Lord McConnell: After two years of violence and failure, schools in east Mosul are finally reopening
3 min read
The UK must support the access to education for young people in Mosul to help increase the chances of a long-term peace says Lord McConnell.
At a time when good news has been hard to come by, my spirits were lifted by a little progress in a place we have come to associate with violence and failure.
As we enter February, 30 schools have reopened in east Mosul, Iraq due to the subsidence of fighting in that area. Thanks to the amazing work of the dedicated team from UNICEF in Iraq, more than 16,000 children can now resume their education. Even better, 40 more schools are expected to open in the next few weeks.
As I wrote for PoliticsHome last year, I spent time with kids from Mosul and I have seen for myself how difficult life has been for the children of northern Iraq. I met brave and ambitious children who were being denied the chance to lead the lives they deserve. They had been ‘internally displaced’ as a result of Daesh (ISIS) advances. They had been living in temporary camps for over two years. Their trauma was obvious and there was fear in the air. Chance of a better future had been severely diminished, but they had not lost hope. And neither should we. We need to act.
Lack of education reduces the chances for sustainable peace. If young people are to invest their futures in development and stability, they need to have a stake: they need skills, opportunities and a realistic chance of a better life. In a protracted crisis, access to education must surely be just as essential as clean water and nutrition.
Now, in East Mosul, classrooms that lay empty for over two years are welcoming back their pupils. Thousands of girls who were previously banned from attending school are coming back. Their teachers are being retrained, water and sanitation services are opening up, and new education programmes will help guard children against violence. Hope is being rekindled.
There will be noise in those school yards, banter and laughter, balls being kicked around, but hushed chats in quiet corners too. And in the classrooms, teachers ready to pursue their vocation, facing children ready to learn, eager to catch up on these wasted years. These are good images. But they are not enough.
There is, of course, still much more to be done. The children and families of east Mosul face many challenges. It is now over 100 days after the military operation to retake Mosul began and each day must be of huge concern for the 750,000 civilians still there waiting for the fighting to start in their neighbourhoods.
Humanitarian aid workers on the ground are working flat out. Nearly 600,000 people have received food, 745,000 people have benefited from water and sanitation support, and 370,000 people have sought medical care. Eighty-five per cent of the people displaced from Mosul are now sheltering in 13 displacement camps and emergency sites constructed by the Government of Iraq and partners.
When the military campaign has ended, the work to rebuild a normal life will begin. That is when Mosul will need us most.
It is impossible to meet these kids and not do something. When I came back from Iraq, I completed my first 5k road run in 30 years and the McConnell International Foundation raised some money for UNICEF Iraq to help their vital work. Keeping Mosul safe for children to learn, play and live their lives needs our support now. Today. If you believe this is a world where we should help each other to build bridges and put others first, then I hope you will join me and donate.
Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale is a Labour peer
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