Session has started. Please join us with your questions.
Answer
-
Name
Claire
-
Profession
Question
I feel so much for the children of Iraq and want to help so much, so my question is: How can one (in th UK) help the children in Iraq?
Answer
Thank you. In fact, many efforts can be carried out.
First, we need to make our complaints heard to the world, and we need people understand the gloomy situation we are living in. We also need expert help.
I have asked some psychiatrists and other British NGOs to offer sponsorships for training Iraqi doctors in child psychiatry; and, also, we need training in crisis intervention. We need, in Iraq, so many specialized teams to offer psychological support at school and community level. Traumatization is ongoing daily, and nothing is offered to the truamatized kids. More and more casualties (psychological) emerge, and all those need some kind of care; but Iraq is just deprived of expert and technical support.
So our colleagues and friends in the UK can offer a lot. We keep on asking for such help; we get allot of promises;
but little is really provided.
And I may add that not only psychosocial support is needed, but we lack other things that kids are in a great need of. We lost a lot with the departure of international NGOs and, in particular, the UNICEF, as they should participate in helping in the process of refurbishing the infrastructure of the primary schools and the trainig of teachers - curriculum wise.
Also, we lost the ambitious program of the UNICEF "Back to Play Safe to Play" that was supposed to be implemented nation-wide in primary schools.
Name
Mohannad
- Bangladesh
Profession
Student
Question
Assalamo-Alikom. I am Mohannad from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Do you have any statistics or data of how many children died and are still dying due to the invasion of Uncivilized Crusaders. Are you preparing any documents to show in World forum?
Answer
I am so sorry to tell you that the current situation did not permit doing such statistical calculations of the number of casualties and the number of traumatized children. But all hospitals in Iraq maintain a record of casualties.
There was an NGO that was concerned for the assessment process of the psychosocial well-being, and, as far as I can recall, it was named Intersos agency. They worked hard for a few months last year to calculate the number of casualties and further assessments. But the left the job unfinished, as their work was sponsored by the UNICEF, which is why they were later obliged to leave after the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad last August...
WHO has announced that more than 50% of the Iraqi population are below the age of 15. If we take the average international statistics of the incidence of psychological morbidities after such crises, we will face hundereds of thousands of kids who need psychosocial care.
I shall remind you that the decade-long devastating sanctions and the last war
have left the country with a handicapped infrastructure, which is affecting the welfare of children.
No matter how many casualties we have now we do have a real, ongoing humanitarian catastrophe now.
The traumatization, the killing, is ongoing ,and during the past few hours the process of mass killing has been taking place.
Injured mothers and kids have no way to go to... in Falluja, Sadar city, Adamia, Karbla and Najaf.
Mothers and children who were injured are just left unattended with very limited resources to help them. What is worse is that the invaders do not allow ambulances to reach the victims.
That is what is going on now.
So, it does not matter a lot how many casualtes we are having now as the media can witness the massacre day by day.
Name
Samera
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
Assalamu alaikum,
As a Speech and Language Therapist, i occasionally come across children whose families have fled from persecution in their home countries. As a consequence children can have language disorders, delays, social communication problems etc. What help are the Iraqi children getting in terms of Speech and Language remediation, if any? And if they are not receiving intervention, what plans are there for the future for them to access such services?
Jazakallah Khair
Answer
None of the above mentiond therapies.
we are deprived of the bread and butter in our current situation and it will take some time to reach the level when we will be capable to offer such kind of therapies...
And I may add that we used to have a center for childrn who have difficulties in language and articulation; we had speech therapists, but most of them found their way outside the country, looking for more stable lives. And that center was ruined and looted during the crisis last year.
So now, are left deprived of such a facility.
We have promises from many NGOs to establish psychosocial wellness centers. We had a local NGO called Childhood Voices which established child-friendly space centers for the local district children. They have psychological support and lessons in language, games, sport, music and computer. They have play therapy sessions, with local experts participating to offer the best they can, but all that is just very very limited in magnitude.
Name
Ahmed
- Iraq
Profession
Question
The Iraqi children and women are being killed in Falujjah(by F15 , F16 and tanks) ...
