24-12-2020 | di COOPI

Iraq. COOPI guarantees the right to education despite the Covid19

In recent months, due to the spread of Covid-19 in Iraq, the children of Qayyarah, in the south of Mosul, who - after years of war and occupation by Isis - had recently resumed their education thanks to the construction of four schools by COOPI - Cooperazione Internazionale, found themselves once again without education and consequently at risk of abuse and exploitation. 

For this reason, COOPI took prompt action to continue guaranteeing the education and to protect the health of the children beneficiaries of the project "Back to a safe school - Promoting access to inclusive, safe and quality formal education in Iraq, Al Qayyarah sub-district, south of Mosul", funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). 

During the pandemic, COOPI provided ad hoc teaching materials, targeted curricula and tutoring to support distance learning. It also designed remedial courses for 267 children in view of their primary school leaving examination. Finally, it offered remote recreational activities for 1,085 pupils to manage the stress of isolation.

Tutoraggio faccia a faccia a domicilio, Qayyarah, Iraq

On the health side, COOPI disseminated information on proper measures to contain the virus to 4,000 people and distributed 2,500 health kits to families (consisting of soap, toothpaste, baby brushes, tampons, shampoo, bleach, latex gloves).

In view of the reopening of the schools, COOPI has already intervened to rehabilitate the water and sanitation services in the 4 schools previously built and has provided cleaning materials to 13 school administrations.

COOPI is active in Iraq since 2017 with activities aimed at supporting refugees and the host communities in Qayyarah, south of Mosul. Here, we carry out interventions focused on education in emergency such as psychological support for children suffering from post-conflict trauma and we promote their return to education in war-torn areas.