MarzioBabille

UNICEF in emergency and development settings ensures that logistical and distribution plans are well crafted and monitored. This in turn implies identificaton and verification of institutions, partners, and groups who are involved in the distribution of supplies, goods, and commodities. Under the present conditions international and local NGOs are pre-screened by a very vigorous accountability check list before signing a partnership agreement that includes such distribution tasks. More specifically, in contested areas or under high danger conditions, UNICEF distributes directly supplies, goods, and commodities to families in households through facilitators who are accountable to the organization.

The insufficient inclusion of minority groups in Iraq generated UNICEF concern since 2011 when the multiple cluster survey showed a higher level of social problems in those areas where minorities live. Currently UNICEF is supporting Yazedi, Shabaki, Turkmen, Assyrian, and Christian communities in the Ninewah Province and Kirkuk under dire circumstances developing these days. UNICEF provides water supplies, hygiene kits, health and nutrition support, as well as specific assessment towards the 6 grave violations against children sanctioned by the security council resolution 1612 where UNICEF is mandated to report such violations directly to the Security Council. UNICEF is extremely concerned and committed to uplift the child rights of those minority communities and will do everything that is necessary to gain access to them for support and assistance under the current emergency and conflict.

1. UNICEF staff are branded in areas where areas in which access is allowed and security clearances are enabling work.
   
2. UNICEF is active and present in refugee and displaced areas of Kurdistan, Ninewah, disputed northern areas of Iraq, and Anbar, since the beginning of the crisis in January 2014.
   
3. UNICEF accepts and implements the principle of humanitarian reform that indicates the need to shift from "When to leave" to "How to stay" paradigm.
   
4. UNICEF has no contact nor relations with armed opposition groups which are part of the list of shame officially recognized by the UN.
   
5. According to ethnicity, the perception of ISIS among Iraqi citizens varies.
   
6. UNICEF staff includes Arabs and Kurds. UNICEF operates through 5 offices (Baghdad, Erbil, Dohuk, Kirkuk, and Basra). Cooperation with all ethnic groups is offered, sought, and received.
   
7. Immunization remains the key issue for child survival. Increasing more equitable immunization coverage against measles and polio is determining great progress not only during mass immunization at scale but ensures one of the fundamental rights of the child.
   
8. Compliance to immunization rounds in areas where polio virus still strikes is a moral obligation. Drawbacks emerging from manipulation of information in areas where polio eradication has indicated some roll back remain major obstacles to the fulfillment of a polio free world. UNICEF continues relentless mobilization and inclusion of religious leaders and community leaders at grassroots to enhance understanding and support to a program which remains founded on the universal principles of the sanctity of child survival and healthy development.
   
9. Well...My mustache was grown under a bet. During my medical school years friends imposed the sanction of grow a mustache should I been able to get the maximum score of the human anatomy exam. I never thought I would make it. They won.
   

Children and adolescence of Syria and Iraq, with no distinction between the two countries are being exposed to an extraordinary level of violence and multiple deprivations. UNICEF launched in October 2013 the No Lost Generation Initiative with other partners. This initiative aims at preserving a future, hope, and opportunity for these children heavily traumatized in Iraq either becoming refugees or suffering the hardship of multiple displacement. The initiative brings at the forefront the need of high quality education, it's continuity in areas of conflict after stopping it, as well as to recuperate mental health, dignity, and the dimension of play and learning that will contribute to a more cohesive growth for them. To overcome PTSD and other forms of loss of psychological balance there is also a need for capacity and a high level of funding, which may be problematic at this stage but need the highest level of attention from donor countries.

Iraq undergoes the most dangerous periods of it's recent history, these days. UNICEF and the UN agencies are working to protect children, adolescents, and families everywhere they are with no distinction of ethnicity or religion. Whatever happens in the next days or weeks, will permanently impact the geopolitics of the region.