Over 70 ( only children and women ) in Falujjah alone.
pease make Dua'a for us in Ramady and Falujjah ...
we don't have food ,water nor anything.
we only have faith in ALLAH
But we are fighting FOR THE ISLAM AND FOR ALLAH
Please make Dua'a for us.
Answer
What a catsrophe... What is going on in Falluja and Ramadi reminds me of what the grand fathers of those killers did to the Red Indians...
They are just merciless criminals who kill in cold blood.
And what kind of remedy do we have to face such "mad killing machines" but to Ask Allah to help us as he helped the earlier Muslims who fought for their religion and land and fought to make the word of Allah the superior... then we have to ask Allaah to help us and give us faith and patience.
I sent a cry for help yesterday to many agencies and friends around the world.
But the Global apathy we are facing has reached the point that is making me feel helpless but from the Mercy of Allah.
Name
Ainon
- Malaysia
Profession
Teacher
Question
I read that they are many orphans in Iraq due to this horrific war. Where are they placed? I hope they are not roaming the city looking for food and shelter. What contribution do you need from us, I would love to help in any way.
Answer
Thanks for your kind feelings.
We have many street children who are just homeless, and also many NGOs were concerned about them. But what has been offered so far is very little compared to the magnitude of the problem.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is trying and doing a humble effort, but all that is just very, very little, and only offered to the very central villages and cities.
Many children who are now homeless and parentless in distant villages in the south of Iraq and in the north, in Kurdstan of Iraq, are not living normal lives, just struggling to live; and many children were obliged to work in hostile, unhealthy situations. And other children were raped, and some were taking drugs and are of delinquent behavior, joining gang bangs and child prostitution, which is a well-known phenomenon in our Iraq after the war.
Name
maha
-
Profession
Question
The subject of your session is "The Silent Victims." So are they actually SILENT victims? Or, how do ther react? we see the Palastinian children with their stones acting as goasts to the Israeli army - so what is the situation for the Iraqi children?
Answer
Silent victims... yes they are.
Probably the coalition forces are even more brutal and aggressive than the Israelis.
I want to remind you that they bombed Baghdad and other cities day and night with all the newly invented kinds of bombs, and they were doing their bombing particularly during the night to make more harm to the psychology of children, and we have many handicapped childen, who have learning disabilities, and who are reluctant to join their schools, and who never enjoy playing.
Our case different from that of the Plastenian children. The previous regieme was also brutal to the children. I can mention the abuse of children during the sanctions. Children were just deprived and humiliated, not only by their families, but, what is worse, by their teachers who did not fulfil their role.
Yet, we have children who are really heroes, heroes who lost their fathers and are now working just to support the family. Others are living beyond their age, struggling to live.
Jihad has been long announced against the Israelis. Many Iraqis are willing to fight and resist, even the children -
a request today to all faithful and sincere Iraqis is to resist the occupation as far as they can, as what the killers are committing in Falluja and other parts of Iraq is an unforgivable sin. One day We will sue them. If that chance does not come, Allah will punish them. We ask Allah to help us resist the occupation and to punish them for their unforgivable crimes against humanity and the children of Iraq.
Name
Samera
-
Profession
Question
How would one go about helping a programme such as Childhood Voices? Would funding and sharing resources be useful?
Answer
In fact, funding can be one of the ways, but indeed we are in need of technical suport and experts who can offer specific kinds of care. That will help to establish a new paradigm in psychosociial services.
We are in a desperate need to create a psychosocial refferal system to help the parents and teachers detect traumatized children early, then offer them necessary help wherever they are.
So there is a need for training programs for teachers and counselors.
We can lay the corner stone of this refferal system.
And I like to extend my invitation to all Iraqis who lived outside Iraq to help their homeland. And I like to ask experts and Iraqi psychiatrists to help the Iraqi children who need their technical and clinical expertise and support.
Name
Concerned_Muslim
-
Profession
Question
Asalamalikum sir,
How will the terror of Occupation and the other consequences of this war against Iraq be removed from the minds and eyes of Iraqi children? Like, how would it be possible for them to recover from this most horrible ordeal-- is a sustainable recovery even possible?
