The ISIL takeover of Mosul in June 2014 changed Huda’s life forever. Brutal violence and oppression forced the then five-year-old to flee the city with her family. Before ISIL came, and having yet to start school, Huda would spend her days watching cartoons and playing with the other children on her street. Her mother, Fatima, recalls that “she used to rub her eyes often when she watched TV”, but it never crossed her mind that she might have an eye problem.

Vision impairment affects hundreds of millions of people around the globe. The repercussions are significant for those who cannot obtain glasses as their health, education and quality of life is severely hampered. The fighting and displacement in Iraq has made the provision of health services particularly challenging. Caught in conflict, they often had to flee their homes at night and make long journeys without being able to see properly, aggravating the dangers of displacement.

Now living in Erbil, Huda’s parents sent the eight-year-old to a school for displaced children funded by an international non-governmental organization. Children from Anbar, Ninewa and Salah al-Din governorates all go to this school.

In October 2017, IOM’s ophthalmologic team visited the school and gave all the kids eye exams. Huda was unsurprisingly found to be short-sighted and in need of glasses. The team also found that 85 other children needed glasses.

IOM’s eye care and eyeglasses project was launched in May 2016. Ophthalmologic check-up equipment was purchased with funding from the Government of Japan, and the glasses were donated by the Japanese company Fuji Megane Co. Thanks to this project, which is currently in its second phase, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has provided initial visual checkups to over 12,500 children, of whom 765 received eye treatment and 2,433 prescription glasses.

Khalil,14-years-old, attends the same school as Huda. He received his new glasses in November 2017. “I have had this issue for some time, but because my parents could not afford it, I could not get glasses. When I watched TV my vision was blurry, and when I read I had difficulty reading the words. Now, I can see whatever I want very comfortably, whether it is reading or watching TV.”

According to Dr. Dler Hamawandi, IOM’s ophthalmological team leader, anophthalmologist consultations and checkups in Erbil cost at least 20,000 Iraqi dinars (about USD 17) and a good pair of medical glasses can cost about USD 100. There are cheaper, low-quality glasses available, but they still cost at least 30,000 Iraqi dinars (USD 25), pricing out many displaced Iraqis and refugees.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 250 million suffer from vision impairment. If left untreated, chronic eye diseases can lead to vision loss, making the provision of prescription glasses and eye care services to Iraqi children a primary concern for IOM Iraq. IOM’s medical eye team have mobile clinics in the governorates of Erbil, Duhok, Ninewa, and a static clinic in Erbil. IOM received an additional 1,500 eyeglasses from Fuji Megane Co. in August 2017 and will continue distributing them to displaced Iraqi children.

Huda is now able to start the new school year without many of the impediments that were holding her back. She is also delighted to be able to watch her cartoons and play with her friends again without the discomfort and eye rubbing that bothered her and was the cause of much distress for her mother.