Children in the Iraqi Media:The Reporting of Iraqi Children's Issues and Rights

January 8 – 14, 2012

UNICEF in the Iraqi Media: 28 schools for Accelerated Learning Program in Salahuddin

UN in the Iraqi Media: Kurdistan Health Ministry to take precautions against avian influenza Migration Ministry prepares a plan for the displaced who refused to return to their original places Sweden tops the list of European countries in the number of Iraqi refugees

Children in the Iraqi Media: Ministry of Trade reveals the allocation of four trillion IQD to support the ration card MoE announces new projects to get rid of mud and dilapidated schools MoE: the construction of 700 computer labs in Iraq in 5 years Early marriage and the disruption of the Compulsory Education Law motivate school dropout in Iraq Falluja Babies: Under a New Kind of Siege MoH: the BCG vaccine is available for children at 100% Ministry of Health to build 10 hospitals in Iraq Ministry of Municipalities begins implementation of water project in Mahaweel Wasit opens a complex of drinking water at a cost of 576 million IQD Baghdad Mayoralty plans to open the largest project for recycling waste during 2012 Dead and wounded women and children in a suicide attack west of Basra A body of a child killed by hanging found in Kut A man and a child injured in blast north of Baquba A body of a child stabbed with a sharp tool found in north of Baquba Three children of al-Sahwa leader injured in attack on his house in Diyala Three boys killed by a roadside bomb southern Tikrit Violence against women falling claims Ministry Women's affairs under discussion in Erbil conference Iraqi aid to refugees in Iran

All media reports are categorized by key children’s issues within the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) MDG 1Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger

Poverty

Ministry of Trade reveals the allocation of four trillion IQD to support the ration cardBaghdad – Voice of Iraq News, Sumaria News Site, Bayyna Al-Jadidah Newspaper, Sawa Radio, & Hurria, Forat TVs, Jan. 9Trade Minister, Khairallah Hassan Babekir said in a statement, the Economic and Financial Committees in the Council of Ministers and House of Representatives allocated four trillion IQD to the Ministry of Trade to buy the ration card items within the budget of 2012, pointing out that the ministry will start to import the ration card items once the budget approved by Parliament.

Babekir added that the ministry's plan this year is to provide the ration card items through the purchase of food from the origin directly without the intervention of the mediator, indicating that more

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than 32 million people registered within the system of supply.Link: http://www.sotaliraq.com/mobile-news.php?id=38085#axzz1ixKicMdBhttp://www.alsumarianews.com/ar/iraq-business-news/-3-34231.htmlhttp://www.albayyna-new.com/news.php?action=view&id=5523http://www.alhurriatv.com/news/15717/http://www.alforattv.net/?show=news&action=article&id=66135

BreastfeedingNothing to report

Malnourishment (under nutrition and obesity)Nothing to report

Iodized Salt ConsumptionNothing to report

MDG 2Achieve universal primary education

School Enrolment, Attendance and Completion (pre-School, primary, intermediate and secondary)Nothing to report

Education Services (infrastructure, quality of education)

MoE announces new projects to get rid of mud and dilapidated schoolsBaghdad – Forat TV, Jan. 14The Ministry of Education announced new projects to replace mud and dilapidated schools in all parts of Iraq.

The Director of Information in the ministry, Sahar Harbi said, "The number of mud schools reached to 410 schools, 127 of which are in the provinces of (Basra, Maysan, Thi Qar, Muthanna) at a cost of 57 billion IQD have been referred to a company under the Ministry of Industry, 181 schools in the provinces of (Mosul, Kirkuk , Salahuddin, Diyala) at a cost of 125 billion IQD have been referred to another company under the Ministry of industry and 102 schools in (Baghdad Karkh, Rusafa, Wasit, Diwaniya, Babil) at a cost of 48 billion IQD have been referred to a company under the Ministry of housing and Construction.

She added: "As for replacing the dilapidated schools, 450 schools in the city centers will be replaced with new schools built in a ready-made construction way in less than a year.

Harbi continued, "The schools of steel structures have been referred to a private company guaranteed by the Bank of the North and the work will be completed within nine months”.Link: http://www.alforattv.net/?show=news&action=article&id=66452

28 schools for Accelerated Learning Program in SalahuddinTikrit – Assabah Newspaper & Ishtar, Fayhaa TVs, Jan. 9Directorate of Education in Salahuddin, in collaboration with UNICEF, began the application of the Accelerating Learning Program (ALP) in the province.

