Iraq: Child protection in refugee camps

Three organizations work hand in hand in this project: Our sister organization Terre des Hommes-Italy has been active in northern Iraq for many years. The focus of the work is to protect, promote and form children. The Kurdish Jiyan Foundation and the German Association Trauma Aid School therapists especially for the treatment of children. They should process their traumatic experiences and find them back into a structured everyday life.

With the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Terre des Hommes takes care of around 5,000 girls and boys from four refugee camps and five communities with Erbil and Dohuk. In children's centers, the girls and boys can playfully process their trauma and experiences of violence and recharge your batteries. Since the start of the project in 2016, more than 10,000 children have used sports and leisure activities. The informal educational offers have been based on the curriculum of state schools since last year and lessons are kept in the languages ​​Kurdish, Arabic and English. Very often the parents are illiterate and cannot offer their children with no support in school tasks. They too are included in the project and informed about child and human rights and health issues. The schedule also includes peace and human rights education so that the children learn to solve conflicts peacefully. Girls and boys with severe symptoms of mental stress disorders are passed on to psychological specialists and specialized organizations. Psychological primary care and support offers our partner Jiyan Foundation in two clinics in Dohuk and Erbil as well as in the refugee camps Khanke and Hasansham. The aim is to treat mental disorders at an early stage and thus prevent them from manifesting themselves in the long term and blocking the further development of young people.

At the beginning of the project, there was hardly any offers for psychotraumatic and mental care in Dohuk and Erbil. That is why the partner organizations build a basic supply and qualify 25 psychologists trained in Iraq in trauma therapy. They help the children and young people to deal with their traumatic experiences and break through the cycle of violence. In order to achieve a sustainable improvement in the situation, local experts have to be qualified in the next step so that supply structures can expand without the help of international organizations.

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