Back to school in Iraq

For a long time, IRAQ has been the scene of a conflict that has brought the country to its knees. One of the consequences of the war was that the country's young population had few opportunities to re-enter education. These opportunities have been further reduced with the COVID-19 pandemic.

COOPI has taken on this need and operates in IRAQ in the field of Education and Emergency. The front line of action is aimed at children and young people to facilitate the return to regular education and training. It is not an easy path, but COOPI has taken up the challenge and is supporting the schooling and educational recovery of these children: investing in schools means guaranteeing a future for children who would otherwise be more exposed to the risk of child labour and micro-criminality.

The intervention concerns infrastructural activities for the construction and rehabilitation of school facilities so that safe, inclusive and quality learning places are guaranteed for boys and girls. The distribution of school materials and kits for each child is also planned.

Ongoing training is provided to teachers, who are called upon to deal with children who are victims of trauma caused by the humanitarian crisis so that they are competent and aware in handling the difficult and traumatic experiences of the children they meet.

The activities in which COOPI has invested are not limited to the purely school setting, but a great deal of work is also being done on non-formal education activities for out-of-school children as well as support to Parent-Teacher associations.

The inclusion of parents in their children's school life is important for the work of educating children to succeed: COOPI has decided to act in order to make the parents aware of the importance of their support for their children's education. Training courses are organised to promote participatory and positive parenting. 

Supporting COOPI means supporting a project that carries with the need to start over and look to the future. Investing in education allows a country like Iraq, devastated by war, to be able to think with hope about the days to come by creating concrete opportunities for today's young generations.

In Iraq COOPI continues its work in contexts of humanitarian emergency. Many of the activities that are carried out by COOPI in the area have the goal of providing protection and promoting education for children.

Guaranteeing that children and young students have access to schools’ facilities is COOPI’s priority.

COOPI intervenes by constructing new school infrastructures and by rehabilitating existing ones, this form of intervention guarantees that children have the possibility of studying in buildings that are safe and not at risk.

COOPI also continues to implement activities that have the goal of reintegrating into the educational system children that have dropped out, students have the opportunity of attending after school programs and they are supported by trained teachers.

During lessons children have the chance of studying in a safe and stimulating environment equipped with school supplies that are provided by COOPI.

All these activities have the objective of guaranteeing a better future for children in Iraq.

Help us promoting education. With your support, we can make it happen!

Since 2014 COOPI works in Iraq and confirms its commitment to support local people and ensure that students have access to educational opportunities.

In the district of Al-Shirqat, COOPI is carrying out activities to train teachers using innovative and alternative approaches.

For example, the goal of the training program called “Teachers in Crisis Context (TiCC)” is to enable teachers to develop skills necessary when carrying out educational activities during crisis. The training involves also suggestions on how to manage teaching during health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, teachers have been trained to identify children with possible learning difficulties and to consequently adapt their learning techniques according to their specific needs. To carry out these training activities on the field COOPI works in collaboration with a local partner, the Sorouh for Sustainable Development Foundation (SSDF), which has been active in Iraq for many years.

Hassan, one of the teachers that has taken part in the training program, told us: “It is great to feel like our struggles and needs as teachers are heard and acknowledged. It is really important for our professional development to receive the proper training and support. There are times in which our job requires a lot of strength and dedication. We have many students that need support in their educational path.”

COOPI and the local partners have also implemented on the job evaluations to monitor the results of the training programs and to make sure that they are effective. The professional development of teachers is key to guarantee quality educational opportunities for children in Iraq.

Please, join COOPI’s mission and help Iraqi students with us!

Thank you for your support!

COOPI is working in Iraq since 2014, carrying out educational projects in the areas most affected by the war.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made our work even more difficult, because children could not attend school and they often did not get any help from their parents at home.

This is the reason why COOPI decided to work in order to make the parents aware of the importance of their support for their children’s education.

Firstly, a parent-teacher association was created. The goal was to involve parents in the school life of their children and to create a relationship with their teachers. Secondly, parents attended training courses, meant to promote a participatory and positive parenting so that they could support their children in their education and growth.

Abeer, educator and head of COOPI’s activities in Shirqat, told us: “Meeting after meeting, training after training, each group opened up and shared their experiences and ideas with the team. We worked together and began to see a change in their attitude. There’s still a lot of work to do, behavior changes are never quick and easy. But this is a great start. And we must continue”.

COOPI sought to involve parents as much as possible in the activities, promoting a community-based approach and letting communities be the main actors and promoters of their own change.

You can do your part too: join our mission, help the kids of the district of Al-Shirqat to build a better future for themselves.

Please, keep on helping Iraqi students with us!

In Iraq the military operations for the liberation of the territories occupied ended three years ago, but the situation in the country is still critical. Iraq has been suffering the consequences of the pandemic, which has brought the country on its knees.

As always, the field of education is one of the most affected in countries at war. This is the reason why it is one of the most important fields in which to intervene. In these kind of contexts, infact, children are often deprived of their right to education.

The Covid pandemic has exacerbated this issue: schools were closed, children were forced to stay home and could not attend classes anymore.

It is in this situation that COOPI is intervening with the project “Back to a safe school”, which aims at improving the quality of primary education.

At the moment, COOPI is working in 9 primary schools in the district of Al-Shirqat and the project has two main goals:

-      Intervene on children who are on the verge of school dropout, improving the performance of teaching staff, the school environment, parental participation and the psychosocial well-being of all beneficiaries involved

-      Offer educational opportunities to children who are out of school, including them in the educational activities of the project and supporting their reintegration into the school system.

The project involves 3.775 students, together with their families and their teachers.

Join our mission, help the kids of the district of Al-Shirqat to go back to a safe school and to build a better future for themselves.

Thanks to your help COOPI works in Iraq since 2017, and thanks to you this project can go on helping many children and families.

Please, keep on helping Iraqi students with us!