Iraq

The Temple of Charyos in southern Iraq, built during the same Mesopotamian era when the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was inscribed.
UNESCO/Qahtan Al-Abeed

UNESCO hails return of looted ancient Gilgamesh tablet to Iraq

20 September 2021
Culture and Education

The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet - one of the oldest surviving literary works in history - is to be returned to Iraq by the United States later this week, the UN agency for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), said on Monday.

Children and women remain highly vulnerable to trafficking in Asia and the Middle East.
© UNICEF/Shehzad Noorani

First Person: Human trafficking, migrant smuggling, still significant threats in Asia

12 September 2021
Law and Crime Prevention

Human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants are going to remain significant threats to human security, that’s according to a trafficking and migrant expert working in the Middle East and Asia region for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Voters in Iraq go to the polls on 10 October 2021.
© UNICEF/Wathiq Khuzaie

Iraq: Clock ticks on all-important elections, commitment to credibility needed

25 August 2021
Peace and Security

With just 46 days until Iraq goes to the polls, the UN Assistance Mission for the country (UNAMI) is stepping up its communications to inform voters about their conduct, Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert told the Security Council on Wednesday, stressing that it is up to the political parties themselves to refrain from attempts to distort the results.
 

A once busy street in Baghdad, Iraq.
UNAMI

Iraq: Put torture prevention laws into practice, urges Bachelet

3 August 2021
Human Rights

 Although laws in Iraq criminalize torture and set out procedural safeguards to prevent it, a new report released on Tuesday by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), makes clear that the practice continues in jails throughout the country. 

Yazidis who fled Sinjar Mountain re-enter Iraq from the Syrian Arab Republic. (file)
© UNICEF/Khuzaie

UN chief underlines commitment to justice for Yazidis in Iraq

3 August 2021
Peace and Security

Secretary-General António Guterres has urged the Iraqi authorities to swiftly implement a new law to assist Yazidi survivors of ISIL atrocities, the UN said on Tuesday in a statement marking seven years since the extremist group brutally targeted the religious minority and other communities. 

Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.
UNAMI

Iraq: Bomb attack on eve of Eid al-Adha, ‘terrorism knows no bounds’ 

20 July 2021
Peace and Security

Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned the “horrific bomb attack targeting civilians” at a busy market in the northeast of the Iraqi capital, just before the Eid al-Adha holiday.

People pray in Erbil, the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
OCHA/Charlotte Cans

Iraq: New UN report shines light on ‘deeply worrying’ pattern of restrictions in Kurdistan 

12 May 2021
Human Rights

Over the past year, freedom of expression in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has been increasingly curtailed, according to a UN report issued on Wednesday.   

Murals in Baghdad’s Shualah area, Iraq, teach health measures on how to safely treat family members with COVID19 at their home.
UNAMA

Iraq: UN representative calls for ‘stronger protection measures’ after fatal fire in COVID hospital

25 April 2021
Health

The UN Special Representative in Iraq expressed “shock and pain” on Sunday over a deadly accident that befell a COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. 

Yezidi children and women who fled Sinjar Mountain re-enter Iraq from Syria at a border crossing in the town of Peshkhabour in Dohuk Governorate.
UNICEF/Wathiq Khuzaie

New Iraqi law ‘major step’ in assisting ISIL’s female victims but more must be done

21 April 2021
Human Rights

A new law in Iraq provides a measure of comfort for women and girls who have survived atrocities of ISIL terrorist fighters, but more must be done, an independent UN human rights expert said on Wednesday. 

Pope Francis (centre) releases a dove representing peace at the ruins of the Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mosul, Iraq.
Vatican Media

In Iraq, Pope spreads message of peace, religious tolerance and humanity’s resilience

7 March 2021
Culture and Education

Pope Francis’ historic visit to northern Iraq to hold prayers at an ancient church destroyed by ISIL “sends a clear message to the world that harmony and cohesion between the followers of all religions is the only way for the advancement and progress of humanity,” the top UN culture official has said.