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Member of the ALP in the directorate, the supervisor Mohammed Rashid Kablan said that this project aims to teach the largest possible number of young people who have missed the opportunity to learn because of the security situation that prevailed during the past years, and those who leave school for economic reasons.

He explained that 28 schools were opened across the province to accommodate more than three thousand students have applied to study in this program.Link: http://www.alsabaah.com/ArticleShow.aspx?ID=19805http://ishtartv.com/viewarticle,40170.htmlhttp://www.alfayhaa.tv/news/govnews/73394.html?print

MoE: the construction of 700 computer labs in Iraq in 5 yearsBaghdad - Attaakhi Newspaper. Jan. 8Directorate of School Buildings revealed its plan to build 700 computer labs with the furnishings within the budget investment in Iraq in five years.

The director of School Buildings, Habib al-Shammari said 46 computer labs have been forwarded to implementation in 9 governorates (Baghdad 16, Anbar 5, Muthanna 2, Diyala 1, Thi Qar 5, Salahuddin 3, Kut 5, Mosul 6 and Wasit 3).

He pointed out that 22 labs of which have been completed (Baghdad 9, Anbar 5, Muthanna 2, Diyala 1 and Kut 5) at a cost of 70 billion IQD.Link: http://www.altaakhipress.com/printart.php?art=7750

MDG 3Eliminate gender disparity in primary education

Girls School Enrolment, Attendance and Completion (pre-School, primary, intermediate and secondary)Nothing to report

Women’s Literacy

Early marriage and the disruption of the Compulsory Education Law motivate school dropout in IraqBaghdad - Voice of Iraq News, Jan. 12Many are the children who drop out of school because of economic conditions and the long distance to school from their homes which require additional expenses for the transportation, especially in remote areas outside the cities.

One of the local studies in the city of Nasiriya, south of Baghdad, indicated that one third of the students drop out of school every year for various reasons including the economic situation, and that the drop-out is higher among girls.

Although the phenomenon of school drop-outs are not new in Iraq, but the law of compulsory education, which was known before made a limit for its aggravation.

Statistics prepared by the Ministry of Education in the past two years, confirmed the high rate of children dropping out of school in the last five years, and that this leak has caused economic losses in the sector of government free education, and according to statistics available at the ministry, the dropout rates among girls in cities are close to leak rates of males, but in remote villages the rates go

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up to 45 percent in primary school and 85 percent in secondary schools.

Drop out that was detected, based on samples of children have decided to study and then left their seats prior to the completion stages, but did not address the children who live in remote areas and were unable to enter schools.

The reasons for girls dropping out were returned mainly to early marriage, where girls leave school after the engagement a few days or weeks at the request of the groom, and to the economic situation of families who paid to force their daughters to leave the study for not being able to cover their needs.

The study found that the repeal of the compulsory military service was one of the most important causes of leakage of males in secondary school. As laws in force before the fall of the regime in April 2003 had exempted the studying students from compulsory military service, and reduce the duration to six months for university graduates and three months for graduates of higher education.

These laws prompted many young people to adhere to the study for fear of turning into fuel for wars that took place in the country in past years, but the end of the wars and the abolition of the law of compulsory service have increased the leakage of boys from schools on the contrary of girls who often drop out of school under the pressure of the family.

Some families, in demonstrations organized months ago, called for the return of the law of compulsory service to be the motive for their children to complete their studies, but other families object this procedure and see that it would encourage their children to drop out of schools, particularly the salaries of employees in the military are much better than the salaries of university graduates, as well as the army's presence in the cities and not on the border as it was in the past.Link: http://www.sotaliraq.com/iraq-news.php?id=38500#axzz1jG3jbfo7

MDG 4Reduce child mortality

Child Deaths (diseases, health-related)

Falluja Babies: Under a New Kind of SiegeFalluja – Voice of Iraq News, Iraq for All News, Mada & Mowaten Newspapers, Jan. 9While the US military has formally withdrawn from Iraq, doctors and residents of Falluja are blaming weapons like depleted uranium and white phosphorous used during two devastating US attacks on Falluja in 2004 for what are being described as "catastrophic" levels of birth defects and abnormalities.

Dr. Samira Alani, a paediatric specialist at Falluja General Hospital, has taken a personal interest in investigating an explosion of congenital abnormalities that have mushroomed in the wake of the US sieges since 2005.

"We have all kinds of defects now, ranging from congenital heart disease to severe physical abnormalities, both in numbers you cannot imagine," Alani told Al Jazeera at her office in the hospital, while showing countless photos of shocking birth defects.

