Children of Syria in Iraq News Bulletin 7 (July 28-August 12)
This fortnight saw UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador basketball star Pau Gasol (left) visit children at Domiz camp. The camp also received visits from actor Mahmoud Kabil and Germany’s Minister for Development, Dirk Neibel. World Breastfeeding week was also launched at the UNICEF Baby Hut, and Dara Shakran camp in Erbil will receive its first refugees next week. WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK World Breast Feeding Week (1 to 7 August) was launched in Domiz camp with a ceremony at the newly established Baby Hut. The hut is a centre for pregnant women and new mothers, to provide them with information and support around feeding and care for infants and young children. At the launch, UNICEF distributed 200 tee-shirts promoting breastfeeding to mothers and children. A session on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding was delivered by recently trained staff. The close proximity to UNICEF-funded immunisation services and the sexual and reproductive health clinic of MSF Switzerland assists women in Domiz Camp to receive comprehensive services for themselves and their babies. The baby huts were established with funding from Japan.
NBA STAR PAU GASOL REACHES SYRIAN REFUGEE CHILDREN By Wendy Bruere Tolin, 12, might not have known who NBA player Pau Gasol was before last week, but she has been playing basketball nearly everyday this summer at Domiz refugee camp, where she now lives in northern Iraq. Gasol, who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, and is a UNICEF Spain Goodwill Ambassador, recently visited the camp, where he met Tolin at the UNICEF-supported sport and recreational programme she attends. Gasol meets Tolin and her sister.
As well as playing basketball with the children, Gasol chatted with Tolin and her sister. Tolin told him how she fled Syria with her family seven months ago to escape the violence and bombing. She also told him she still wants to be a doctor when she grows up, even though she hasn't been to school since she left Syria.
"Kids need to be kids, they need to play, to have fun, and have people care for them," said Gasol, who spent several days in northern Iraq talking to Syrian refugees. "Kids love people coming to see them and playing with them - it makes them feel important, [and shows them] that they mean something." Gasol is involved with a number of charities, and aside from his work with Unicef visits children in hospitals in the US. He approached UNICEF in his early 20s, as he was keen to use his profile to assist children. "I love it when kids play sport and exercise - and when they play my sport I love it even more," Gasol said during visit. UNICEF Child Protection Specialist Julie Gill explained, "When children have witnessed extremely distressing events and have fled with their families for safety, and left everything they knew as their reality behind, they have very little opportunity, time, and even enthusiasm to play. [Through these activities] they can expend and release pent up frustration and stress, and forget, even for a few moments some of their worries." [continued over page] 12 August 2013
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Children of Syria in Iraq News Bulletin 7 (July 28-August 12)
‘ONE IN TEN IN SCHOOL’ - EDUCATION IN HOST COMMUNITIES A recently released UNICEF-NRC report shows roughly 90 percent of school age Syrian refugee children in non-camp settings in Iraqi Kurdistan are not attending formal education. The report, “One in Ten in School”, also flags the need to consider the ongoing education needs of 15- to 24-year-olds through activities such as vocational training. “We currently have no lives here. We live day by day and can’t make decisions. We need a solution to our lives in Iraq,” said a youth, who took part in a focus group discussion. The reasons children are out of school includes the cost transport and learning materials - this is a particular problem as refugee numbers increase and economic opportunities become more limited as a result. Language is also a major barrier to education, as most schools in Iraqi Kurdistan are taught in Kurdish, not Arabic as most Syrian children are used to. Parents in focus group discussions also voiced their frustration in seeing their children missing school. “My daughter dreams of being able to attend school, and it saddens her and me that she is unable to do so,” one mother said. “A child without education is nothing, we need our children to be occupied,” said another parent.
GERMAN FUNDING ANNOUNCED German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Dirk Niebel, visited Domiz camp on 4 August, visiting UNICEF and WFP programmes. During the visit he pledged an additional €5 million to UNICEF's Syrian response, bringing the total funding from Germany to €42 million. A major portion of this new funding is planned to support UNICEF's work in Iraq.
Minister Neibel (left) talks with Marzio Babille, UNICEF Iraq’s Country Representative.
Also on the visit was UNICEF Germany’s executive director, Christian Schneider, who saw UNICEF’s work at the camp and met child refugees (pictured right).
MAHMOUD KABIL VISITS DOMIZ CAMP UNICEF Regional Goodwill Ambassador, Egyptian actor Mahmoud Kabil, visited Domiz camp in late July. Pictured here, UNICEF Iraq’s Mohammad Basem shows him water tanks and pipes being installed in Transit 7 of Domiz camp. During his days at the camp, Kabil also met families and saw UNICEF education and recreation programmes for children.
[continued from page 1] UNICEF, with support from government and UNHCR, is running sports and recreational summer programmes at the camp, catering for 2,000 children. Child and Youth Friendly Spaces, as well as two playgrounds, provide activities and recreation for hundreds more. Gasol said he was encouraged by the resilience he saw in the Syrian people he met, despite the extremely challenging situations they now lived in. He said many of the families he met "had to leave [Syria] due to war and insecurity, without knowing what they would find here."
For more information: Jaya Murthy, jmurthy@unicef.org Salam Abdulmunem, sabdulmunem@unicef.org
He observed that work was still needed, as the camp is not yet ready for the numbers of people living there - the design is for around 25,000 people, and more than 45,000 refugees currently shelter at Domiz - but that progress appeared "huge".
Wendy Bruere, wbruere@unicef.org
"I'm impressed by the government, UN and NGOs that have worked to put this camp together," Gasol said.
unicef.org/iraq/ facebook.com/unicefiraq
12 August 2013
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