The Human Rights Unit of the Faculty of Nursing at Baghdad University organized a lecture entitled “The delay in passing the child protection law and its impact on victims of begging.” The lecture was presented by assistant professor Hussein Hassan Aziz and attended by faculty members, staff, and students.
The lecture aimed to highlight the ongoing delay in passing the Child Protection Law in Iraq and to explain the negative impact of this delay on the protection of children and the increase in their exploitation, especially victims of begging. The lecture also analyzed the effects of the absence of legislation on the spread of child begging and explained how begging networks exploit this legal vacuum, comparing the situation in Iraq with international standards and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The main articles of the draft law were also clarified, with a focus on the provisions relating to economic exploitation and begging, as well as the controversial points within the draft.
In conclusion, the lecture emphasized the importance of the role of educational and health institutions in raising awareness and promoting a culture of reporting and social responsibility, and called for the immediate acceleration of the enactment of the Child Protection Law as a decisive step to address the phenomenon and ensure a secure future for the children of Iraq, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals related to ending poverty in all its forms, building peaceful and inclusive societies, and Goal 16, especially Target 16.
