UN: More Than 4 Million Iraqi Children Need Assistance

Wars in Iraq have left more than four million children in need for humanitarian assistance, the United Nations said as the population struggles to recover from a three-year war against the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group.

“Children in Iraq are paying the heaviest price for an adults’ war—+4 million children need assistance,” the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said, Iraqi News reported.

“UNICEF will continue to work closely with the Iraqi people, government and partners,” it said, adding that Geert Cappelaere, Regional Director for UNICEF in the Middle East and North Africa, will visit Iraq this week.

Iraq’s war against IS militants since 2014 has rendered millions of Iraqis homeless, including children. Many were forced to flee to refugee camps or neighboring countries. Refugees have endured difficult living conditions both at their militants-occupied regions and at refugee camps, with stinging medicine and food shortages reported.

Iraq declared victory over the IS last December, marking and end to the group’s self-proclaimed “caliphate” announced from Mosul in 2014. It had declared plans to repatriate displaced civilians by the end of 2017, but according to officials, half of those have yet to be returned to their home areas.