أقل من نصف المدارس في العراق لديها إمكانية الوصول إلى خدمات المياه والصرف الصحي الأساسية التي تعد المحرك الرئيسي لتسجيل الأطفال. في المدارس لكل طفل الحق بالوصول إلى المياه الصالحة للشرب والصرف الصحي.
Over 50% of Iraqi schools have no access to basics like water and sanitation services which effects both school enrollment and the health of children. MEMO notes:
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Sunday warned of health risks for most Iraqi children as they have no access to safe and drinkable water, reports Anadolu Agency.
"Nearly 3 out of 5 children in Iraq have no access to safely managed water services," UNICEF said in a statement.
The UN agency said that less than half of all schools in the country have access to basic water.
"In Iraq, the level of water scarcity is alarming, children cannot develop and thrive to their full potential without water," said Sheema SenGupta, UNICEF Representative in Iraq. "It is time to take action on climate change and guarantee access to safe water for every child."
According to UNICEF, the 2020-2021 rainfall season in Iraq was the second driest in the last 40 years, a situation that caused severe reduction of water flow in Tigris and Euphrates by 29% and 73%, respectively.
On the rainfall, RUDAW has noted:
Springs and wells are drying up across Sulaimani province. Locals say it's a disaster unlike anything they’ve seen before.
“I was born in 1952. I have never seen this springhead in this way. I
have always been here, except during the eight years of the Iran-Iraq
war,” said Fatih Salim, who owns holiday cottages at Awesar resort in
Hawraman, southern Sulaimani province.
And earlier this month, the outlet's Khazan Jangiz reported:
Sulaimani’s water table underground has decreased up to 17 meters in
some places in the past three years, Groundwater Directorate of
Sulaimani told Rudaw on Monday, blaming it on illegal wells and the
overuse of water by citizens.
“We haven’t reached an uncontrollable drought, the situation is under
control up till now, but we have to reorganize management and see how we
can use the budget provided to us in the best way, to have the best
outcome with the least expenses and learn from our past mistakes, and
with the budget provided, the priority will be drinking water,” Abbas
Ali told Rudaw on Monday.
In some areas, water levels have decreased up to 17 meters between 2018
and 2021. In Sulaimani city water levels have decreased five to 11
meters, in Qaradagh 15 to 17 meters, in Qaladze seven to 15 meters and
Chamchamal 11 to 15 meters, according to Ali.
He related it to four issues: climate change, illegal wells and the lack of laws that regulate the usage of water.
He added that, despite laws that prevent drilling wells without
authorization, a lot of violations have been committed especially at
countryside houses and stated that “15,000 illegal wells exist” in the
province.
At the start of last week, AP reported:
Millions of people in Syria and Iraq are at risk of losing access to water, electricity and food amid rising temperatures, record low water levels due to lack of rainfall and drought, international aid groups warned Monday.
The two neighboring countries, both battered by years of conflict and mismanagement, are in need of rapid action to combat severe water shortages, the groups said. The drought is also disrupting electricity supplies as low water levels impact dams, which in turn impact essential infrastructure, including health facilities.
More than 12 million people in both countries are affected, including 5 million in Syria who are directly dependent on the Euphrates River. In Iraq, the loss of access to water from the Euphrates and Tigris River, and drought, threaten at least 7 million people.
And Massaab Al-Aloosy (AGSIW) notes:
Iraq’s main sources of water are the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, providing 98% of the country’s surface water. Both rivers originate in Turkey, while the Euphrates passes through Syria, and some tributaries flow through Iran. Iraq was considered a water-rich country until the 1970s, when Turkey began building dams on the two rivers, significantly decreasing Iraq’s water supply. The Turkish government initiated the Southeastern Anatolia Project by building 22 dams and 19 hydraulic power plants for developing southeastern provinces and has been unwilling to negotiate an agreement with Iraq and Syria regarding water allocation. While decreasing Iraq’s water supply overall, Turkey also has the ability to cut the water flow downstream on short notice. For example, in the 1990s, Turkey increased the water level in the Ataturk dam without notifying Syria and Iraq. While Turkey’s annual supply of water should be more than sufficient to cover its own water needs, Turkey’s use of Tigris and Euphrates water to develop hydropower and agriculture in its southeast risks significantly reducing the amount of water that flows to Syria and Iraq.
Iran’s water policy has also reduced Iraq’s water supply. Tributaries originating in Iran contribute 40% of the Shatt al-Arab’s water in Iraq, and dam building has had a devastating impact on the water flowing to Iraq’s eastern governorates. With 600 dams built in Iran and more planned, the waters of rivers such as the Karun and Kark have been diverted to stay within Iranian territory and no longer flow into Iraq. The diversions have not only decreased the water flow to Iraq but have also increased salinity. In Basra alone, 118,000 people were hospitalized because of health issues related to water quality in the summer of 2018. Looking ahead, both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are expected to completely dry inside Iraq by 2040 because of its neighbors’ water policies. And with the weak state of the Iraqi government, it has little leverage to negotiate with Iran and Turkey over its water supply.
Government Mismanagement
Despite the gravity of the situation, the Iraqi government’s response to the water crisis has been modest because of its inherent weakness and the limited options available. Numerous domestic problems have taken the government’s attention away from formulating a viable strategy to address water shortages. The focus of the Iraqi government, for the most part over the past two decades, has been fighting terrorism, dealing with strong militias allied with Iran, and tackling corruption, and it has neglected other priorities. For example, Iraq has lagged behind in the agricultural sector, and the government has not done enough to modernize irrigation methods. Finally, the Iraqi government threatened to internationalize the water crisis by submitting a formal complaint to the United Nations if Iran continues to limit the water flow, however the government did not follow through and failed to formulate any viable alternative options for dealing with Iran.
The following sites updated:
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Caitlyn1 hour ago
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Iraq Daily Roundup: Four Killed2 hours ago
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