Unicef has launched a £1.96bn humanitarian appeal for children, 25% of which will be focussed on educating children in emergencies.
According to the latest figures on the Syrian crisis – contained in Unicef’s Humanitarian Action for Children report – more than 4.3m Syrian’s have fled the country.
This leaves 13.5m, including 6m children, who have remained in the region and require urgent humanitarian assistance.
Approximately a third of those people are in hard-to-reach and besieged areas and are facing severe shortages of basic provisions, leading to numerous reported cases of malnutrition.
During this period of conflict, Unicef and other organisations working to provide relief have found that children are being targeted, through attacks on schools and the recruitment of child soldiers.
Speaking at the appeal launch this week, Dr Peter Salama, Unicef’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa described a “pervasive disregard for international law,” that had made it “one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a child today.”
He warned of a “deep problem of child protection,” that was “the most tragic collateral damage of this war.”
Dr Salama said the vital safety and structure that could be provided to those children through continued education was being compromised as infrastructure was being destroyed and staff and students displaced.
“We have a very real concern that we are at the risk of losing a generation of Syrian children,” he said.
In the lead up to the Syria Donors Conference in London, Unicef is attempting to draw attention to these issues and show the impact Syria’s war is having on its children.
As well as raising funds, the organisation is keen to see an international commitment to unconditional and sustained access to education for all children in Syria.
It is also calling for long-term investment in education and protection to get the 3m Syrian children whose education has been disrupted, back into school.
According to Dr Salama, however, a sustainable solution will only be possible if there is also a “negotiated diplomatic solution to the crisis.”
Describing the important consequences this focus on schooling could have, Lily Caprani, Unicef UK Deputy Executive Director, said that education gave communities “hope that they would have this passport in the future to be able to return home, rebuild their country, rebuild the fabric of their society and it gave them something to look ahead to.”
Concluding on a positive note, Maria Calivis, Former Unicef Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said that results had been possible on the ground during the five years of conflict where investment had taken place.
She called for “a vision to get back the development of some of these countries,” and stressed that “rebuilding of communities will be a big contribution to peace.”