By NNN-KUNA,
Baghdad : The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy said Friday the Iraqi children bore the brunt of the ongoing violence in their county.
Large numbers of Iraqi schoolchildren dropped out and some of them are being recruited by armed groups or arrested by security forces, Coomaraswamy said in a report issued by the UN mission here.
Most of Iraqi children lack the basic services and showed symptoms of psychological disorder due to the daily acts of violence, according to the report. The rate of racial violence rose in the restive country to unacceptable levels, she asserted.Coomaraswamy appealed to political, military and religious leaders of Iraq to work hard to bring dropouts back to school and spare them the trouble of falling prey to armed activity.
Only 50 percent of children in Iraq pursue schooling compared to 80 percent in 2005 which reflect a sharp decline.Forty percent of the children have access to clean water which raises the alarm for impending epidemics such as cholera, she warned.
Meanwhile, a growing number of children were recruited by armed groups to launch suicide attacks and up to 1,500 teenagers are jailed for involvement in violent activities. Coomaraswamy blamed “several obstacles” for preventing the humanitarian relief materials from reaching children in various parts of Iraq.
Children account for half of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people who face huge difficulties in their daily lives in Iraq’s neighboring countries and inside Iraq, the UN senior official underscored.She also urged the parties of the conflict in Iraq to commit themselves to the internationally-recognized humanitarian standards and do their best to protect children and release all detainees under 18 years of age.