SAYYID AMMAR AL-HAKIM ANNOUNCES INITIATIVE FOR PATRONAGE AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDHOOD IN IRAQ

Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, Head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), announced an initiative for the patronage and development of childhood in Iraq which includes establishing a supreme council for childhood in Iraq as an independent commission that oversees and administers a fund for childhood patronage and development in Iraq and for deducting 1.5% of the annual general budget of our homeland for deposit in this fund.

Initiative for Childhood Patronage in Iraq
His Eminence pointed out during his speech at the Second Annual Childhood Festival which was held by the Martyr of the Niche Foundation in al-Najaf al-Ashraf on Saturday, September 29, 2012, that spending the fund in this initiative, which contains three axes, will be to build an infrastructure network for kindergartens, the establishment of a higher institute for training educational cadres on how to deal with children in kindergartens, the establishment of the national information network for children, the development of their skills, the founding of a club for the civil society organizations in Iraq that work in the field of childhood, the establishment of a media observatory for the rights of the Iraqi child in order to protect and look after children who have lost their bread earner or shelter, the establishment of a cancer treatment center for children and a center for the treatment of Tawhid patients, a center for the rehabilitation of permanently impaired children, in addition to launching a project for “child loan.” He explained that this initiative is not based on political, ethnic or sectarian foundations but one for all of Iraq’s children.

International Child Rights Convention
His Eminence pointed out to Iraq having signed in 1989 the International Child Rights Convention and, according to this convention, it committed itself to protect child rights. He explained that this convention points out to four basic rights for the child: They are the right of life, of growth, of non-discrimination on the basis of race, religion or gender, and the right of considering children’s rights and needs in overall development policies legislated in a country, and the participation right. Iraq has upheld these rights according to its signature on this convention.
His Eminence stressed that childhood is not a transient stage in man’s life. Rather, it is the basic seed for forming the human personality, explaining that this phase can produce a human being who is reconciled with his humanity, knowing his role in the Divine plan for mankind and life. He drew attention to Islam having awarded a great deal of care to the childhood subject, explaining that when nations move towards participation, freedom and justice, they express the human nature.

Basic Keys to Look through to the World of Childhood
His Eminence pointed out that the basic keys through which we must look at the childhood world are represented in the child as a sound human entity born on the instinct and not a deviated cultural status, that the child looks at time from his personal angle. He sees in it that he lives his life and discovers the facts. Also, a place for a child is where he gets to know and discovers, whereas stubbornness in the child represents the desire for independence, that the child’s desires, generally speaking, are legitimate, instinctive, human, in addition to the confusion which the child witnesses in his conduct when he carries out illogical and unacceptable actions originate from the desire to satisfy his educational and human needs.