As of December 21, Alani, who has worked at the hospital since 1997, told Al Jazeera she had personally logged 677 cases of birth defects since October 2009. Just eight days later when Al Jazeera visited the city on December 29, that number had already risen to 699.

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"There are not even medical terms to describe some of these conditions because we've never seen them until now," she said. "So when I describe it all I can do is describing the physical defects, but I'm unable to provide a medical term."

Most of these babies in Falluja die within 20 to 30 minutes after being born, but not all.

Four-year-old Abdul-Jaleel Mohammed was born in October 2007. His clinical diagnosis includes dilation of two heart ventricles, and a growth on his lower back that doctors have not been able to remove.

Abdul-Jaleel has trouble controlling his muscles, struggles to walk, cannot control his bladder, and weakens easily. Doctors told his father, Mohammed Jaleel Abdul-Rahim, that his son has severe nervous system problems, and could develop fluid build-up in his brain as he ages, which could prove fatal.

"This is the first instance of something like this in all our family," Rahim told Al Jazeera. "We lived in an area that was heavily bombed by the Americans in 2004, and a missile landed right in front of our home. What else could cause these health problems besides this?"

Dr. Alani told Al Jazeera that in the vast majority of cases she has documented, the family had no prior history of congenital abnormalities.

Alani showed Al Jazeera hundreds of photos of babies born with cleft palates, elongated heads, a baby born with one eye in the centre of its face, overgrown limbs, short limbs, and malformed ears, noses and spines.

She told Al Jazeera of cases of "thanatophoric dysplasia", an abnormality in bones and the thoracic cage that "render the newborn incompatible with life".

Rahim said many of his relatives that have had babies after 2004 are having problems as well.

"One of them was born and looks like a fish," Rahim said. "I also personally know of at least three other families who live near us who have these problems also."

For now, the family is worried how Abdul-Jaleel will fare in school when he is enrolled next year. Mawloud Ahmed Jassim, Abdul-Jaleel's grandfather, added, "We've seen so many miscarriages happen, and we don't know why."

"The growth on his back is so sensitive and painful for him," Rahim said. "What will happen in school?"

Jassim is angered by a lack of thorough investigations into the health crisis.

"Why is the government not investigating this," he asked. "Western media seem interested, but neither our local media nor the governments are."

In April 2011, Iraqi lawmakers debated whether the US attacks on the city constituted genocide. Resolutions that called for international prosecution, however, went nowhere.

Alani, along with Dr. Christopher Busby, a British scientist and activist who has carried out research into the risks of radioactive pollution, collected hair samples from 25 parents of families with children

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who have birth defects and sent them to a laboratory in Germany for analysis.

Alani and Busby, along with other doctors and researchers, published a study in September 2011 from data obtained by analyzing the hair samples, as well as soil and water samples from the city.

Mercury, Uranium, Bismuth and other trace elements were found.

The report's conclusion states: "Whilst caution must be exercised about ruling out other possibilities, because none of the elements found in excess are reported to cause congenital diseases and cancer except Uranium, these findings suggest the enriched Uranium exposure is either a primary cause or related to the cause of the congenital anomaly and cancer increases. Questions are thus raised about the characteristics and composition of weapons now being deployed in modern battlefields."

"As doctors, we know Mercury, Uranium and Bismuth can contribute to the development of congenital abnormalities, and we think it could be related to the use of prohibited weapons by the Americans during these battles," Alani said.

"I made this link to a coroner's inquest in the West Midlands into the death of a Gulf War One veteran... and a coroner's jury accepted my evidence," Busby told Al Jazeera.

"It's been found by a coroner's court that cancer was caused by an exposure to depleted uranium," he added, "In the last 10 years, research has emerged that has made it quite clear that uranium is one of the most dangerous substances known to man, certainly in the form that it takes when used in these wars."

In July 2010, Busby released a study that showed a 12-fold increase in childhood cancer in Falluja since the 2004 attacks. The report also showed the sex ratio had declined from normal to 86 boys to 100 girls, together with a spread of diseases indicative of genetic damage similar to but of far greater incidence than Hiroshima.

Dr. Alani visited Japan recently, where she met with Japanese doctors who study birth defect rates they believe related to radiation from the US nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

She was told birth defect incidence rates there are between 1-2 per cent. Alani's log of cases of birth defects amounts to a rate of 14.7 per cent of all babies born in Falluja, more than 14 times the rate in the affected areas of Japan.

