Syria’s children UNICEF Emergency Alert 2013 With the crisis in Syria deep into its third year, more than one million Syrian children have now been forced to flee their country. “This one millionth child refugee is not just another number. This is a real child ripped from home, maybe even from a family, facing horrors we can only begin to comprehend.” UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake Syria’s children: A million to one T he largest humanitarian operation in history has seen UNICEF provide support for millions of affected children and their families. More than 4 million children are now in need of humanitarian aid as a result of the crisis: some 3.1 million children inside Syria and more than a million in refugee camps. Syria’s children: a lost generation? Children have been killed, forced from their homes, seen unimaginable violence and lost family members and friends. Many are struggling to get an education and are living in makeshift shelters and camps, where they are at increased risk of disease as the summer temperatures rise. Caught up in the horrors of war, children are at risk of losing their childhood and their future. The physical upheaval, fear, stress and trauma experienced by so many children is just part of the human crisis. Children also are at increased risk of child labour, early marriage and the potential for sexual exploitation and trafficking. More than 3,500 children in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq have crossed Syria’s borders either unaccompanied or separated from their families. One in every five schools has been damaged or destroyed or is being used as a shelter. As the start of a new school year approaches, children are at risk of missing out on school, exams and the chance to recover and rebuild their lives through learning. Syria continued … The systematic destruction of health, education, water and sanitation services not only hampers life-saving support, it also adds grave challenges for the future. Violence and torture Breaking point ! UNICEF’s resources are at breaking point. Without further support, we may have to scale back on some life-saving work. Children are being exposed to grave human rights violations including sexual violence and torture. For over two years, stories of children being killed, maimed, tortured and used as fighters have been falling on deaf ears. UNICEF – alongside other UN agencies – urges governments to urgently find a political solution to end this crisis. You can help Parties to the conflict must stop targeting civilians and cease recruitment of children. Children and their families must be safe to leave Syria and borders must remain open so they can cross to safety. This is a grave crisis for children. We need your help, so that a generation is not lost to conflict. Night and day à £5 could provide water for a week for a family in Syria UNICEF is working night and day for the children of Syria. We are providing children in Syria and refugee children in the five neighbouring countries – Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt – with safe drinking water and sanitation, vaccines, education and psychological support. UNICEF is one of the few international children’s organisations with a permanent presence in Syria itself. We have incredibly courageous staff on the ground trying to reach children wherever they can. However, we need your help. à Please text DONATE to 70099 to give £5 now à To donate online, visit www.unicef.org.uk à To donate by phone, call 0800 316 5353 UNICEF at work: Syria crisis 2013 àVaccinated nearly 2.4 million children against measles àHelped more than 260,000 children to continue their education àProvided more than 10.2 million people with safe water àGiven psychological support to over 380,000 children to help them cope with the fear and violence that they have experienced. In June the UN launched its largest-ever humanitarian appeal. US$3 billion is needed to meet the acute needs of refugees until December this year. UNICEF is appealing for over £300 million of this to meet the needs of Syria’s children – the same as UK holidaymakers spent on sunglasses last year. So far, we have less than half of what we need to help Syria’s children. Two in a million children’s stories Bushra’s story Hala’s story ushra, age 11, lives in a cramped tent with her parents, brothers and sisters in the Za’atari Camp in Jordan. The tent has no light or heating, and it takes 15 minutes to walk to the nearest toilet. They can queue for nine hours to get food. ala, age 11, has been a refugee in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley for about a year. The family ran away during an exchange of fire. Her father died in the fighting. Hala came to Lebanon with her mother and grandparents. She attends a UNICEF supported centre in Baalbek that provides remedial classes and psychosocial support for Syrian children who are traumatised by what they have seen and lost. B Bushra has been at the camp since fleeing Syria in September 2012. Her home city of Diraa was under siege for months. She would wake at night, terrified by the noises of the bombs. Bushra still cries when she hears a plane. The family home and grocery shop was destroyed by shellfire. They fled in fear for their lives. Her grandparents remain in Syria. They were too old to make the eight-hour walk across the border into Jordan. What Bushra wants most is to go to school. “I want to be able to go to school, that’s how I’m going to change my life. I miss my grandmother, I really want to see her again soon.” H Hala is a quiet girl. She says that she misses her friends and she’s learned a lot at the centre and at the school that she also attends thanks to UNICEF’s work in the area. Hala would like to be a teacher when she grows up. Lebanon is home to more Syrian refugees than any other country. More than one million people have fled Syria for Lebanon – equivalent to nearly a quarter of Lebanon’s usual population. “I want to be able to go to school, that’s how I’m going to change my life.”