Shortly before the tenth year of war in Syria began, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appealed to governments and the public not to leave Syrian children alone. „Every ten hours a child dies from the aftermath of the war,“ UNICEF said today.
The children’s aid organization estimates that 2.8 million girls and boys do not attend school – many of them have never had school lessons. „Humanitarian aid cannot end the war, but it can alleviate the need for the weakest,“ said UNICEF Germany managing director Christian Schneider. That is „a commandment of humanity“.
In the past few weeks, more than 900,000 people have been displaced in the Idlib province on the border with Turkey. This last rebel stronghold is also home to Islamist fighters who had previously left other provinces. About 60 percent of the displaced are children, UNICEF explained – „between the fronts they suffer from violence, homelessness and acute need“.
