War Child Blog

Iraq Appeal launch

admin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:15:31 +0100

The humanitarian crisis in Iraq is escalating and it's hitting children hardest. Their childhoods are being stripped away from them. Many children have lost a parent or have to flee the communities that have supported them and so are forced to survive and help their families by working on the streets, undertaking hazardous work.

As the last remaining international child protection agency in southern Iraq War Child is determined to continue its work helping children and their families. To do this we urgently need your help to raise £1.5 million

War Child works with children living and working on the streets. Children who have been forced into prostitution and drugs or who make a living by collecting and selling rubbish or unexploded mines. Children who feel that there is no escape and no future.

We provide practical training and grants to children and their families so they can set up businesses and find employment. With the money they make they can afford access to food, healthcare and education. With your help we can expand our programme and reach even more children.

Find out more

Iraqi children being trained by terrorists

admin — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:24:01 +0000

The US military has released footage it claims shows children being trained as Al Qaeda terrorists. There have been reports of children being used as human shields in Iraq before but this is one of the first times we have seen any evidence that children may become directly involved in the insurgency. The video shows children wearing balaclavas, holding weapons and learning how to take hostages and storm buildings. In one particularly disturbing section children are shown making a mock announcement about the killing of a hostage.

Regardless of whether these videos are a reflection of a change in tactics or part of a propaganda campaign it is clear that Iraqi children are at extreme risk. With access to education and other basic services severely restricted it is hardly surprising that children (and their parents) are vulnerable to radicalisation.

Yet despite all the evidence that the social and psychological effects of war on children are creating a long term obstacle to the progress of peace in Iraq humanitarian funding is still extremely thin on the ground. But without investment from major funding bodies like the United Nations and European Union it remains almost impossible for the kind of projets Iraq children need to succeed.

This lack of funding has prompted us to start our own Iraq Appeal which aims to raise £1.5m for our work with Iraqi children over the coming years. This alone will not resolve the serious issues facing Iraqi children however. For that we will need internatational governments and decision makers to face up to the realities on the ground.

There's higher quality video (and some good analysis) on BBC News.

Iraqi funding and refugees at risk in Jordan

admin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:28:52 +0000

Acting as home to international donor organisations and Iraqi refugees alike, Jordan has become a major outpost of a war that continues to claim lives daily. Our Deputy Programmes Director met with both on her snowy trip to the country.

A slew of rain, sleet and slurry in England preceded my trip to Jordan last month. Dreaming of balmier climes and desperate to escape gloomy, abstemious London in January, I packed my spring wardrobe and sunglasses and boarded a flight to Amman. I did a double-take when I noticed my air carrier (British Midland? Don’t they just fly to Birmingham?) and did wonder if I’d end up stranded at Brumland’s spaghetti junction. Not quite Petra, eh?

I was heading to Jordan to meet with donors to try to raise awareness of War Child’s work in Iraq. A deteriorating security situation has meant that most international agencies have pulled out of southern Iraq – in fact, War Child is currently the only child protection agency operating in the south of the Country. Donors now conduct all Iraq programming from the safer strategic position of Jordan. I knew I had a Herculean task ahead – international donor funding towards NGOs working in Iraq with marginalised groups of children is about as easy to come by as Lord Lucan and many donors are increasingly channelling their funding through the Iraqi state. No bad thing, you may say? Well, what if the nascent Iraqi state is struggling to spend this money effectively; if corruption impedes the delivery of humanitarian objectives; and if the state priorities don’t correspond to the needs of children and their families?

Most of my meetings were aborted due to heavy snow. Yes, snow. Most donors closed their offices and the streets were eerily deserted. Unable to get an earlier flight back to the UK, I had plenty of time to observe Jordan itself. Surprisingly for a country with a Queen (Rania Al Abdullah) who is such an outspoken advocate of women’s rights, women are scarcely visible in public life. Outside of the extremely impressive women working at the donor agencies we met with, women in Jordan were rarely to be seen. Traditionally female-dominated jobs such as cleaning and waiting tables are held by men and men alone. Even at Amman’s biggest mall, which is full of women’s fashion stores, a mere 10% of customers were women.

Is it fair to say that Jordan’s liberal credentials lie elsewhere? After all, thousands of Iraqi refugees have found refuge in the country. I met a couple of Iraqis in Amman who fled their homeland after receiving death and kidnap threats. But how is life for them now? Some bemoan their inability to acquire official refugee status, and obtaining a work permit for Jordan can be prohibitively expensive. The ripple effects of the insecurity in Iraq are complex and fascinating. I look forward to returning to Jordan (in the heat, this time) to find out more.