In Babil Province in southern Iraq, the head of the Babil Cancer Centre, Dr. Sharif al-Alwachi, said cancer rates have been escalating at alarming rates since 2003, for which he blames the use of depleted uranium weapons by US forces during and following the 2003 invasion.

"The environment could be contaminated by chemical weapons and depleted uranium from the aftermath of the war on Iraq," Dr. Alwachi told Al Jazeera. "The air, soil and water are all polluted by these weapons, and as they come into contact with human beings they become poisonous. This is new to our region, and people are suffering here."

The US and UK militaries have sent mixed signals about the effects of depleted uranium, but Iraqi doctors like Alwachi and Alani, and along with researchers, blame the increasing cancer and birth defect rates on the weapon.

Abdulhaq al-Ani, author of Uranium in Iraq, has been researching the effects of depleted uranium on 6

Iraqis since 1991. He told Al Jazeera he personally measured radiation levels in the city of Karbala, as well as in Basra, and his Geiger counter was "screaming" because "the indicator went beyond the range".

Alani explained that she is the only doctor in Falluja registering cases of congenital abnormalities.

"We have no system to register all of them, so we have so many cases we are missing," she said. "Just yesterday a colleague told me of a newborn with thanatophoric dysplasia and she did not register it. I think I only know of 40-50 per cent of the cases because so many families have their babies at home and we never know of these, and other clinics are not registering them either."

The hospital where Alani does her work was constructed in the Dhubat district of Falluja in 2008. According to Alani, the district was bombed heavily during the November 2004 siege.

"There is also a primary school that was built nearby, and from that school alone three teachers developed breast cancer, and now two of them are dead," Alani said. "We get so many cases from this area, right where the hospital is."

Even with a vast amount of anecdotal evidence, the exact cause of the health crisis in Falluja is currently inconclusive without an in-depth, comprehensive study, which has yet to be carried out.

But despite lack of governmental support, and very little support from outside Iraq, Alani is determined to continue her work.

"I will not leave this subject", she told Al Jazeera. "I will not stop."Link: http://www.sotaliraq.com/iraq-news.php?id=38088#axzz1ixKicMdBhttp://iraq4allnews.dk/ShowNews.php?id=27979http://almadapaper.net/news.php?action=view&id=57211http://www.almowatennews.com/news.php?action=view&id=33422______________________________________________________________________________________Immunization

MoH: the BCG vaccine is available for children at 100%Baghdad – Nina, Mutamar, Mustakbal Al-Iraqi, Mashriq Newspapers, Forat TV & Dijla Radio, Jan. 8Ministry of Health announced the availability of the BCG vaccine for newborn children at 100 percent in all health centers and hospitals of the ministry.

The director of the General Company for Importing and Distribution of Medicines and Health Appliances at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ihsan Jaafar said there is no problem with the BCG vaccine for children and it is available to complete the schedule vaccinations as well as the existence of contracts to ensure the continued flow of the vaccine in the coming months to address the demand for it.

The ministry has imported a million doses of the finest vaccines (Japanese), in addition to the weekly shipments with the availability of other important types of vaccines.Link: http://www.ninanews.com/Arabic/News_Details.asp?ar95_VQ=FJJGLLhttp://www.almutmar.com/index.php?id=201219131http://almustakbalpaper.org/ArticleShow.aspx?ID=15832http://www.almashriqnews.com/inp/view.asp?ID=10736

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http://www.alforattv.net/index.php?show=news&action=article&id=66012http://www.radiodijla.com/cgi-bin/news/news_item.pl?id=2012-01-07%2008:26:49

MDG 5Improve maternal health

Mothers Dying at BirthNothing to report

Maternal Health Services (infrastructure, medical treatment)Nothing to report

MDG 6Combat HIV and AIDS, Malaria and other diseases

Health Services (infrastructure, medical treatment, etc.)

Ministry of Health to build 10 hospitals in IraqBaghdad - Voice of Iraq News & Mashriq, Assabah Newspapers, Jan. 10The Director of the Department of Projects in the Ministry of Health, Dhafir al-Saadi said the ministry has prepared a plan to expand health institutions in Iraq until 2014.

He added that ministry has been able to accomplish many of the projects within the investment plan and others under implementation, as it began to establish 10 hospitals of a capacity of 400 beds in Baghdad - Maysan - Basra - Karbala - Diwaniya - Thi Qar - Diyala - Najaf - Ninawa and Babil, and to establish 5 other hospitals of a capacity of 400 beds in Salahuddin, and 200 beds in Anbar, and 200 beds and 400 beds in Kirkuk, Wasit and Muthanna.

