UNICEF seeks to help more Iraqi children in 2008

GENEVA (Reuters) - An estimated 2 million children in Iraq face the unrelenting threats of poor nutrition, disease and no school, but there is a window of opportunity for more aid to reach them in 2008, the U.N. Children's Fund said on Friday.

Iraqi children were frequently caught in the crossfire of the conflict this year, with hundreds losing their lives or injured by violence, the agency said. Many more had the main wage-earner in their family kidnapped or killed.

"Iraqi children are paying far too high a price," Roger Wright, UNICEF's special representative for Iraq, said in a statement. "We must act now."

Conditions were beginning to allow for a more concerted effort to deliver aid, although insecurity and displacement continue to cause hardship in parts of the country, UNICEF said.

Only 28 percent of Iraqi 17-year-olds sat their final exams this year, according to UNICEF. An average of 25,000 children per month fled violence or intimidation this year, their families seeking shelter in other parts of Iraq, it said.

Despite critical needs in health, education, water and sanitation, UNICEF only received $40 million towards its $144 million appeal for Iraq this year, spokeswoman Veronique Taveau told a news briefing in Geneva.

The funds enabled Iraqi health workers to immunize more than 4 million children against polio and more than 3 million against measles, mumps and rubella. Some 4.7 million Iraqi primary school children received support for their education through school materials, or rebuilding of schools and new classrooms.

"Iraqi children are the foundation for their country's recovery ... We continue to owe them our very best in 2008 and beyond," Wright said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Charles Dick)