The War on Children in Iraq

"The Education system in Iraq, prior to 1991, was one of the best in the region, with over 100% Gross Enrolment Rate for primary schooling and high levels of literacy, both of men and women. The Higher Education, especially the scientific and technological institutions, were of an international standard, staffed by high quality personnel". (UNESCO Fact Sheet, 28 March 2003)

Iraq’s education system is a victim of Occupation-instigated violence. School dropouts are very high, particularly girls,as a result of violence and kidnappings. Schools in Iraqi cities and towns have been closed, preventing hundreds of children from receiving basic education. "Approximately 50 percent of children are not going to school because their parents are too scared to send them, having heard these stories about children being kidnapped and held for ransom", says Paul Hetherington,a spokesman for Save the Children UK,


Malnutrition amongst Iraqi children has doubled from 4 per cent in 2002 to 8 per cent since the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. The Occupation and associated violence is wreaking havoc on Iraqi children and Iraq's long-term future.

A new study by the UN University (UNU) International Leadership Institute in Jordan shows that: "'The devastation of the Iraqi system of higher education has been overlooked amid other cataclysmic war results but represents an important consequence of the conflicts, economic sanctions, and ongoing turmoil in Iraq" caused by U.S. militaristic policy.

Furthermore, "some 84 percent of Iraq's institutions of higher education have been burnt, looted, or destroyed. Some 2,000 laboratories need to be re-equipped and 30,000 computers need to be procured and installed nationwide, said Jairam Reddy, director of UNU.

The most urgent actions needed in Iraq today are the end of U.S. violence and the revitalisation of Iraq’s education and health systems. "Repairing Iraq's higher education system is in many ways a prerequisite to the long term repair of the country as a whole", said Jairam Reddy of UNU.