Iraqi children continue to suffer conflict, inequality in last 7 years

A UNICEF report said on Monday that the majority of Iraqi children are not receiving any assistance from the government, with 80 percent of them having experienced violence at home or in school.

"Children's education needs in Iraq are vast: half of all public schools in the country require rehabilitation and one in three schools run multiple shifts, squeezing children's learning time," the UNICEF report said.

As the first comprehensive survey on the wellbeing of Iraqi children conducted by the UNICEF in seven years, the report pointed to conflict and inequality as the continuing feature of Iraqi children.

Just over half of children from poorer backgrounds complete their primary education, while the gap widens in upper secondary school, where less than a quarter of poor children graduate, the report said.

"The data is the clearest indication yet that the most vulnerable children in Iraq are the ones that are most likely to fall behind," said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF representative in Iraq.

"The hard-won gains to end the conflict in Iraq and transition to a stable future could be lost without additional investments for all children to reach their full potential," Hawkins added.

In addition, only four out of 10 children are fully vaccinated, with the poorest children missing out the most, the report noted.

However, Iraq has made notable progress on newborn and child health, including reducing the number of children who die in their first month of life from 20 deaths per 1,000 live births to 14 since the last survey was conducted in 2011, according to the report carried out under the auspices of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.

The UNICEF report called on the Iraqi government "to invest in services that benefit children affected by conflict and poverty, and to work towards putting an end to all forms of violence against children."