The humanitarian situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate due to the illegal seizure of territory by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its barbaric practices of terrorizing religious and ethnic minorities; murdering, torturing and raping women and children; and its summary execution of persons who do not agree with its ideology. Since January 2014 an estimated 1.8 million people have been displaced throughout the country, which represents one of the largest cases of internal displacement in the world. The United Nations estimates that the current crisis has affected nearly 900,000 children who now face severe and multiple deprivations, exposure to violence and abuse, as well as the reality of losing educational and other important developmental opportunities.
Canada is committed to addressing the education and protection needs of these vulnerable children. To this end, Minister Paradis announced Canada’s leading role and contribution of $8 million to UNICEF to support the No Lost Generation (NLG) initiative in Iraq following a meeting with Anthony Lake, Executive Director of the UNICEF. With this contribution, Canada has committed more than $36 million to address humanitarian needs in Iraq. As announced on October 6, Canada has also committed as much as $10 million for the prevention of and response to sexual violence and gender-based violence and related abuses against women and children in areas affected by the terrorist group ISIL.
The NLG initiative will reach as many as 200,000 at-risk children in Iraq, and will focus on education in emergencies, child protection and social cohesion by helping to:
Education in emergencies
- establish fully equipped prefabricated schools;
- train teachers to deliver quality education in emergency situations, including conflict-sensitive education, protection and psychosocial support, teaching in emergency contexts and classroom management;
- provide catch-up classes and other learning opportunities; and
- provide basic learning supplies to vulnerable children.
Child protection
- establish child-friendly spaces in camps for internally displaced persons;
- establish child-protection camp committees, and train committee members and protection staff to mobilize camp communities against neglect, violence, abuse and exploitation affecting the safety and well-being of children, and carry out child-protection interventions in camps;
- establish child helplines, identify cases of unaccompanied and separated children and provide them with needed assistance and services, trace unaccompanied and separated children and reunify them with their families, and provide unaccompanied and separated children with temporary care through foster care arrangements; and
- train social workers to deliver timely and appropriate social services to identified vulnerable children and their families.
Social cohesion
- implement sport, art, culture and other collective, conflict-sensitive mini-projects to promote social cohesion;
- implement micro-projects with a focus on social cohesion designed and implemented by adolescent, youth and community groups;
- establish an outreach program that uses social media, community events and household visits to maintain engagement with and participation of communities in the project;
- facilitate monthly intercommunity child-focused debates; and
- assist identified youth leaders to create a network for peer support and education.
