Iraqi Children Foundation
Protect. Nurture. Empower.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
At the end of the Iraq War, UNICEF reported (2012) that there were an estimated 800,000 orphans. Later, approximately 1.3 million kids were displaced by ISIS violence. A 2019 US Department of Labor report estimated that 450,000 Iraqi children (14 and under) work by begging, selling on the street, in businesses like garages or factories, or as domestic labor. Many children suffer from trauma and lack key legal documents to go to school and get food or other benefits. These kids are at great risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation by criminals, extremists, and human traffickers.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Baghdad Street Lawyers and Social Services Project
This project provides legal protection to orphans and vulnerable children who are abused or exploited by criminals and traffickers. It also provides missing legal documents to vulnerable children who need them to enroll in school or get food rations and other benefits. Social workers help children with health care, mediation with families to end child labor and abuse, and other social services. In 2020, a unit to protect children from sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and human organ trafficking was launched.
HOPE BUSES
Three buses have been converted into colorful, child friendly classrooms for desperately poor orphans, street kids, and children displaced by conflict. They provide tutoring, a nutritious meal, medical care, social services, and recreation. Hope Bus 1 has been operating since 2017 and Hope Bus 2 was launched in November 2018. Hope Bus 3 was launched in 2022.
Adolescent Girls Centers in Mosul
ICF's first Adolescent Girls Center provides psychosocial services, computer and other classes, sports activities, and more services to vulnerable girls in the post-ISIS Mosul area. It serves girls who are both in school and those out of school, including those who work. Site preparation and operational plans for a second girls center are nearing completion.
"My Life Book" for orphans and vulnerable kids
ICF has published a second edition of the "My Life Book" as a free gift to Iraq's children. The book is designed for orphans, traumatized children, or other vulnerable kids as an activity book to share their own family story, draw pictures, and answer questions about their hopes for the future. It addresses the psychological need of children to "belong." The book was published jointly with several US and Iraqi partners. The book has been featured in Iraqi schools, at the Hope Buses and Adolescent Girls Center, and in conjunction with other events.
Services for disabled children in Fallujah
ICF is now providing critical care for children with disabilities at a medical clinic in Fallujah. This clinic serves local populations dealing with high rates of congenital disorders, disability caused by injury (often due to conflict), and autism spectrum disorders. Plans are underway to supplement the clinic with a mobile medical clinic, operated by the central clinic team, who can visit house-bound children with severe disabilities.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
League of Arab States Appreciation Award on Arab American Day 2018 2018
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
"Number of children who get assistance with important legal documents"
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Baghdad Street Lawyers and Social Services Project
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
"Number of children receiving legal protection and representation"
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Baghdad Street Lawyers and Social Services Project
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
"Number of children receiving social services (e.g. access to health, help to stop abuse or child labor, etc.)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Baghdad Street Lawyers and Social Services Project
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
"Number of children tutored and fed nutritious meals on three "Hope Buses"
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth, Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
HOPE BUSES
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In 2023, the ICF Hope Bus program saw an 85% improvement in the overall health of children and 80% of children have obtained their legal documents and are now able to enroll in school.
Number of anti-trafficking cases
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, At-risk youth
Related Program
Baghdad Street Lawyers and Social Services Project
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This project is an important sub project of the Street Lawyers that began partially in 2020. 2021 was the first full year. It addresses child victims of sex, organ, and labor trafficking.
Number of children receiving medical services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Services for disabled children in Fallujah
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The Fallujah medical clinic opened in 2023 and provides medical consultation, therapy, and specialized medical care/services.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Iraqi Children Foundation seeks to intervene in the lives of Iraq's most vulnerable children at the time they are at greatest risk from abuse, neglect, and exploitation by criminals, human traffickers, and extremists.
ICF's goals are:
•Being a voice for children with no voice
•Mobilizing resources for education, health, legal protection, and trauma care
•Emphasizing sustainable hand-up initiatives over hand-outs
•Investing in training and capacity building of Iraqis caring for children
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategy for being a "voice for children with no voice" is to raise awareness through ICF's "In Their Shoes" 5Ks and similar events to educate the American public on the crisis facing Iraq's children and motivate them to take action. We also do a newsletter, use social media, and have released several videos.
Our strategy for mobilizing resources and emphasizing hand up initiatives is to focus on fundraising and partnerships with trusted local Iraqi NGOs, staffed by lawyers and social workers, to deliver legal protection, help end child labor, ensure access to tutoring and public school, provide medical care and nutrition.
Our strategy for capacity building is to bring to Iraq top US talent from the award winning Children' Village (CV) of NY to provide psychosocial training and technical assistance/assessment of government and NGO care of orphans and vulnerable children. We also support training visits to CV. In 2020, we started using technology to deliver distance coaching and mentoring of Iraqi social workers by an Arabic-speaking Iraqi American psychotherapist. The sessions provide tools to the social workers but also help prevent burnout.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our capabilities rest primarily in the experience and expertise that our Board members and Advisors have in Iraq, our US-based relationship with the award winning Children's Village of New York, and our Iraq-based relationships with competent and trustworthy Iraqi NGOs. We also enlist the professional assistance of an Iraqi-American psychotherapist to provide culturally sensitive coaching in Arabic to Iraqi social workers. ICF serves as a cost-effective catalyst in identifying and bringing resources and local experts to each of the projects we support rather than incurring high costs of hiring in-house staff in Iraq. We have a robust volunteer support staff as well.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
*In 2022, as of December 31, this is what ICF accomplished for the year: (Note: in parenthesis are cumulative totals since program inception)
* 256 cases of helping children get missing legal documents needed to enroll in school or get food and other benefits (since the project launched in 2016, total cases are 1,905)
*253 cases of legal protection and assistance with the police and courts for at-risk children (since the project launched in 2016, total cases are 1,900)
*93 cases handled by special anti-trafficking unit of Street Lawyers to address sex trafficking of young girls as well as human organ trafficking and labor trafficking (since project launched in 2020, total cases are 188)
*133 cases of social services for children such as health care, reintegration with families after release from detention, help in child labor cases, and other social services. (since the project launched in 2016, total cases are 1,459)
*Hope Buses 1 and 2 - and now Hope Bus 3 - have served 173 orphans and street children, full/part time, and provided an estimated 20,000+ nutritious meals . (since the project launched in 2017, total children served are 630)
*Adolescent Girls Center in Mosul area, started in 2021, serves average of 50 girls each day including girls who go to school and those who are unable to attend school.
*"My Life Book:" The activity book that was first introduced to Iraqi caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children at a training in Baghdad in 2012. The release of the second, updated version was released in 2021 and has already been shared with hundreds of children in Baghdad, Mosul, and elsewhere.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Iraqi Children Foundation
Board of directorsas of 01/27/2024
Mr. David Collins
The Children's Village of New York
Term: 2023 - 2025
Mohammed Khudairi
Ward Scott, Esq.
Grant Felgenhauer
Ali Halabi
David Collins
Luma Jaffar
Michael Jason
Dr. Rafid Aziz
Layla Fattah
Ken Fox