Syrian Children Need Us Now More Than Ever

The conflict in Syria has raged for nearly six years, leaving 13.5 million people in need of urgent life-saving assistance, including 6 million children. UNICEF has been on the ground in Syria throughout the conflict, providing children with access to clean water and sanitation, medical supplies, health, nutrition and education, among other things. No matter how desperate the situation, we remain undeterred in our mission to put children first.

It is a difficult number to fathom — still 500,000 children living in besieged areas — the number has doubled in less than one year. Living in terror among air strikes and barrel bombs, growing up to the sounds of soldiers and warring factions on their streets, they have seen their houses, schools and playgrounds destroyed, and, unfortunately, many of them have lost family and friends. As these children sit in dark basements, reading and writing by candlelight, they might still believe in a world that cares enough to stop their suffering. We need to ensure that these children stay alive, but equally important, we need to protect that flicker of hope.

14 million children impacted by conflict in Syria and Iraq

Some 14 million children across the region are now suffering from the escalating conflict sweeping Syria and much of Iraq, said UNICEF today. With the conflict in Syria now entering its fifth year, the situation of more than 5.6 million children inside the country remains the most desperate. That includes up to 2 million children who are living in areas of the country largely cut off from humanitarian assistance due to fighting or other factors. Some 2.6 million Syrian children are still out of school. Almost 2 million Syrian children are living as refugees in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and other countries.

This is in addition to the 3.6 million children from vulnerable communities hosting refugees, who themselves are suffering due to the strain on services like education and health. Meanwhile, the increasingly interlinked crisis gripping Iraq has forced more than 2.8 million children from their homes, and left many trapped in areas controlled by armed groups. “For the youngest children, this crisis is all they have ever known. For adolescents entering their formative years, violence and suffering have not only scarred their past; they are shaping their futures,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “As the crisis enters its fifth year, this generation of young people is still in danger of being lost to a cycle of violence – replicating in the next generation what they suffered in their own.”