He pointed out that the ministry is studying the establishment of 5 hospitals for births and children of a capacity of 300 beds with full processing in Baghdad (Rusafa & Karkh), Thi Qar and Diyala, and two hospitals of 200 beds in Baghdad (Rusafa) and Anbar, as well as establishing 107 health centers in Baghdad and the provinces, in addition to the establishment of 10 drug stores in Baghdad and the provinces.

Saadi noted that the ministry is about to establish buildings of the accelerator for the treatment of cancer tumors in Basra, Babil, Anbar, Baghdad, Medical City Hospital, and Radiation and Nuclear Medicine Hospital with the rehabilitation and expansion of 10 health centers, 5 in Babil, 1 in Thi Qar, 4 in Karbala and the rehabilitation of warehouses in Baghdad and the provinces.Link: http://www.sotaliraq.com/iraq-news.php?id=38107#axzz1ixKicMdBhttp://www.almashriqnews.com/inp/view.asp?ID=10945http://www.alsabaah.com/ArticleShow.aspx?ID=19869

Kurdistan Health Ministry to take precautions against avian influenzaErbil – NINA, Peyamner Agencies & Mashriq, Mada Newspapers, Jan. 10The Ministry of Health of the Kurdistan Regional Government announced that it had taken several precautionary measures to prevent the spread of flu epidemic after the record of its appearance in a number of countries in the region.

The spokesman of the ministry, Dr. Khalis Qadir said, "We did not record any case in the region, whether bird flu or any other epidemic diseases, but after recording cases of bird flu in Egypt, China,

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and the Declaration of the WHO to the world about the need to take precautionary measures of these epidemics, we have taken the required procedures and preventive measures."Link: http://ninanews.com/arabic/News_Details.asp?ar95_VQ=FJJJEFhttp://www.peyamner.com/Arabic/PNAnews.aspx?nID=262340http://www.almashriqnews.com/inp/view.asp?ID=10944http://almadapaper.net/news.php?action=view&id=57286

MDG 7Ensure environmental sustainability – Safe drinking water & basic sanitation

Access to Safe Water

Ministry of Municipalities begins implementation of water project in MahaweelBabil - Voice of Iraq News, All Iraq News Agency, Mashriq Newspaper & Forat TV, Jan. 8Member of Mahaweel District Council said that the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works started to implement a water project in Mahaweel District north of Babil.

Riadh Ibrahim said yesterday that "the cost of the project has reached to 99 billion IQD, and its capacity is 10,000 cubic meters per hour."

He explained that "the project will feed areas of Mahaweel District, Jabla, Imam Townships and its villages."Link: http://www.sotaliraq.com/business.php?id=5063#axzz1iqtaLecRhttp://www.alliraqnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23646:-99-&catid=39:2011-04-08-17-26-45&Itemid=58http://www.almashriqnews.com/inp/view.asp?ID=10713http://www.alforattv.net/index.php?show=news&action=article&id=66061

Wasit opens a complex of drinking water at a cost of 576 million IQDKut – Hurria TV, Jan. 8The administration of Wasit Province announced the opening of a new complex of drinking water at a cost of 576 million IQD with a capacity of 50 cubic meters per hour.

The Director of Information in the administration, Majid al-Etabi, said the governor of Wasit Mahdi Hussein al-Zubaidi has opened, a new complex of drinking water on the road of Numaniya - Shomali to Karbala, indicating that the project which was carried out within the projects of development of the regions, cost 576,969,000 IQD, and that its production capacity reaches to 50 cubic meters per hour.

Wasit Water Department had carried out during the past year, 32 projects across the areas of the province, most of them were water complexes of 50 to 200 cubic meters per day, where the total cost of these projects reached to 27, 83,028,000 IQD, and developed a plan for the current year to implement more than 25 water projects distributed according to actual need, but the majority of which will be carried out in villages and rural areas deprived of drinking water.Link: http://www.alhurriatv.com/news/15701/______________________________________________________________________________________Access to Adequate SanitationNothing to report

Garbage Collection and Disposal

Baghdad Mayoralty plans to open the largest project for recycling waste during 20129

Baghdad - Independent Iraqi News Agency, Iraqi Media Network & Forat TV, Jan. 12Baghdad Mayoralty assured that the current year will witness the opening of the largest project for the management of the waste sector, which includes two laboratories for sorting, recycling and safely treatment and convert part of it to organic fertilizers.

