Children of Iraq

How You Can Help: Registry of Needs - Donate Now at

100,000 blankets/hygiene kits $5 for a blanket or hygiene kit	150 language course material packs $20 for a language course pack
15,000 primary school packs $30 for a uniform & materials pack	5 community workers for 10 months each $100 for a worker for one month
75 vocational training grants for girls $150 for a training grant	2 nurses for 10 months $500 for a nurse for one month

Situation Overview

The ongoing violence in Iraq has led to huge displacements of population, with approximately two million Iraqis moving into neighboring countries, including Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey. Iraqi children are the most vulnerable among the displaced and face an enormous challenge. With the passing of time, the hope for a peaceful childhood, stable family life, and normal education is being swept away from many of them.

Despite significant support from host governments and local communities, the situation has placed a significant strain on local resources. Many classrooms are overcrowded and Iraqi families lack resources to cover the cost of uniforms and supplies. Many Iraqi children are sent to work to supplement the parents’ low income. This places much psychological stress on parents and children, with an uncertain future.

Without international support for education for these Iraqi children, there is a danger of an emerging uneducated and alienated young generation of Iraqis living throughout the Middle East.

What This Project Does:

• Expands educational infrastructure in host countries
• Provides books and supplies
• Recruits teachers
• Provides school equipment
• Integrates school dropouts, especially girls and adolescents
• Provides community assistance to keep kids in school instead of working

Working together with UNICEF, UNHCR hopes to support the Ministries of Education in the host countries to implement several activities to enroll Iraqi children, support their families, and build mutually beneficial relationships between Iraqi youth and local children. The interventions will vary from country to country based on the context, but emphasis will be placed on expanding local educational infrastructure, providing the same books and supplies so that Iraqi children have the same resources as local children, providing school counselors and training teachers on the special psychological needs of the students, maintaining acceptable student-to-teacher ratios, equipping schools with additional materials, integrating dropout students into the education system, and providing incentives to send children to school instead of work.

The project will assist as many as 155,000 displaced Iraqi children in the following countries:

• Syrian Arab Republic 100,000
• Jordan 50,000
• Egypt 2,000
• Lebanon 1,500
• Other countries in the region 1,500