Say Yes, Spring 2003: Protect Children from War

Half of Iraq’s population of twenty-five million are under the age of eighteen. The WHO in association with UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) recently estimated that as many as 30% of the infant population would be at risk of death from malnutrition in the event of another war. Although a clear picture of the impact of the fighting has yet to emerge, UNICEF is deeply concerned by the further deterioration of conditions facing Iraqi children.

UNICEF has been working to improve the situation of women and children in Iraq since 1952 and with a permanent presence in the country since 1983, has played a leading role in rights-based advocacy, education, health, nutrition, water and environmental sanitation, child protection and women’s rights.

Iraq is uniquely disadvantaged in the region. Eight years of war with Iran in the 1980’s and the Gulf War in 1991 devastated the country’s infrastructure. A combination of sanctions and poor governance has stunted the economy and, although the Oil for Food Programme passed by the Security Council in 1996 has been valuable in preventing further deterioration of the humanitarian situation, conditions for Iraqi women and children have not been greatly improved. UNICEF estimates that no more than 45% of schools were still functional before the war, for instance, and rates of child malnutrition have risen dramatically since 1991.

Prior to the recent conflict, many infants were chronically malnourished and one in eight would die before their fifth birthday: vulnerability to disease and malnutrition was a fact of life even before the fighting began. Low protein consumption means that 60% of Iraqi women suffer from iron-deficiency which causes their children to be underweight at birth.

Almost a quarter of Iraqi children are born underweight, and a similar number under the age of five are malnourished, said Carel de Rooy, the UNICEF Representative in Iraq.

That’s serious enough but war adds displacement, interruption of food and water supplies, and outbreaks of disease. Combined, these events would strike a heavy blow to a population of children who are already struggling to survive.

Even after the start of the conflict, UNICEF has more than 200 national staff still working on immunisation, nutrition and water and sanitation programmes inside Iraq. Immediately prior to the conflict, they made sure that generators were working at 73 water facilities so that water supplies would continue in the event of power cuts.

Concerned by the disruption of water supplies in the port of Basra in late March, Executive Director Carol Bellamy urged parties to the conflict to put more focus on the humanitarian impact of the war:

UNICEF is deeply troubled by the deteriorating conditions for children in the areas most impacted by military operations … There is a disturbing lack of focus on the civilian population.

When children are poorly nourished they are susceptible to disease. Disease spreads rapidly during war, when safe water supplies are disrupted, people are displaced from their homes and sources of food and medicine are compromised. When you factor in the loss of education and the psycho-social trauma, there is no question that war takes its greatest toll on children. And we should all remember that children make up half of Iraq’s population.

UNICEF staff working in the north of Iraq where schools were closed during the war ran a scheme to monitor what was happening to children during the conflict.

Happily, encouraged by rapid developments in the country, most internally displaced people have returned to their homes in the north and UNICEF estimates that numbers are down from 300,000 at the height of the conflict to as little as 3,000 as the region settles into relative stability. UNICEF continues to extend help to those in need as all schools in the governorates of Dohuk, Erbil and Suleimaniyah have reopened -- an important first step in creating a sense of normalcy in these chaotic times.

Children were at greater risk in the southern part of the country where the fighting was more intense. In Umm Qasr and elsewhere, UNICEF staff and volunteers screened children for malnutrition at Community Child Care Units (CCCUs). At the time, UNICEF spokesman Geoffrey Keele said that:

This is an extremely important development … the rejuvenation of these centres is a positive sign that the human resources needed to meet the humanitarian needs of Iraq’s children are starting to re-emerge.

Typically, many children die within the first weeks of displacement due to malnutrition and diseases such as measles, diarrhœa, respiratory infections and malaria. Keele added that:

These centres are also extremely important now because we are seeing a sharp increase in the cases of children suffering from diarrhoea which leads directly to malnutrition. By reaching these children early, we have the chance to provide them with the care they need to recover. Without the CCCUs, and in these conditions, diarrhœa can kill.

UNICEF also supported an accelerated campaign against measles since the disease spreads rapidly through displaced populations living in makeshift shelters and kills more children than any other disease. Fortunately a routine five-day UNICEF campaign to vaccinate four million Iraqi children against polio was also completed in February.

After the 1991 Gulf War, half a million Kurds fled from Iraq to Turkey. Neither Turkey nor Iran where the numbers were still greater had been expecting them and relief workers were largely unprepared. Over 1,500 people died of exposure before they could be helped. This time UNICEF, the Government, and other concerned agencies were prepared to meet the needs of a similar influx.

UNICEF Turkey set up coordination units at key locations in Diyarbakır and Silopi near the border with Northern Iraq. Plans were made for 136,000 refugees, 45% of whom were expected to be children. There was clothing for 5,000 children and babies, emergency health kits to treat 90,000 people for three months, 100 semi-winterised tents for education and psycho-social activities and enough school-in-a-box kits to help children continue their schooling. These supplies will now go to help children inside Iraq.

Simply put, war hurts children the most, says Carol Bellamy:

Children are the most vulnerable, physically and emotionally. Whatever else we feel about war, we have to recognise this fact. It’s just as true in this region (Iraq) as it is in Afghanistan, Sudan, Colombia, and dozens of other countries in conflict. The real issue is what we do to protect children in times of war.

For the latest information on the situation of women and children in Iraq, visit the Iraq Press Room at UNICEF headquarters.

UNICEF launched a US$166 million appeal to help the children of Iraq at the end of March -- make a donation now -- every little bit helps.

How do we protect our children from war when the media is saturated with violence? Read War Games in this Spring 2003 issue of Say Yes.

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