The mayoralty said in a statement Wednesday that "the integrated management project of the waste sector, which includes two laboratories for sorting, recycling, waste treatment and is the largest in the Middle East, will be completed this year," adding that "this project came to improve the environmental situation in the capital Baghdad and recycling of waste and convert the right ones to organic fertilizers as well as the disposal of the remaining in modern healthy landfills that do not affect the soil or groundwater and to ensure complete protection of the environment. "

The mayoralty explained that "Afnan Turkish Company achieved advanced completion rates in the implementation of the two screening plants at a cost of 105 billion IQD, one in Karkh side and the other in Rusafa side of the capital Baghdad," noting that "every plant consists of 3 units, the first to re-sort the waste, the second for the production of compost and the third is a typical landfill cell."

It showed that "this management also consists of 9 stations in Karkh and Rusafa carried out by Akzim Turkish Company at a cost of 26 billion IQD have been completed fully in order to collect waste and composting in closed containers and then transported by specialized mechanisms to recycling of waste factory for sorting and pressing the remains to move it to the landfill sites".Link: http://www.ina-iraq.com/news/local/9090.htmlhttp://www.imn.iq/news/view.9291/http://www.alforattv.net/index.php?show=news&action=article&id=66358

Child ProtectionBirth Registration (identity)Nothing to report______________________________________________________________________________________Early Childhood MarriageNothing to report______________________________________________________________________________________Disabled Children (physical and mental)Nothing to report______________________________________________________________________________________Youth EmploymentNothing to report______________________________________________________________________________________OrphansNothing to report______________________________________________________________________________________Child LabourNothing to report______________________________________________________________________________________

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Violence Against Children (beating, maiming, killing, abduction, trafficking, sexual, forced genital mutilation, etc.)

Dead and wounded women and children in a suicide attack west of BasraBasra - Sumaria News Site, Jan. 14According to a police source in Basra province, Saturday, a number of civilians killed and wounded, including women and children, in a suicide attack by an explosive belt west of the province.

The source said that "suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up, this morning, targeting citizens on their way to the mosque in a neighborhood (8 km west of Basra), resulting in a number of dead and wounded, including women and children not knowing their number yet."Link: http://www.alsumarianews.com/ar/2/34537/news-details-.html

A body of a child killed by hanging found in KutWasit – Ikhbariya News Agency, Jan. 14A body of a child found two days after he was kidnapped in Kut.

A security source of Wasit police said today that the police found the body of a child no more than six years old behind the building of police in Kut.

He disclosed that the medical report showed that the child exposed to torture and murder by hanging by a rope on his neck.

He explained that the child is a student in first primary grade and had been kidnapped two days ago by unknown persons who demanded relatives to pay a huge ransom.Link: http://www.ikhnews.com/news.php?action=view&id=29993

A man and a child injured in blast north of BaqubaDiyala - Sumaria News Site & Independent Iraqi News Agency, Jan. 12A security source in Diyala province, Wednesday, reported that a man and a child were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded north of Baquba.

The source said that "an explosive device was placed close to a residential home in Anafsa area (4 km north of Baquba) exploded yesterday, injuring a man and a child were passing by," noting that "the injured were taken to Baquba General Hospital to receive treatment ".Link: http://alsumarianews.tv/ar/2/34444/news-details-Iraq%20security%20news.htmlhttp://www.ina-iraq.com/news/security/9113.html

A body of a child stabbed with a sharp tool found in north of BaqubaDiyala - Sumaria News Site & Independent Iraqi News Agency, Jan. 12According to a police source in Diyala province, Wednesday, a security force found the body of a child stabbed with a sharp tool in north of Baquba.

The source said that "A police force found, yesterday evening, the body of a four-year-old thrown in the mud near a deserted house near Qara Tappa Township (112 km north of Baquba) stabbed in the chest with a sharp tool."

The source, who requested anonymity, added that "A police force cordoned off the scene and opened an investigation, while the body was transferred to the mortuary."Link: http://alsumarianews.tv/ar/2/34443/news-details-Iraq%20security%20news.htmlhttp://www.ina-iraq.com/news/security/9114.html

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Three children of al-Sahwa leader injured in attack on his house in DiyalaDiyala - Aswat al-Iraq News Agency, Jan. 12Three children of a leader of the pro-government al-Sahwa (Awakening) Organization, have been injured in an attack on his house in central Baquba, the center of northeast Iraq's Diyala Province on Wednesday, a security source reported.

