​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 children’s 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 world’s 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 children’s 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 children’s 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.”

BASRA/NAJAF, Iraq, June 5 (Reuters) - On a sun-scorched shoreline in Iraq's southern marshlands, fishermen stood shovelling a grim catch: tiny fish gathered dead from the water, fit only for use as animal fodder.
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Locals once lived self-sufficient lives in the vast freshwater areas that make up the UNESCO-recognized Iraqi Marshlands, filling their nets with varieties of fish and keeping large herds of water buffalo.

But in recent years, droughts in the rivers that feed the marshes have led them to recede and turn brackish as the nearby sea infiltrates, leading to the disappearance of fish and threatening a way of life that goes back centuries.

"The fresh water is finished," said Khamis Adel, a lifelong fishermen and indigenous Marsh Arab from Al-Khora in Basra.

"There used to be many kinds of fish but now it's all gone, due to the lack of water and salinity and the dams that were built," he said.

He stared out at the arid landscape, believed by some to be the inspiration for the Garden of Eden, but now greyish-brown, dotted with abandoned wooden skiffs and the bleached bones of water buffalo that could not withstand thirst and hunger.
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"Where do we go now?"

It's a question asked by many who once lived off Iraq's marshlands, rich waterways which gave birth to civilization in ancient Mesopotamia.

MIGRATION

Across the country, fishermen, farmers and boat-builders, among others, are giving up on lives that depend on water and are seeking jobs in urban areas, where unemployment is already high and discontent triggers frequent protests.

As of September last year, the U.N's International Organization for Migration said more than 62,000 people had been displaced across Iraq due to drought conditions over four years, a figure likely to increase as conditions worsen.

Iraqi officials and locals say the changes are driven by a perfect storm of factors - upstream damming of rivers by Turkey and Iran, mismanagement of water resources, heavy pollution of rivers and man-made climate change that has led to less rain.
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As the rivers and marshlands dry out, so too does the economy that they sustain.
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In a country where most of the economy is state-led, this means more people are seeking government jobs, putting further pressure on oil-dependent finances that the former finance minister said pay salaries to 7 million workers.

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Mohsen and Hasan Moussa are brothers who used to live off fishing the Euphrates River in Najaf, as their ancestors did.

Hasan gave up the trade years back, instead choosing to drive a taxi and sell geese for slaughter by the roadside, but is still struggling to make ends meet.

"The drought ended our future," he said.

"We have no hope, other than for a (government) job, which would be enough. Other work doesn't fulfil our needs."

His brother still tries to make a living on the river, now shallow and foul with sewage, but says the catch of up to five kg (11 pounds) a day - compared to up to 50 kg in the past - may soon drive him away.

"Now a fisherman is nothing, they are like beggars," he said, pushing his boat along the canal in humid heat.

'WE HAD EVERYTHING'

Less fishermen means less work for Naame Hasan, a boat-maker who once employed up to 10 workers to build more than a half-dozen wooden boats per month, but now toils alone at his dusty workshop, simply trying to cover his own costs.

A pencil behind his ear, he works a band-saw to sculpt tree trunks into the wooden ribs of a traditional skiff, then nails them in place.

"There used to be more demand for the boats because water levels were higher - and there was fish in the water," he said, adding he had not shifted work because he - like many working by Iraq's waterways - did not know how to do anything else.

Adel al-Batat, in his late 60s, has struggled to find work since he was initially displaced from marshlands when Iraq's former leader Saddam Hussein drained vast parts in the 1990s to flush out rebels.

Even after the 2003 U.S. invasion, when parts of the marshes were flooded again, water levels did not fully recover.

"No-one over there is used to city work," he said from his simple concrete home on the edge of the city of Basra, lamenting the need for money to buy goods when the water used to provide for him and his family.

"We had everything," he said.

BAGHDAD, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Hashim al-Musawi, a 76-year-old fisherman living on the western bank of the Tigris River in central Baghdad, feels heart-breaking when he sees that the river becomes muddy and polluted.

