Progress: The International Rescue Committee in Iraq

Last year, the Education Partnership announced the International Rescue Committee as a recipient of $200,000 from the Jolie-Pitt Foundation. The gift was part of a larger $1 million contribution to support the education of young people who have been impacted by the conflict in Iraq at home and abroad. The International Rescue Committee has updated us on their progress to date.

The Challenge:

The ongoing crisis in Iraq has uprooted more than 2 million people, many of them children. Unable to return home or leave the country, they live in dangerous conditions in makeshift shelters, displacement camps, or crowded urban enclaves. Violence is a daily threat and basic services--including food, clean water, sanitation, and education--are limited.

The International Rescue Committee's Goal:

• Improve schools and provide educational opportunities for children living in volatile areas in southern Iraq with programs that provide safe water and health and hygiene education.
• Help children displaced by the conflict claim their right to education by rehabilitating rundown or overcrowded schools, creating safe spaces to exercise and play, and providing educational enrichment for children whose schooling has been disrupted by the war.

Progress to Date:

• The IRC has already increased access to quality education for 2,800 conflict-affected children in Najaf, Iraq.
• When the IRC arrived in Najaf, the schools were in serious disrepair: dilapidated classrooms, broken windows, inadequate security equipment, peeling paint and plaster, crumbling walkways, damaged wiring, and unsanitary septic and water systems threatened the health and safety of students and teachers and hindered the daily activities at the school. The IRC has completed repairs that address these infrastructure needs, repairing school facilities and increasing their capacity to accommodate additional pupils.
• Working in partnership with local humanitarian organizations and the Iraqi Ministry of Education, the IRC has completed rehabilitation of three primary schools. Today, the schools provide primary education to thousands of Iraqi children, more than a quarter of them from families displaced by the war.
• The improved school facilities host teacher training courses for new educators, health education sessions on basic hygiene and sanitation, and sports groups.

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