Iraqi government, UNICEF launch Green Schools project

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi government, in cooperation with UNICEF, began implementing the Green Schools project, utilizing solar energy to generate electricity to light schools across Iraq.

Iraq is taking actual steps to utilize renewable energy in a country that possesses large resources of this energy, represented by wind, solar, and hydroelectric energy, and the first of these steps is to use solar panels to light primary schools.

Chief Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program at UNICEF Iraq, Ali Al-Khateeb, told Sky News Arabia that UNICEF is launching the Green Schools Initiative to illuminate more than 250 schools throughout Iraq, as well as some health institutions, by providing clean energy.

Through its first phase, the initiative aims to spread a culture of clean energy among students from an early age.

In the 1980s, Iraq was among the first countries to employ clean energy; however, the country withdrew its efforts in this field after 2003, and calls for the supply of alternative energy to maintain the country’s electrical grid became increasingly strident.

The Iraqi government is trying to progressively switch to renewable energy, capitalizing on the country’s geographic location as well as the skills and knowledge of established institutions in this area.