The old fisherman learned to fish from his father, but today fishing can hardly feed his family.
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Fish production is one of the Iraqi vital economic sectors, but it has suffered many setbacks in recent years due to climate change, water scarcity, pollution by sewage and industrial waste, as well as overfishing.

Hazim Dahmoush, head of the Fish Hatchery Department at the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, told Xinhua that water scarcity is the major problem that faces the fish-producing process in Iraq as increasing drought has led to a significant decline in the country's fisheries.

In addition, Dahmoush said that neglect of management, including fishing during the breeding season and overfishing, were also among the problems facing the fish industry in Iraq.

The Fish Hatchery Department is struggling to revive the fish stock by pouring millions of artificially-bred fish fry into water bodies, but the fingerlings are also affected by water scarcity as it requires a constant water flow.

Dahmoush spent a two-month training course in Shanghai in 2016 on fish farming and aquaculture and believes the Chinese experience in fish farming, such as using recirculating aquaculture systems, could effectively avoid the risks of deterioration of fish stocks.
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According to the UN Environment Program, Iraq ranks as the fifth most vulnerable country in the world to climate change.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, UN special envoy for Iraq, warned in her briefing to the UN Security Council on May 18 that water represents the most critical climate emergency for Iraq.
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"By 2035, it is estimated that Iraq will have the capacity to meet only 15 percent of its water demands. 90 percent of Iraq's rivers are polluted, and seven million people are currently suffering from reduced access to water," she stressed.

Iraq heavily relies on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which originate in Türkiye, to fulfill its water needs, while the water levels in the twin rivers have declined significantly over the past years as a result of drought, the construction of dams, and the diversion of water upstream, according to Iraqi officials.

Hatem Faisal al-Jubouri, deputy director general of the Directorate of Animal Resources of Iraq's Ministry of Agriculture, told Xinhua that "the fisheries sector suffered from great neglect in the previous period, from the draining of the marshes and the migration of fish breeders, in addition to the cutting of rivers by neighboring countries, which led to a shortage of fish production."

For thousands of years, the fresh waters of Iraq's rivers, lakes, and marshes have provided a home to a variety of fish. Some are so delicious, such as Binni, Shabbat (Carp), Kattan, Zubaidi, and Mangar, which top the menu of national dishes.
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However, al-Jubouri said that water scarcity, overfishing, and pollution have pushed many types of fish to the edge of extinction, especially those that Iraqis traditionally desire, prompting his directorate to establish several fish hatcheries across the country.

The Middle East and North Africa is one of the most water-scarce regions of the world. Already plagued by a lack of freshwater resources, it also faces climate change, population growth and poor management, which threaten to affect the lives of millions.

The National’s correspondents across the region spoke to the people most affected to understand the extent of the issue and where hope for change may lie.

Farmer Saadoon Abdul-Sahib Jabr has been in the agriculture business for decades.

In that time, he has seen it all, from droughts and heavy rains to failed crops and deteriorating soil quality.

But these past few months, he said, have been particularly challenging.
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Mr Jabr, 58, inherited 1,000 dunams — or 247 acres — of land from his father in the town of Al Maimouna, in Maysan province south of Baghdad. He planted 80 dunams with wheat and barley.

​This year’s season for winter grains, beginning around October and ending as late as May, got off to a very rough start for farmers, with little rain and dwindling water levels in the rivers.

“The situation was very tough,” said Mr Jabr. “The drought this year was the most severe one.”

Known in ancient times as Mesopotamia or the Land Between the Two Rivers, Iraq is said to have been the site of the biblical Garden of Eden.

Today, the UN classifies the oil-rich nation as the fifth most vulnerable country in the world to climate change. Its severe water crisis has been gradually worsening for decades, negatively affected by climate change, mismanagement and pollution.
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Iraq’s two main sources of water, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which account for more than 90 per cent of the country’s freshwater reserves, have significantly declined over the years. Construction of dams and diversion of water upstream in Turkey and Iran has exacerbated the situation, leaving downstream nations like Iraq with less water.

Moreover, decades of war and conflict have damaged or completely destroyed the country's infrastructure, leading to water losses and inefficient distribution.

