Children of Syria
29 August 2013
In Syria, a glimpse into the everyday dangers faced by humanitarian workers By Iman Morooka
The ferocious shelling that pounds areas around Damascus is what you hear throughout the day, every day. While people have learned to cope with this reality, the tragic fact is that with each one of them, children and people are killed, maimed or displaced. Some of UNICEF’s Syrian staffers have been directly affected by the crisis. Some have themselves been displaced from their homes. Even going to work every day is not without its risks, with increased targeting of check-points and key locations within Damascus. “You can’t make any plans in life, because you simply don’t know what is going to happen,” one colleague said. There is a general feeling that people’s lives are being put on hold. Surrounded by violence As the conflict intensifies and spreads, UNICEF staff on the ground and dedicated partners struggle every day to reach children and families and to deliver life-saving supplies and services. During my three-month mission in support of the Syrian crisis response, I travelled to Homs several times. I noticed check points moving locations, indicating that the boundaries of control were shifting. Concrete walls were erected to block streets, and neighborhoods www.unicef.org/mena
If we don’t help, who else will? We have also made some progress in delivering aid through cross-line operations to children and families in opposition-held areas, although it is difficult to know the exact number of people we have reached there, given the current challenges in monitoring and the fluid dividing lines between what is Governmentcontrolled and what is oppositioncontrolled territory.
© UNICEF/ Syria-2013/Morooka
DAMASCUS, Syria – As I was first arriving in Damascus from Beirut by road, the only accessible route for UN staff travelling into the conflicttorn Syrian capital, I saw a huge plume of black smoke rising in the distance. My colleague, the UNICEF driver who picked me up from Beirut, said it was coming from the direction of Daraya. The name immediately rang a bell, as it was frequently mentioned in the news as a scene of intense fighting.
whom work on a purely voluntary basis. They are constantly exposed to the threat of snipers, explosions and shelling.
UNICEF’s assistance to the children of Syria is truly making a difference.
became more and more segregated. Heavy bombardment and fighting continues for control of the city’s neighborhoods, and many parts of the city are inaccessible. Thinking of the children who have nowhere else to go, I cannot begin to imagine the level of fear and violence that they have to endure. In my encounters with displaced families in Homs and elsewhere, I came across stories of many children, and even adults, deeply traumatized by the violence they have witnessed. Even in such conditions, I was also able to see the difference we’re making on the ground, and the progress made from month to month. Thanks to the scaling up of UNICEF programmes and strengthening of its field presence, more children are enrolled in education activities. We have also made progress in water and sanitation by providing access to services for IDPs, and largescale infrastructure maintenance and repair of water systems. Child Friendly Spaces are reaching more children inside the country, among other areas of support. We work with partners who put their own lives at risk every day, many of
www.unicefmena.tumblr.com
A Syrian colleague once said to me, “If we don’t support education, and if we don’t set up WASH facilities in IDP shelters, who else will?” While humanitarian assistance can’t fundamentally change the plight of Syrian children, the work that is being delivered by national and international humanitarian workers does indeed mean the difference between life and death to hundreds of thousands of children in Syria.
Refugees by numbers* Lebanon
712,000
Jordan
515,000
Turkey 459,000 Iraq
160,000
Egypt
110,000
North Africa 14,000 Total
1,970,000
(UNICEF estimates that 50% of these refugees are children.) - Figures have been rounded *UNHCR registered refugees and individuals awaiting registration as of 29 August 2013
www.twitter.com/unicefmena
www.facebook.com/unicefmena