"Three children of one of the leaders of al-Sahwa (Awakening) Organization in central Baquba have been injured, one of them seriously, in an explosion that caused severe damage to his house in al-Noura district," the security source stressed, adding that the leader was not at his house when the attack took place.Link: http://en.aswataliraq.info/(S(bjrsqhmwqebeir45vcev0xas))/Default1.aspx?page=article_page&id=146460&l=1

Three boys killed by a roadside bomb southern TikritTikrit – Voice of Iraq News, Ikhbariya News Agency, Sumaria News Site, Assabah, Mowaten Newspapers & Sawa Radio, Jan. 10A roadside bomb attack in the village of Yathreb, in Salahuddin province, around 70 kilometers north of the capital, three boys aged between nine and 11 years old were killed while going to school, a police officer and a medic at nearby Balad Hospital said.Link: http://www.sotaliraq.com/iraq-news.php?id=38281#axzz1ixKicMdBhttp://www.ikhnews.com/news_view_29708.htmlhttp://www.alsumarianews.com/ar/2/34349/news-details-.htmlhttp://www.alsabaah.com/ArticleShow.aspx?ID=19953http://www.almowatennews.com/news_view_33485.htmlhttp://www.radiosawa.com/iraq/arabic_news.aspx?id=8072405&cid=24______________________________________________________________________________________Violence Against Women (beating, rape)

Violence against women falling claims MinistryErbil – AKnews Agency, Jan. 12According to a statistic from Kurdistan Regional Ministry of Interior, 1,537 cases of violence against women were recorded in 2011. The ministry claims this is a decrease on previous years.

Kurda Omar, general director for following up violence against women, told a press conference today that in the three Governorates of Kurdistan and the disputed Garmiyan area there were 43 murders of women, 44 suicides, 228 cases of burning, 123 cases of immolation, 990 cases of torture and 109 cases of sexual aggression against women.

He did not provide any figures for comparison with the previous years.Link: http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/3/283883/

Women's affairs under discussion in Erbil conferenceErbil - Voice of Iraq News, AKnews Agency, Alforat News Agency, Aswat al-Iraq News Agency, Mowaten Newspaper & Kurdsat TV, Jan. 8The International Republican Institute (IRI) held a conference today to discuss the status of women and various legislations.

The two-day conference is trying to "fill the gap between the Iraqi law and legislation (Shari'a) in a manner that will serve the Iraqi society, including women," Mr.

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Kallumadanda Sujey, director of the governmental section in IRI, announced today.

In the opening of the conference, Iraqi secretary of the Cabinet Dr. Ali al-Allaq confirmed the necessity to consolidate the bases of the system, which is passing through a new experiment nowadays.

Minister of Women Affairs Ibtihal al-Zaidi described the conference as "an important step in building democracy in Iraq", pointing out that "much legislations require amendments".

She disclosed that anti-family violence law reached to its final stages for endorsement by the Iraqi parliament.

Participants from the Iraqi Cabinet, Higher Judicial Council, the Parliament, Higher Women Affairs Council in Kurdistan and NGOs took part in the conference.Link: http://www.sotaliraq.com/iraq-news.php?id=37904#axzz1iqtaLecRhttp://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/3/282780/http://www.alforatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4004:2012-01-07-15-04-57&catid=39:2011-04-08-17-26-45&Itemid=59http://en.aswataliraq.info/(S(x2252p4522hurs45twibt1zm))/Default1.aspx?page=article_page&id=146389&l=1http://www.almowatennews.com/news_view_33204.htmlhttp://www.kurdsat.tv/news.php?id=417&type=kurdistan______________________________________________________________________________________Displacement (internal and refugee)

Migration Ministry prepares a plan for the displaced who refused to return to their original placesBaghdad – Ikhbariya News Agency, Jan. 13Minister of Displacement and Migration, Dindar Doski said that the ministry is developing a plan for the displaced who refused to return to their places of origin for integration with the new communities.

He added in a statement that the ministry in coordination with local governments and other parties is looking in the possibility of adapting these people in their new communities, pointing out that the highest rate of return was recorded since 2008 until now during this year.

Doski noted that the ministry is to send specialized teams to conduct a questionnaire among displaced families to see how many of them want to merge, and then the ministry will allocate a grant to them, and solve some problems that they suffer in cooperation with local governments in those provinces.