Salinisation of soil due to the use of salt-rich irrigation water and poor drainage is another issue affecting the productivity of the land, causing lower crop yields and food insecurity.

Millions of Iraqis have difficulty finding safe water, including more than seven million children, according to Unicef.

One of the most affected sectors by water scarcity in Iraq is agriculture, which is the main source of livelihood for at least a third of Iraqis, or 14 million of the nation’s 44 million population.

Among them is Mr Jabr, who has seven children to support.

“At some point it was impossible to pump water from the Al Btaira river, a tributary from the Tigris, for irrigation,” he said.

A few months into the winter season, he began to lose hope that he would be able to harvest anything. Just as he reconciled himself with the losses, the skies opened and rain poured down.

“It was really terrible this season, but God saved us,” he said.

Unlike previous winters, this season there has been moderate to heavy rain, including at least three storms in March.
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As a result, farmers are anticipating an “abundant harvest” of wheat this season, with Minister of Water and Resources Aoun Diab telling state TV that the planting area would be expanded to 6.5 million dunams from the previously planned 2.5 million. Each season, the ministry limits how much land can cultivated based on the availability of water.
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“We are happy with these results, but despite this, what worries me is the upcoming summer,” said Mr Diab.

“There are big challenges ahead of us in summer when the temperature and evaporation increase and that may force us to reconsider the agriculture needs and focus on securing water for humans,” he said.

To alleviate acute water shortages, Turkey began increasing the water flow to the Tigris in April for a month. It agreed to release 1,500 cubic metres per second, doubling the previous amount, according to Iraq’s Water Resources Ministry.

Over the past few years, drought has forced farmers to turn to underground wells, many of which are rapidly getting depleted. Many have abandoned their professions all together, moving to cities instead.

But the lack of water affects almost everyone in Iraq.

Many people have to walk long distances to get safe drinking water, while others have to rely on unclean sources of water, leading to waterborne diseases and health problems. A lack of proper sanitation facilities contributes to the spread of diseases.

Iraq's rivers and streams have also been contaminated with industrial waste, untreated sewage and agricultural run-off, adding to health and environmental threats.

Essa Al Fayadh, general director of the Environment Ministry’s Technical Department, said the pollution level at the rivers is currently at 90 per cent, mainly due to sewage water.

In March, Deputy Environment Minister Jassim Al Falahi said millions of different types of pollutants were being discharged into the rivers every day.

State-run institutions, particularly municipalities and the health ministry, account for 95 per cent of the waste, he said.

In Al Maimouna, a big pipeline discharges thousands of litres of sewage into Al Btaira river every day.
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“As the sewage is discharged from the pipeline it forms a large, brown plum that spreads across the surface of the water,” said Mr Jabr, whose family sometimes has to buy bottled water because the tap water is unsafe. “The smell is overpowering and the river itself becomes murky and opaque”.

“We have been waiting for the authorities to divert the sewage away from the river, but every year they say don't have enough money for the project,” he added.

The Parliamentary Committee on "Agriculture, Water, and Marshes" acknowledged on Sunday that more than 90% of water resources are wasted due to outdated and incorrect irrigation methods.

More than 90% of the water entering Iraq for agriculture is wasted due to the use of these outdated and incorrect methods in irrigating agricultural lands.

The reasons for the water scarcity in Iraq can be summarized in several factors, including the scarcity of water quotas released by the source countries (Turkey and Iran), in addition to the lack of rainfall and poor distribution of water quotas across the provinces of the country in the correct manner, and a lot of water is wasted in old irrigation processes, amid governmental failure to find radical solutions to the pressing water crisis."

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​David Miliband has said his support for the invasion of Iraq is “one of the deepest regrets” from his time in politics.

The former foreign secretary also said the 2003 war and the period around it have caused “real damage” to western claims to stand up for core values of international order and justice.

“I voted for the war. I supported the government’s position,” he told an audience at the Hay festival in Wales. “There’s no question in my mind about quite how serious a mistake that was.”
Miliband – who was in conversation with David Runciman and Helen Thompson for an event presented in partnership with the London Review of Books – went on to describe the war as “a strategic mistake”, partly because of “the global lesson that it allowed to be taught”.

