordinate efforts on climate mitigation and adaptation, to strengthen regional cooperation, and to mainstream climate policies across all sectors. It was a moment of common sense and courage.

But rhetoric must be met by action to ensure such plans are resourced, coordinated and implemented. Given its oil, rivers, biodiversity and its central geographical location Iraq needs to lead by example, before it is too late.

Emma Sky is director of Yales International Leadership Center and author of The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq and In a Time of Monsters: Travels Through a Middle East in Revolt

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Iraq's next crisis is over the climate - The New European

A combo image shows the cat lying at the entrance of the building in Baghdad.

A man pushed a cat from the ninth floor of an apartment building in Iraq, killing the feline creature instantly.

The shocking and heartbreaking video of the animal torture by the young psychopath sparked a wave of anger in Iraq.

A number of activists on social media published the horrific video showing a cat sitting on the edge of a balcony in a tall building in Baghdad, before a young man came and pushed it from the ledge while he was filming the heinous crime. This prompted many Iraqis to demand that the authorities prosecute this "reckless" and "sick" person, and punish him for his pleasure in torturing animals.

The clip shows the videographer zoomed in to show the cat's face clearly breathing its last breath.

Activist and political analyst Shaho Al-Qara Daghi said, in a tweet on his Twitter account, "We hope for a speedy trial for this sick person who enjoys these behaviors."

It is noteworthy that Iraqi law punishes the killing of animals, as Article 482 of the Penal Code stipulates the penalty of imprisonment and a fine for killing animals.

However, these penalties are often not applied, because prosecutions do not take place in the first place except in rare cases.

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VIDEO: A 'psychopath' man throws a cat from the 9th floor of a ... - Gulf Today

The Kurdistan Regions political and economic stability has allowedit tomake significant progress indeveloping itshigher education sector since the regions autonomy was established inthe wake ofthe Iraq war in 1991 and andattained constitutional recognition as a state within federal Iraq in 2005.

The regions Ministry ofHigher Education has implemented policies toensure equal access toits 15public and 17private universities for all high school graduates. Already, 57per cent ofthe regions 252,000 undergraduates inpublic universities are female.

The progress is in part thanks to the Kurdistan Regional Government and its efforts to leverage the help of the international community. For instance, its Human Capacity Development Programme has, since 2010, provided about 4,000 scholarships to talented students from the region topursue masters and doctoral degrees at centres of excellence abroad. Returning scholars are now boosting human capital in many sectors in the Kurdistan Region, including holding senior positions in universities and playing major roles in higher education reform.

In addition, serious investments have been made in international staff and student exchange, dual-degree programmes and joint research projects, including via the European Unions Erasmus schemes. One of the most significant internationalisation projects is the Split-Site PhD Programme. Begun in 2012, this provides doctoral students at local universities with two supervisors, one local and one international. After completing their first year in the Kurdistan Region, students travel to the universities where their international supervisors are based and spend about a year there before returning home to write up their theses and to prepare for their vivas.

Another aspect of the Kurdistan Regions commitment to international standards is its decision to embrace the European Bologna Process, with a view to aligning with the European Higher Education Area. The European Credit Transfer System has been adopted, the national qualification framework has been reshaped and quality assurance standards and guidelines have been implemented. The implementation of the Bologna Process, and the accompanying boost in quality and transparency, will help student mobility and employability, as well as increase the competitiveness of Kurdistans higher education institutions globally.

Pedagogical reform has also been undertaken. Experts from Finlands Hme University of Applied Sciences have trained 51 professors, representing universities from across the Kurdistan Region, on student-centred learning and active pedagogy, introducing them to concepts such as project-, problem- and phenomenon-based learning, as well as interdisciplinary education.

The project also taught the professors how to align learning outcomes, assessment, learning environments and pedagogical practices, helping them to develop curricula to meet the needs of communities and employers. The latter aspiration has also involved a focus on entrepreneurship: how to guide students to generate and evaluate new ideas, including learning from feedback. Such processes also help to develop students critical thinking and problem-solving skills, preparing them for the workforce.

Aligning the Kurdish higher education system with the needs of the job market and economic development is a high priority. A new project, the Industry Advisory Board, aims to help universities better connect with industry and understand the requirements of the job market through regular market surveys. This will enable universities to design flexible curricula that remain relevant to the changing job market and technological advances, producing more employable graduates. Itwill also help to accelerate the development of technical and vocational education.

The regions commitment to promoting resilience, flexibility, tolerance and sustainability through inclusive, high-quality higher education will contribute to promoting amore prosperous and peaceful society that makes a positive contribution to the international community.

But the international community also needs to play a further part in realising this aspiration. In particular, the Kurdistan Region needs more help from the European Commission and European universities to implement the objectives of the Bologna Process. Assistance is most needed in capacity-building, to put the regions universities in a better position to implement the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) and to secure official registration in the European Higher Education Area.

With such support, the Kurdistan Region can serve as a successful model for the rest of Iraq.

Aram Mohamad Qadir is the minister of higher education and scientific research of the Kurdistan Regional government, Iraq. Amanj A. Saeed is a advisor to the minister.

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Bologna Process will transform Iraqs universities - Times Higher Education