In May 2020, the Mercy Hands alliance (Mercy Hands Europe and Mercy Hands for Humanitarian Aid in Iraq) implemented an assessment to determine the educational and health status of children in IDP camps in Iraq (Salah Al Din, Anbar, Ninewa, and Baghdad governorates) amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 2-10, field staff members from Mercy Hands’ Emergency Response and Recovery
Department collected data from 6,305 children aged 5 to 17 years living in 13 IDP camps in Salah Al Din, Anbar, Ninewa, and Baghdad governorates. The team assessed a total of 3,777 unique families.
The following is a summary of the demographics of the assessed children:
The vast majority of the surveyed children (83%) did not receive any type of schooling in April. As an alternative to attending school in person, home schooling was more popular than remote education. Regarding health, a total of 152 children (2% of assessed children) were reported as having 2 or more of the following symptoms of COVID-19: Fever, trouble breathing, cough, and sore throat. 122 (80%) of those children were seen by a professional healthcare provider but only 7 (5%) of them were tested for COVID-19.
Read the full report: Health & Educational Status of Iraqi Children in Camps During COVID-19