ABSTRACT
This chapter draws a Childhood Disability study that informs the development of inclusive education in Iraq. The study was commissioned by UNICEF and funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), coordinated by the UK-based Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA), designed by academics in the UK in consultation with Iraqi academics and professionals, and conducted by Iraqi research teams in 2010. Iraq was a relatively well-developed oil-rich country, known as the cradle of civilization, prior to the onset of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980. Decades of conflict, international sanctions and ongoing sectarian violence have led to the destruction of its infrastructure, the contamination of the environment and a devastating loss of professional expertise. In this sense, Iraq can now be seen as a developing country in which the impact of conflict has exacerbated pre-existing negative attitudes towards children with disabilities.
