Violence denies millions of Iraqi children access to education: UNICEF

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Friday said close to two million children in Iraq were out of school as the academic year in the conflict-stricken country concluded this week.

UNICEF said continuing violence had negatively impacted children's access to education. Nearly one million children remain displaced, 70 percent of whom have already lost an entire year of school.

More than 5,300 schools across the country -- almost one in five -- cannot be used as learning centers because they have been destroyed, damaged, converted to shelter for displaced families or used for military purposes by parties to the conflict.

Meanwhile, in the past year alone, 67 attacks on schools and education personnel were reported. In northern Iraq, nearly 14,000 teachers have been forced to flee violence.

"The impact of conflict, violence and displacement on education in Iraq is nothing short of devastating," said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF's representative in Iraq.

He noted that large numbers of children in host communities, displaced from their homes, as well as refugee children from Syria, continued to experience significant disruptions to their education, putting Iraq at risk of losing an entire generation to conflict.

UNICEF warned an additional 1.2 million children were at risk of dropping out.

In order to continue responding to children's needs in education, UNICEF requires 68 million U.S. dollars by the end of the year, of which 12 million U.S. dollars are needed immediately. Endit