“I don’t believe, myself, that it excuses what’s happened subsequently in Ukraine,” he said, but agreed that some may see the west as being hypocritical in its anti-Russia stance. “I think it’s a very, very serious point.”

Miliband said he worried a lot about the way he saw the world as being divided. “Ukraine has united the west, but it’s divided the west and wider parts of the world,” he said. Countries representing more than 50% of the global population have refused to back the condemnation of Russia, despite the fact they understand that “a grotesque abuse of international law” has taken place.

While just five countries have supported Russia at the UN, “40 or 50 countries have refused to join any condemnation, not because they support the invasion of Ukraine, but they feel that the west has been guilty of hypocrisy and weakness in dealing with global problems over the last 30 years”, Miliband said.
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The chief executive of the International Rescue Committee encouraged the audience to read the speeches of Kenya’s president, William Ruto, who “talks about how the effort in Ukraine should be contrasted with the effort to tackle those other wars in other parts of the world”.
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Miliband said Ruto and others like him have made the point that “yes, Ukraine has enormous poverty and crimes against its own population, but what about Ethiopia, what about Afghanistan, what about Palestine?
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“And I think that’s what we have to take very, very seriously if we want to understand what’s the role of the west, never mind the UK, in global politics.”

Click here toIraqi activists are urging the government to pass legislation against gender-based violence, as current regulations are so weak that they allow many men to escape punishment.

The country has been rocked by a string of brutal murders, including the killing last week of a two-month-old girl by her father because of her gender.

Soon after, a woman was killed by her father for refusing to marry the man he had chosen for her.
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“Violence against women and children is increasing and this is not a new phenomenon,” Suhalia Al Assam, a women's rights activist and member of the Iraqi Women's League, told The National.

“There are many cases that have not caught the attention of the public and they are crimes that must be stopped.

“The country does not have a specific law to tackle domestic abuse.”

Iraq's criminal code outlaws violence within the family but does not specify consequences for domestic abuse, nor does it stipulate penalties for perpetrators.

“There must be no impunity. We have been demanding this for over a decade and no action has been taken. Hundreds of women have lost their lives to this issue,” Ms Al Assam said.

A draft law on domestic violence was tabled and debated in the Iraqi parliament in 2019 and 2020 but has stalled since then.

“It is devastating to see a father who killed his baby daughter because she is a female, when in reality his mother, wife, sister are all women. We have been fighting to pass this law for years,” she said.

Activists across the country believe that there are “people who are against this law, especially lawmakers, who have been blocking this from happening so they can always have power over women”, she said.

The absence of clear legislation on domestic violence allows some to get away with murder, Inas Jabbar, a member of the Iraqi Women's League, told The National.
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“Criminals in Iraq have a safe haven as there are no legal, societal or humanitarian obstacles to stop the perpetrators from committing such crimes,” Ms Jabbar said.

For years, UN agencies in Iraq have expressed their concern over the rising number of domestic violence cases, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic and the two years that followed.

The passing of the draft law will not only protect women but Iraqi society, Ms Jabbar said.

“Perpetrators must be held accountable so that these cases can be stopped,” Ms Al Assam said. She added that crimes against women must be a priority for Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani's government.

A delegation of the Iraqi women’s network visited the holy Shiite city of Najaf and discussed these issues with high-ranking religious officials this month.

“We urged them to issue a fatwa against acts that harm women and we demanded justice for those that were killed or are on the verge of losing their lives,” she said.

The delegation also held talks with the women and children’s committee in parliament.

“We wanted to highlight the voices of women in small towns and villages who are oppressed and have no voice to protect themselves,” she said.

The women's rights league believes that more must be done to create change.

“We are still waiting and we don’t think these visits and meetings are enough to stop these violent and abuse cases from happening all over the Iraqi society,” she said.

Women must also have access to essential services and protection, although much of these violent acts are suppressed due to social taboos.

A recent survey by the UN have found that about 75 per cent of Iraqi women would not report domestic violence as a crime.

