Canada spending $8M to help kids affected by fighting in Iraq

OTTAWA – Canada is donating $8 million to a UNICEF effort to meet education and protection needs of Iraqi children.

International Development Minister Christian Paradis says the No Lost Generation initiative will help up to 200,000 children whose lives have been disrupted by conflict.

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Paradis says the money will help keep the children in school and provide the catch-up education many of them will need.

UNICEF Canada says the government money comes on top of $1.7 million donated by ordinary Canadians to support relief efforts in Iraq.

Paradis says an estimated 1.8 million Iraqis have been displaced by the fighting in that country, the largest such internal displacement in the world.

UNICEF says another 100,000 Syrian children have fled to Iraq, adding to the size of the problem.