Are the psychiatrists, doctors, and counselors available to help in such a recovery? And what role should Islam play in all this... I mean, shouldn't the Masjids of Iraq get involved and help facilitate a new beginning for these kids once the war is truly over and the Occupation of the country finished?
Lastly, what is your personal feeling on all that has happened to the Iraqi children, are they devestated, holding up... or just totally disillusioned?
Answer
In fact we had an ambitious program for the traumatized children and we worked hard to make a start, on a nation-wide level. It was the PTSD program for Iraqi children. We thought that the religious clerks can play an important role in that process. Faith can help a lot and religious clerks and leaders can help people overcome the stigmatisation of the psychological ailment. So we had arranged a series of lectures to religious leaders and tribal men. We thought they can play an important role in our program and we had many sessions and workshops for teachers and counselors who worked in the Ministry of Education, to help them with their new role. We thought the teachers can gain expertise and play the role of therapists. So we can sought help through the schools and mosques. But... I am sorry to tell that we were able to work just for six weeks, then our program was brought to a standstill by the American advisor of the Ministry of Health. They simply cut off the budget and stopped the spending.
Iraq is now in a desperate need for psychosocial wellness programs that may help heal the wounds that are still going on. Yet, I shall say also that somtimes we meet very good examples of tough and brave children who adapted well, and who are doing their homework, and who attend their schools. A lot of Iraqi children showed too high a degree of adaptation that they sometimes make us revise our calculations and statistics.
Many have lived the situation of three major wars that left injuries deeply seated in their psychological make up. But, also, these had created heroes who are not afraid of death for the sake of their nation, for the sake of their faith and religious belieifs.
Name
Muhd Ferozudeen
-
Profession
Student
Question
Asslamualaikum...
Well I believe you have said earlier that Iraq needs more of technical support than fund. My question is that how could a foreigner other than an Iraqi could
contribute in this. Thanking You.
Answer
Iraq is deprived of many technical teams and experts. For example we have no child psychiatrists in the whole country. And we need to have training courses in crisis intevention.
I shall remind you that we used to live isolated from the external world for more than a decade, and that has left many doctors and otter experts lacking up-to-date knowlege. So we need to get in touch with the modern world through training courses and workshops.
Name
Abdul Salam
- India
Profession
Question
Given the current circumstances, what future do you expect for Iraqi children?
Answer
The current situation is just bad for the children in many cities as you probably know that there is bombing and air raids that going on day and night, as if the anniversery of the fall of the regime is an occasion to repeat the war.
Probably only Allah knows the future of our chidren, as we are used to living in a hectic situation. Security is lost and fighting has errupted in many Iraqi cities.
The Americans did their best to ignite a civil war between Sunnis and Shi'ites, but were unsuccesful; so they move to the next phase of their plan to make this nation-wide disruption of the society... Many infrastructure installations have been exposed again to bombing and looting.
So, as if we are in a vicious circle.
But let us hope that aggression will stop soon, and peace will come, then we wll plan what we can do for the future of our traumatized children.
Name
Ted
-
Profession
Question
How has the situation changed for Iraqi children? Can you draw to us a comparision between the situation for children before the sanctions, during the sanctions, and currently, under occupatoin?
Answer
To cut a long story short, the situation is just bad. Before the sanctions there were the first and second gulf wars and much aggression which was televised and exposed on TV. Many fathers were far away in the front line. The sanctins were a kind of global deprivation and schools were in a miserable state. Teachers were underpaid and they did not fulfil their roles. That's why we have accumulated traumatization. Then, came the process of the liberation of Iraq that brought much destruction and resulted in further suffering for the children.
Name
Shakib
-
Profession
Question
As a result of the US occupation of Iraq, what ordeals are the children of Iraq facing?
Answer
I feel I have made that clear. We are facing a deadly situation. Killings are ongoing. I hope that you watch what satellite channels show.
The situation changed from a liberation proccess to invasion... then occupation. What is worse is that many Iraqis are feeling helpless.
