While the Government of Iraq and the UN continue to collaborate through the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) Country Task Force on the development of an action plan to prevent recruitment and support reintegration of children associated with armed forces and groups (CAAFAG), there is currently no policy or legal framework in place to guide the national response to these children in Iraq. In the absence of such a framework, over the past six years, it has largely fallen to humanitarian and protection actors to provide rehabilitative services and promote the social and communal reintegration of CAAFAG, often on an individualized and ad hoc basis. To strengthen the response of service providers operating in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, SEED Foundation released on 2 February 2021 a report detailing the unique needs of this highly vulnerable subset of Iraq’s conflict-affected children.

ISIS committed grave violations and abuses against thousands of children in Iraq, including abduction, rape and other forms of sexual violence, killing and maiming, and recruitment for use as child soldiers. Child survivors of ISIS atrocities, especially those exploited for war purposes in any capacity, require comprehensive and long-term support that is child-centered and rights-based to overcome physical injuries, psychological traumas, and stigma from alleged association with ISIS, and to reintegrate into society with dignity. Failing to protect these children from further harm and ignoring their unique needs may increase reliance on negative coping mechanisms and informal structures among this demographic, and result in serious detriment to social cohesion and sustainable peace in Iraq.

In this report, SEED Foundation proposes feasible recommendations to address the legacy of ISIS atrocities against children by protecting child survivors from further violations and harm, thereby promoting human flourishing, supporting deradicalization, and preventing re-recruitment. This report is part of SEED’s advocacy series on Supporting the Reintegration and Recovery of Survivors of ISIS, in line with a reaffirmation of the human rights and dignity of conflict-affected children.