IRAQ: Traumatised Iraqi children suffer psychological damage

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/4ef14e3c0bd5ad74baf903a1b1ad849c.htm

BAGHDAD, 16 July 2007 (IRIN) - For two months, Obeid Jaafar Khalifa, 52, has been worrying about how he will cope with looking after his deceased brother's four children. Obeid already has six of his own children to look after.

"In total, I have to feed 10 children in addition to my wife and me," said Khalifa, an employee at Iraq's Agriculture Ministry. He took over responsibility for the children when a car bomb killed their parents five months ago.

The example of Khalil's nephews highlights the plight of children orphaned by the violence in Iraq. The UN Children's Agency (UNICEF) said in its update last week on the plight of Iraqi children that the number of war orphans was rising because of the high civilian death toll.

UNICEF is increasingly concerned that the number of vulnerable children in Iraq has outstripped the country's capacity to care for them.

"Stressed to the limit"