Assessment of the child protection system in Iraq/Kurdistan

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Assessment of the child protection system in
Iraq/Kurdistan
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Background

• Diakonia in Iraq/Kurdistan since 1994
• Operating 3 centers for social protection/child
  protection
• Improve capacities and respect for child
  protection

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Assessment in two phases

• 1) A child protection systems assessment covering
  legislation, procedures and needs for capacity
  building
• 2) How to improve the quality of work performed
  by the three centers

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Iraq/Kurdistan

• Federal entity since 2005
• Population almost 4 million
• 36 0-14 years, 4 above 63
• More than 50 are under 20 years

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Child protection systems assessment in
Iraq/Kurdistan

• Legal framework
• Coordination mechanisms
• Available services
• Human and financial resources
• Childrens and parents access to service

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Constraints and limitations

• Not possible to visit services providers
• Not enough interviews with civil society
• Not possible to meet with extremely vulnerable
  children
• Sample group of children and parents came from
  Dohuk
• Lack of reliable statistics

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International legal framework

• The CRC (1994)
• The ILO Conventions 138 and 182 (1985 and 2001)
• Not party to the two Optional Protocols of the
  CRC
• Not party to the Conventions on the Status of
  Refugees or Statelessness

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National legal frameworkThe Iraqi Constitution
(2005) endorses the CRC

• State and family the main duty bearers
• Economic exploitation prohibited
• All forms of violence and abuse in the family,
  school and society prohibited
• All forms of psychological and physical torture
  prohibited

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A Kurdistan Child Rights Law in process

• With UNICEF support
• Currently childrens rights and responsibilities
  are defined in the Juvenile Law, the Social Law
  and the Labour Law.

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Interviews

• Ministries of
• Labour and Social Affairs (and general
  directorate in Dohuk)
• Interiors
• Justice
• Education
• Health (and general directorate in Dohuk)
• Five NGOs (partners of Diakonia)
• Parents and children (in Dohuk)

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UNICEF

• Study on VAC
• Develop internal policies for law encorcement
• Support Child Helplines
• Mine risk education, psychosocial support

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Questionnaire for ministries

• The definition of child protection
• The legal framework
• The services provided in terms of prevention,
  detection, reporting and response
• The coordination
• The human resources

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MoLSAExample of matrixWhat are the services
provided? Who provides them?
Action Details Provided by whom Contact details of provider
Prevention
Detection
Reporting
Early intervention
Family support
Response
Reintegration
Alternative care
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Coordination
MoE MoH MoI MoJ
Prevention
Detection
Reporting
Response
Legal framework, policies, protocols
Method of coordination
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MoLSA

• Juvenile law Prevent the phenomena of juvenile
  offense by protecting the juvenile from
  delinquency
• The social law nothing but 2 small references to
  children with disabilities
• The child labour law

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• Directorate of Social Care and Development
• Special care (orphanages)
• Centers for children at risk of delinquency
  (street children)
• No detection of children in need of social
  support
• No reporting mechanism
• Plan to establish Help-lines (with support from
  UNICEF)
• Directorate of Labour
• No programme to address child labour
• Directorate of Reformatory
• In charge of institutions for children in
  conflict with the law in close collaboration with
  Ministry of Interior

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Ministry of Interiors

• Protects the population from crime and terrorism
• Juvenile Police stations detect children in
  conflict with the law or children at risk of
  delinquency
• Child protection is a family matter
• Need for capacity building on how to talk to and
  interrogate minors

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Ministry of Justice

• Juvenile courts minimum age 11
• If sentenced
• Juvenile reformatory
• If delinquent
• Rehabilitation centers
• Parents risk to loose custody

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Ministry of Education

• Law prohibiting physical and phsycological
  punishment
• Law on free and compulsory education
• No mechanism for detection, response or referral

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Ministry of Health

• No protocol for detection, reporting and
  assistance doctors are prohibited
• Children not allowed to go to the hospital
  without parent
• Need for capacity building on how to talk to
  children, help them overcome traumas

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Focus group discussions

• Fathers (10)
• Mothers (36)
• Boys (19)
• Girls (8)
• Children aged between 4 and17

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Discussions focused on

• Definition of child protection
• national and international law
• access to and opinion about available reporting
  mechanism
• access to and opinion about responsive services

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Example of matrix

• Do you use these reporting mechanisms?
• Which specific cases of violence, abuse, neglect
  and exploitation you think should be reported?

Reporting mechanisms YES NO Comments
Police station
Social workers in the MoLSA
Doctors in the hospital
Teachers in schools
Counselors in schools
Local or international NGOs
Mukhtars
Imams
Other members of the community
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Fathers

• Concerned about protection in school
• Law against domestic violence is humiliating and
  increase divorce rate
• Better to address root causes by teaching
  children about non-violence

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Mothers

• Aware of law, but limited knowledge
• VAC is culturally accepted and mothers are the
  main perpetrators
• If a child is punished in school he/she deserves
  it
• Protection issues in the home cannot be reported

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Children

• Not aware of a law on child protection but some
  had heard of the CRC
• All aware of the juvenile law
• All had been subject to physical punishment in
  school - report to parents
• Most violence takes place between children

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Summary

• Violence against children is a family affair
• The system in place is a child correction system
• Children are perceived as perpetrators not
  victims of rights violations
• Protection is education, health, food

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Summary cont

• Reporting and referral mechanism do not exist
  only for the detection and response of children
  in conflict with the law
• Lack of specialised staff on child protection
  within MoLSA
• General lack of capacity to understand child
  protection and knowledge about the law

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Summary cont

• Lack of disaggregated data
• Lack of awareness among parents and children on
  childrens rights, the negative impact of
  violence, alternative discipline, how to prevent
  exposure to risks
• Insufficient coordination

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Reflections

• Did we ask the right questions?
• What were the traditional protection mechanisms?
• The current law reinforces the current belief
• The ocean of preventive measures

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To be continued..Thank you for your attention!