Iraq had witnessed one of the largest voluntary return movements in the past four years estimated at 500 thousand of returnees to their areas of origin, whether they were displaced from areas inside Iraq or outside, while UNHCR is collaborating with the Iraqi government to support the internally displaced and abroad returnees with urgent needs.Link: http://www.ikhnews.com/news.php?action=view&id=29921

Iraqi aid to refugees in IranErbil – AKnews Agency & Voice of Iraq News, Jan. 10Iraqi government has allocated $1.6 million USD in aid to Iraqi refugees living in Iran, says Migration Minister Dindar Doski.

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The aid will be extended to families in the Islamic Republic who have been living there since they fled persecution under the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the 1980s.

“The Ministry of Migration has formed a committee which will start distributing the aid via four subordinate committees in the coming days,” Doski added. “In total, about 5,000 families will benefit.”

Doski said that all those Iraqis who fled to Iran before and after the 2003 war due to religious discrimination will benefit from the aid.Link: http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/283262/http://www.sotaliraq.com/iraq-news.php?id=38201#axzz1ixKicMdB

Sweden tops the list of European countries in the number of Iraqi refugeesBaghdad – AKnews Agency & Voice of Iraq News, Jan. 8The Ministry of Displacement and Migration, Saturday, revealed that Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Norway top the list of the European countries with the largest number of Iraqi refugees.

The Minister of Migration, Dindar Doski said today that "Sweden tops the list of countries where the number of refugees is 60,000 Iraqis, the Netherlands 50,000 and Norway 36,000."

"The ministry is working to provide adequate supplies to these families with the European community," Doski explained, adding that "the ministry will close the displaced people file in Iraq in 2012 after the return of displaced families, or their integration with the new society."

The UNHCR has announced last June that more than 472 thousand Iraqi refugees and displaced people have returned to their home areas in Iraq.Link: http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/4/282842/http://www.sotaliraq.com/mobile-news.php?id=37955#axzz1iqtaLecR

Media Coverage Summary

Media No. of articles MDGs Issue UNICEF UNNewspapersBayyna Al-Jadidah

1 1-Eradicate Poverty 1-Poverty

Assabah 111

2-Primary Education6-Combat diseasesChild protection

2-Education Services6-Health ServicesViolence Against Children

1

Attaakhi 1 2-Primary Education 2-Education Services

Mada 11

4-Reduce child mortality6-Combat diseases

4-Child deaths6-Health Services 1

Mowaten 12

4-Reduce child mortalityChild protection

4-Child deathsViolence Against Children & Violence Against Women

Mutamar 1 4-Reduce child mortality 4-Immunization

Mustakbal Al-Iraqi 1 4-Reduce child mortality 4-Immunization

Mashriq 121

4-Reduce child mortality6-Combat diseases7-Environmental sustainability

4-Immunization6-Health Services7-Safe water

1

14

RadioSawa 1

11-Eradicate PovertyChild protection

1-PovertyViolence Against Children

Dijla 1 4-Reduce child mortality 4-Immunization

TVHurria 1

11-Eradicate Poverty7-Environmental sustainability

1-Poverty7-Safe water

Forat 1112

1-Eradicate Poverty2-Primary Education4-Reduce child mortality7-Environmental sustainability

1-Poverty2-Education Services4-Immunization7-Safe water & Garbage

Ishtar 1 2-Primary Education 2-Education Services 1

Fayhaa 1 2-Primary Education 2-Education Services 1

Kurdsat 1 Child protection Violence Against Women

Web-BasedVoice of Iraq News

111114

1-Eradicate Poverty3-Eliminate gender disparity4-Reduce child mortality6-Combat diseases7-Environmental sustainabilityChild protection

1-Poverty3-Women’s literacy4-Child deaths6-Health Services7-Safe waterViolence Against Children, Violence Against Women & Displacement

1

Sumaria News Site

14

1-Eradicate PovertyChild protection

1-PovertyViolence Against Children

Iraq for All News 1 4-Reduce child mortality 4-Child deaths

NINA 11

4-Reduce child mortality6-Combat diseases

4-Immunization6-Health Services 1

Peyamner 1 6-Combat diseases 6-Health Services

All Iraq News Agency

1 7-Environmental sustainability 7-Safe water

Independent Iraqi News Agency

13

7-Environmental sustainabilityChild protection

7-GarbageViolence Against Children 1

Iraqi Media Network

1 7-Environmental sustainability 7-Garbage

Aswat al-Iraq 2 Child protection Violence Against Children & Violence Against Women

Ikhbariya News Agency

3 Child protection Violence Against Children & Displacement 1

AK News 4 Child protection Violence Against Women & Displacement 1

Alforat News Agency

1 Child protection Violence Against Women

15