PRESS RELEASE

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38 confirmed polio cases with 765,000 Syrian children in hard-to-reach areas

Amman/ Cairo, 22 July 2014 – In a report released today, WHO and UNICEF announced completion of the first phase of the biggest polio vaccination campaign ever undertaken in the history of the Middle East. Twenty-five million children under the age of five were reached in seven countries in 37 rounds.

“Despite immense challenges and the desperate conditions around the region, children were vaccinated from three to six times. This gives a glimpse of hope and is largely thanks to thousands of unsung heroes: committed health workers and volunteers who undertook such a formidable task all over the region and inside Syria braving dangers to provide the polio vaccination to children” said Maria Calivis, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. Continue reading →

BRIEFING NOTE

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SYRIA: Inter-Agency Mission to Mouadamiyah, Rural Damascus

• UNICEF this week participated in a cross-line mission to Mouadamiyah al-Sham in Rural Damascus as part of a four-day UN interagency mission to the area which began on 14 July.
• This is a significant and a welcome break-through in improving access. This was the first time UNICEF was able to reach Mouadamiyah – just 8 KMs from Damascus – since 2012. Continue reading →

NEW YORK/ROME, 16 July 2014- We welcome Security Council Resolution 2165 on humanitarian access in Syria, which should enable us to reach up to 2.9 million more people with vital aid. This resolution represents a breakthrough in our efforts to get aid to Syrians in need
As part of our ongoing response to the Syria crisis, we and other heads of agencies and partner NGOs  are working on how best to implement the resolution, as a matter of urgency.

WFP teams on the ground are proceeding immediately to put in place the monitoring mechanism mandated in the resolution. UNICEF has already positioned supplies ready for the first cross-border convoys supported by the new resolution, including blankets, water purification materials, hygiene kits and syringes.

Hungry, homeless children don’t know or care whether they are in a government-controlled area or an opposition-controlled area. They just want food and a safe place to live. Inside Syria, nearly 11 million people need immediate humanitarian aid. We must do everything we can to help them, bringing aid by the most direct routes, whether they are across borders or across conflict lines, and this resolution will help us to achieve that.

While this resolution addresses one challenge, many others remain. Large parts of Syria are a warzone so the conditions are very difficult for aid delivery. There are onerous administrative procedures before convoys are allowed to travel from one place to another. It costs an enormous amount of money to get aid to so many people, and raising funds is difficult.

We reiterate the calls of the Secretary-General and the UN community for all parties to the conflict and those with influence over them to enable unconditional humanitarian access to all people in need without discrimination, using all available routes.

Valerie Amos
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
Ertharin Cousin
Executive Director, World Food Programme
Anthony Lake
Executive Director, UNICEF

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Amman, 16 July 2014

Yasmine* is 16-years old and has been married for 9-months. “When I was younger I was dreaming about being a fashion designer but for now I can’t achieve that because of my situation,” she says. Her husband is 24-years old and they are expecting their first child.

“I’m five months pregnant now. Sometimes I feel angry, I think it’s because of the physical changes in my body that also affect my feelings,” she says.

Yasmine is a Syrian refugee living in Jordan. She has been in the country for two years. School is a distant memory and motherhood an imminent reality. While her story relates specifically to the conflict in Syria, a new study on early marriage in Jordan, launched today, shows that the practice of early marriage in Jordan shows no sign of abating.

Of all registered marriages in Jordan for 2013, 13% involved a girl less than 18 years of age – a figure that has remained relatively consistent for the past decade. This means more than 9,600 young girls married early and there has been little or no progress in reducing the number of cases.

Among Syrian refugees living in the country, the rate of child marriages has risen from 18% of total marriages in 2012 to 25% in 2013. Newly released figures now show that this rate has further increased to 32% in the first quarter of 2014. The pre-war figure inside Syria included an average of 13% of marriages as involving an under 18-year old.

According to Yasmine’s mother, marrying young is not uncommon for Syrian girls but the increase is a result of many children dropping out of school earlier due to the crisis and once a teenage girl is at home they will receive marriage proposals.

