Statement to the press attributable to Mr. Kevin M. Kennedy, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis

UNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S DAY Amman, Jordan 20 November 2015

“The conflict in Syria has raged for five years. It is estimated that 250,000 people have lost their lives and over one million have been injured. Particularly heinous has been the impact on Syria’s children with tens of thousands of children having been killed or maimed. They have lost their lives to air strikes, mortars, artillery, shooting, car bombs and improvised explosive devices. “Among cases the UN was able to document in the past months, 19 children were killed in Al-Wa’er district of the city of Homs, when a missile hit a playground where children were playing.

In another incident, 19 children were killed including six in a UNICEF-supported facility when mortars and rockets hit Aleppo. Last month, bombing became so intense in southern Aleppo that teachers had to evacuate over 1,000 children from three schools. While no students were hurt, the headmaster of one of the schools was reportedly killed in an air strike on his way home. And just this week, eight civilians including six children and a teacher were reportedly injured when a mortar hit the Bab Touma area in the old city of Damascus.

“Parties to the conflict in Syria should stop attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure including schools, education facilities and personnel” said Mr. Kennedy. “One in four schools in the country can no longer be used because it is destroyed, damaged, sheltering thousands of displaced families or being used for military purposes.

“As the war in Syria enters its fifth years, two million children are out of school, more children are working while others are being forced to join the fighting.

“This conflict is a living nightmare for children, robbing them of their childhood and futures. We are closer than ever to losing a whole generation of children to despair, illiteracy and darkness.

“We call upon all parties to the conflict to reach an immediate nation-wide cease-fire and put an end to this brutal conflict.

“We also call upon the international donor community to support initiatives to bring more children into school, like the “No Lost Generation”, and to increase advocacy on the need to protect schools from being attacked. We have to make Syria safe for children.”

For more information, please contact:
Iyad H. NASR, OCHA Regional Spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa,
Mobile: +20 10 9555 8662 Email: nasri@un.org

For more information on the No Lost Generation Initiative:
Juliette S. TOUMA, Communication & Media Specialist/ Syria Crisis, UNICEF Regional Office,
Mobile: +962-79-867-4628 Email: jtouma@unicef.org

About The No Lost Generation Initiative: Launched in 2013, the No Lost Generation Initiative brings together a wide range of partners from the United Nations, non-governmental organisation and donors. The broad objective is to expand access to learning and provide a protective environment for children and adolescents inside Syria and in neighbouring countries. The initiative puts education and child protection at the centre of the humanitarian response generating critical funding to what are often under-funded sectors in emergencies.