Save the Children is pleased to welcome the Government of Canada’s $26.7 million funding announcement to improve the livelihoods of women and girls in Iraq. With nearly 60 per cent of the population under the age of 25 years old, Save the Children believes adolescents and children are crucial to sustainable peace, including the rebuilding and stabilization process in the country. This funding will help in the essential first steps in putting Iraq and the region on a successful trajectory.
“Having funding specifically for women and girls to access sexual and reproductive health and economic empowerment tools – like small business grants – will help give them a strong voice in Iraq’s rebuilding process,” said Save the Children President and CEO, Bill Chambers. “Canada’s focus on women and girls aligns with Save the Children’s commitment to gender equality and female education in the over 120 countries we work in worldwide.”
The federal funding is also working to remove improvised explosive devices in public buildings, like hospitals and schools. This addresses Save the Children’s recent call to action for the government to invest in the safety of children and youth, including through initiatives to ensure schools are safe for children.
“In areas like Mosul, children tell us they no longer feel their schools are a safe space. They’ve seen their classrooms turned into battlegrounds, and their friends killed before their eyes. Addressing the safety of physical school structures is a crucial step in supporting the safety of Iraq’s girls and boys, and goes some way in addressing mental health needs at a time when consistent and pervasive fear is crippling their recovery,” said Chambers who visited a refugee camp in Iraq earlier this year.
Save the Children is also calling for future government contributions to include dedicated support for the mental health needs of children in Iraq as the country works to heal the invisible wounds of war. Save the Children recently published a report on the mental health of children in Mosul titled Picking up the Pieces, which showed an alarming rate of poor mental health among youth in the city.
As a Canadian aid agency operating in Iraq, Save the Children stands ready for continued collaboration with the Government of Canada in its response to the stabilization and rebuilding of the country, including future efforts to support the recovery of the country’s sizable child and youth population.
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For additional information or interviews, please contact: Mai Habib on 416-221-5501, ext 238 or email mhabib@savethechildren.ca
Notes to Editors
About Save the Children: Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children, delivering programs and improving children’s lives in more than 120 countries worldwide. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. We believe that all children have the right to survive, learn, and be protected, and we will do whatever it takes to reach every last child. Our programs reached more than 157 million children in 2016. Learn more here: www.savethechildren.ca or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @savechildrencanada
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About Save the Children
Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In Canada and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.