Picking up the Pieces: Rebuilding the lives of Mosul’s Children after years of conflict and violence

A year since ISIS was expelled from Mosul, the city’s children are living in near constant fear for their lives, and are often reliving memories of devastation, displacement, bombing and extreme violence, a new report from Save the Children reveals.

With hundreds of thousands of children living amidst the rubble, even teenagers said they were too scared to walk alone, be without their parents or go to school – many of which bear the scars of war.

As a result, children are reporting serious emotional problems, depression and extreme anxiety and have been pushed to breaking point, Picking Up the Pieces: Rebuilding the lives of Mosul’s children after years of conflict and violence found.

Children and youth experienced unimaginable horrors under ISIS and a year on they are still struggling to cope with their fears and feelings that nowhere is safe. The lack of safety many girls and boys continue to feel is likely behind their inability to heal and is a key driving force for their worries. More than 80 percent of adolescents surveyed said they did not feel safe walking alone and almost half did not feel safe away from their parents.

The report found that:

1. Almost half of children surveyed felt grief all or a lot of the time.
2. Fewer than one in 10 children could think of something happy in their lives.
3. More than a quarter of adolescents told Save the Children they never liked who they were.
4. Half of adolescents aged 13 to 17 did not feel safe away from their parents and 80 percent did not feel safe walking alone.
5. More than 80 percent of caregivers said the worry caused by problems such as poor economic conditions and work opportunities caused them to lose sleep.
6. 72 percent of caregivers reported feeling unhappy or depressed, and more than 90 percent reported feelings of worthlessness.