DM Monitoring
Damascus: A record 12.3 million Syrian children are in need of aid both inside the country and in the wider region where they fled, the United Nations warned.
This comes more than a decade since a civil war devastated Syria yet funding has been “dwindling” over time, the UN said on Sunday. “Syria’s children have suffered for far too long and should not suffer any longer,” UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, said in a statement.
The agency noted more than 6.5 million children inside Syria are in need of assistance, the highest number recorded since the beginning of the crisis more than 11 years ago. Syria’s war is estimated to have killed half a million people and displaced millions since it began with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011. It escalated to pull in foreign powers and a variety of armed groups. “Children’s needs, both inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, are growing,” said Adele Khodr, UNICEF’s Middle East chief.
“Many families struggle to make ends meet. Prices of basic supplies including food are skyrocketing, partially as a result of the crisis in Ukraine.” Among the most vulnerable, children are bearing the brunt of the war’s effect, the UN said. “In Syria’s neighbouring countries, strained by political instability and fragility, nearly 5.8 million children depend on assistance – their lives riddled with poverty and hardship,” Khodr added. UNICEF said it faced a severe cash shortfall to provide aid. “Funding for humanitarian operations is fast dwindling,” Khodr said. “UNICEF has received less than half of its funding requirements for this year.” UNICEF called for $20m to fund “cross-border operations” in northwest Syria – the country’s last major rebel enclave – to create “the only lifeline for nearly one million children”.
The war in Ukraine has dealt a fresh hammer blow to Syria’s ability to feed itself just as the country struggles to deal with levels of hunger that are up by half since 2019, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today on the eve of the annual donor pledging conference held in Brussels.
With years of conflict, a severe economic downturn, and food prices rising relentlessly since 2020, the Ukraine crisis is exacerbating what was already an alarming food security scenario in Syria. In March, food prices increased by 24 percent in just one month, following an 800 percent increase in the last two years. This has brought food prices to their highest level since 2013.
“Saying that the situation in Syria is alarming is a huge understatement. The heart-breaking reality for millions of Syrian families is that they don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.
“The international community must recognize that not taking action now will inevitably lead to a catastrophic future for Syrians. They deserve our immediate and unconditional support.”
