Iraqi Children Foundation (ICF) Celebrates 5 Years of Street Lawyers and Hope Bus Programs in Iraq

Programs provide critical care for thousands of at-risk orphans, street kids and other vulnerable children

 June 23, 2021, Falls Church, Virginia – The Iraqi Children Foundation (ICF) today announced the results of a five-year initiative led by Iraqi Street Lawyers, social workers, and Hope Buses that has delivered critical legal protection, education, social services, mental health assistance and nutrition to thousands of poor and vulnerable orphans, street kids, child laborers, disabled children and others displaced by years of violence.

The Street Lawyers provide essential representation and counsel to vulnerable children caught up in the Iraqi legal system at no cost to them or their families. The Hope Buses provide early childhood education, healthcare, recreational activities and meals in some of the most under-served neighborhoods in Baghdad – also at no cost to the children.

“ICF is proud of the extraordinary hard work of these dedicated professionals,” said Grant Felgenhauer, Chairman of the Board of the Iraqi Children Foundation. “These heroes provide life-changing care and help to Iraq’s most vulnerable children, setting these young people on a trajectory for a better life. ICF is pleased to support them in this essential work,” Felgenhauer explained. “Street kids need to stop working and learn to read and write. Teens need protection from exploitation by criminals and sex trafficking. Sick and disabled children need medical attention. Kids released from prison need help to reintegrate back into their families and society.” 

ICF has helped thousands of children, including:

-       Rokaya* (13) who was a good student on the Hope Bus but whose poor family nearly married her off until social workers intervened; 

-       Husam* (13) who was beaten by his boss and falsely accused of theft until the Street Lawyers intervened; 

-       Mousa* (8) whose widowed mother had to work to support the family, leaving him to wander the streets until social workers persuaded the mother to let him go to school; and

-       Layla* (3) who was used by a woman to beg on the street until Street Lawyers, working with police, discovered the girl and been kidnapped and sold to the woman to make money.

Other cases handled by the Street Lawyers involve teen girls who were exploited by sex traffickers and teen boys targeted for organ trafficking, in some cases by members of their own families. 

Children and staff of a Hope Bus in Baghdad (inset: bus prior to conversion in 2017).

From May 2016, when this ambitious initiative was first launched, through April 2021, ICF’s team of Street Lawyers, social workers, and teachers has achieved significant results, at no cost to the children or their families:

• 1,469 children received legal protection and defense from the Street Lawyers;

• 1,568 children received key legal documents required for school and benefits from the Street Lawyers;

• 1,189 children were saved from child labor and domestic abuse through the intervention of ICF-funded social workers; these children also received essential health care, psycho-social services and re-entry support as they left detention to go home and back to school; and

• More than 500 children have been nourished mentally, physically, and emotionally with tutoring, healthy meals, and psycho-social services on the Hope Buses which launched a year later in 2017. 

The Iraqi Children Foundation hopes to double these numbers in the next five years and needs your help to achieve those aspirations. ICF is a US-based, nonsectarian, nonpartisan, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity. Individual donors and US companies working in Iraq are invited to invest in these initiatives to help Iraqi children, families and communities recover from years of violence and build a better future. 

*Children’s names changed for privacy protection.

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The Iraqi Children Foundation (ICF) intervenes in the lives of children who are at risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation by criminals, traffickers, and extremists. ICF is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity (EIN 26-1394773). Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. For more information, visit www.iraqichildren.org