As for Iraqi men, 85 per cent said they would stop female family members from reporting such crimes.
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On Tuesday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi called for expanding energy ties between Iraq and Iran.

Raisi also emphasized the need for Baghdad “fulfill its commitments” regarding gas and electricity payments owed to Tehran.

As a result of harsh US sanctions, billions in Iraqi funds owed to Tehran have been frozen as an attempt by Washington to pressure Iraq into avoiding energy cooperation with the Islamic Republic.

Iraq has paid around $1.6 billion out of the staggering debt; however, US sanctions continue to complicate matters. Due to the sanctions on Iran, Iraq is only allowed to receive Iranian energy imports and pay for them via waivers that extend up to 120 days, a policy implemented by former US president Donald Trump and kept in place by current President Joe Biden.

In March, an Iranian trade official announced that a US sanction waiver resulted in Iran receiving another $500 million from Iraq. Iran provides a third of Iraq’s electricity and gas supplies, and the two countries continue to cooperate despite the complications.

As a result of US economic hegemony, Iraq is one of the many regional countries considering the path of de-dollarization and fiscal independence from the west.
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​Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – A water lake in the Kurdistan region of Iraq astonishes people because the water color changes to several colors, such as violet, white and pink, as temperature changes.

Rare species of turtles threatened with extinction live in the lake that contains large quantities of sulfur and rare algae.

This environment prompted some people to use the lake to treat skin diseases such as allergies. 

The lake, which is called ‘Qura Ku,’ branches from the Little Zab River in Sulaymaniyah governorate in northeastern Iraq.

The depth of the lake reaches about 27 meters, while its width is about 370 meters.

Archaeologists estimate the age of the lake to be about 5,000 years and say it was formed because of natural and environmental factors.

The lake is located within ancient archaeological areas of Sulaymaniyah and is characterized by the emission of an odor resembling the smell of eggs.

A team of German scientists discovered that the lake is home to rare species of animals on the verge of extinction, such as some types of turtles, as well as very small fish and worms that are not found in other lakes.
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The Iraqi government issued a ban on 14 May outlawing the use of the US dollar for both personal and business transactions, coming as part of a growing ‘de-dollarization’ trend and an overall decline in Washington’s economic influence.

The ban was enforced on 14 May and aims to boost the use of Iraq’s local currency, the dinar.

It is also designed to reduce the gap between the official government exchange rate and the exchange rate offered by the black market, which continues to fluctuate and has resulted in price surges.

In a statement, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said: “The dinar is the national currency in Iraq. Your commitment to transact in it instead of foreign currencies boosts the country’s sovereignty and economy.”

The ministry added that anyone dealing in currencies other than the local currency would be subject to legal punishment and said that it is committed to “hold accountable anyone who attempts to undermine the Iraqi dinar and the economy.”

In order to properly enforce the ban, the Interior Ministry’s Crime Directorate has requested that traders sign agreements assuring the government that they will conduct transactions in local currency only.

According to General Hussein Al-Tamimi of the Crime Directorate, violators of these pledges will be forced to pay a fine of one million Iraqi dinars, adding that repeat offenders may be subject to prison time.

“If the violator repeats it, he will face an imprisonment penalty of up to one year plus a one-million Iraqi dinar financial fine. In case of a third violation, that penalty will be doubled, and we will have the business license turned,” the official added.

US dollars are already scarce in the country’s official markets as a result of recently imposed measures by Washington to control the movement of dollars inside Iraq. While the new government of Mohamed Shia al-Sudani has moved swiftly to contain the financial fallout, these US policies have given rise to a debate inside Iraq about the benefits of de-dollarization.

Iraqi MP and member of the Finance Committee in Iraq’s Council of Representatives, Hussein Mouanes, told The Cradle in an exclusive interview earlier this month that “Iraq has been and continues to be a slave to the US dollar … every country’s economic strength depends on the strength of its currency.”
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“It is clear that Iraq is economically dominated by the US, and our government does not truly control or have access to its own money … We believe that it is crucial to move away from the hegemony of the dollar, especially as it has become a tool to impose sanctions on countries. It is time for Iraq to rely on its local currency,” he added.