One of the deadliest conflicts of our time has left 8.5 million children needing emergency aid. After 10 years of war, a generation of Syrian children have lost their homes, their security, access to schooling, and their childhood. Now, 10 years since the war began, UNICEF is urgently appealing for funds to deliver emergency supplies, protection, support and education to millions of children living in constant fear.
This month marks 10 years since violence in Syria began. A decade of war has killed thousands, and nearly 90 per cent of children are in need of humanitarian assistance - a 20 per cent increase in the last year alone.
Right now in the northwest of Syria, ongoing violence continues to threaten the lives of children. Millions of children remain displaced, with many families having fled violence multiple times.
Children and their families are taking refuge in public facilities, schools, mosques, unfinished buildings and shops. Many are simply living in parks, amidst heavy rains and in the freezing cold.
Since the beginning of the war 10 years ago, nearly 12,000 children have been killed or injured. That's an average of more than three children a day.
For a quarter of Syria’s children, school is a distant memory. In more than 75 per cent of households, children work to help supply food, electricity and clothes for their families. Nearly half are sole or joint breadwinners. Most earn less than $2 a day.
Through our partners on the ground, UNICEF continues to deliver assistance to families in need, including those recently displaced. We are providing hygiene kits, safe water, vaccinations for children and treatment for malnutrition. By deploying pre-built schools in the most damaged neighbourhoods, we’re enabling children to continue their education and start looking towards a brighter future.
The ongoing violence continues to have a huge impact on children inside Syria, across the region and beyond. Every Syrian child has been impacted by the violence, displacement, severed family ties and lack of access to vital services.
With each week, the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic is making it harder for families to survive and provide even basic education and protection for their children.
“The crisis in northwest Syria is turning into a child protection crisis of unprecedented scale." - Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.
“Another year. Another decade. Another grim chapter in the Syrian catastrophe that has left the country and its people reeling from the decimation and destruction of a seemingly endless war.”
Inside Syria, nearly 80 per cent of people live in poverty. Food, water and medicine are in short supply. Millions more have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt, where they are desperately trying to rebuild their lives in overcrowded refugee camps. Every one of these children needs a safe space to learn and build the future they deserve.
A damaged classroom at Reyad Hamoud school. © UNICEF/UN0398846/Aldroubi
How we can help Syrian children - rebuilding futures with pre-built schools
In northwest Syria, about 82 per cent of children are forced to work to support their families instead of attending school.
Often, there’s no nearby school available. One in three has either been destroyed or is littered with landmines. Some have been converted into military facilities.
By deploying portable, pre-built schools in the most damaged neighbourhoods, we’re enabling children to return to the classroom, giving them a chance to rebuild their lives.
In catch-up community schools, students are able to work part of the day and attend classes suited to their abilities.
In 2020, we were able to provide 271 prefabricated buildings across the country, serving as schools and health centres to deliver essential and life-saving services to children in areas ravaged by war.
But millions of children still need access. Donate now to provide essential supplies and help to provide many more prefabricated classrooms and clinics around the country.
Children play in their school yard on the first day of the school year in Haidarieh neighbourhood of east Aleppo. Their school received eight pre-fabricated classrooms from UNICEF to replace the destroyed spaces, allowing 750 children to continue their education. © UNICEF/Syria 2018/Khudr Al-Issa