UNICEF Jordan Representative, Robert Jenkins, highlights how child marriage can have immediate and life-long implications, “Girls that marry before 18 years of age are at increased risk of complications during pregnancy and of being victims of abuse. They also have more limited economic opportunities due to loss of schooling and can get trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty.”

The report highlights the common factors for child marriage in Jordan as; alleviating poverty or the burden of a large family with many daughters; providing protection for young girls; continuing traditions (cultural or family); and serving as an escape for girls living in an abusive home environment.

Jordanian law puts the legal minimum age of marriage for girls and boys at 18. However, those under 18 may get married under special conditions. UNICEF advocates to uphold, in line with international standards, the minimum legal age of marriage at 18 for both boys and girls.

UNICEF works with sister UN agencies, international NGOs, local partners, schools staff, parents and religious leaders to identify and prevent cases of child marriage, as well as to support those who have married early. Promoting education, providing safe and protective spaces where girls can discuss their issues and talking with parents, community and religious leaders all play a role in addressing child marriage.

For those at risk of child marriage, UNICEF and its partners empower girls through providing vocational training, psychosocial support and life skills that can highlight options other than marrying early.

Child marriage is defined as a formal marriage or informal union before the age of 18. Girls are disproportionately the most affected. Evidence suggests that girls who have little or no education are up to six times more likely to marry as children compared with girls with secondary schooling. Completing just one more year of school can increase the ability to earn a better salary by 15 to 20%.

Yasmine hasn’t given up on her dream of being a fashion designer. “I would like to enrol in a course in the future but we will see,” she says. But her childhood has been cut short – soon she will be a mother.

*Name changed to protect identity

For more information and interviews please contact:

Fatima Azzeh, UNICEF Jordan, Tel: +962 (0) 790 056 306 – fazzeh@unicef.org

Miraj Pradhan, UNICEF Jordan, Tel: +962 (0) 790 214 191 – mpradhan@unicef.org

Toby Fricker, UNICEF Jordan, Tel: +962 (0) 796 536 340 – tfricker@unicef.org

Mr Ralph Tarraf, German Ambassador to Jordan, and Robert Jenkins, UNICEF Representative in Jordan, talk to Syrian children in Za’atari Camp.

ZA’ATARI, Jordan, 08 July 2014 – At a Ramadan breaking of the fast, or ‘Iftar’, the German Ambassador to Jordan and senior officials met and interacted with Syrian youth facing some of the most challenging conditions in Za’atari refugee camp on Tuesday.

The ‘Youth for Change’ programming reaches and provides psychosocial support to the most vulnerable adolescents in the camp. Managed by the international NGO Mercy Corps, with the support of UNICEF and funding from the Government of Germany, the centre is one example of services that will be scaled up through the new Euro 10 million funding to ‘avert a lost generation’.

Speaking at the event, the German Ambassador to Jordan, Ralph Tarraf, said, “Children are dramatically affected by the crisis in Syria. Children are particularly vulnerable. They need our protection and our support. We must help children to live a normal life to the largest extent possible under current circumstances. These children are the future of Syria. We all hope and work for peace to return to Syria and the region as quickly as possible. Every day lost is a tragic day.”

Germany’s contribution of Euro 10 million focuses on education, child protection and youth activities in 2014 and 2015, under the ‘No Lost Generation (NLG)’ initiative.

With the Syrian conflict approaching its fourth terrible year, an entire generation of children is being shaped by violence, displacement, and a persistent lack of opportunity – and could be lost forever, with profound long-term consequences for Syria, the region, and beyond.

The ‘No Lost Generation’ strategy proposes practical ways to expand access to learning and psychosocial support, as well as strengthen social cohesion and peacebuilding efforts to restore hope for the future for millions of children.

Robert Jenkins, UNICEF Representative in Jordan, highlighted the need to act before it’s too late. “Children will not be children forever. Providing education and psychosocial support now is critical and urgent to ensure that all vulnerable children living in Jordan are given the opportunity to develop as best they can into their adult lives. Engaging children in extracurricular activities, including sports, will help them to build their resilience and reach their full potential.”

The new German funding will ensure that children and youth can access psychosocial support and educational opportunities. The aim is to reduce children’s vulnerability to child labour, early marriage, social isolation and other dangers exacerbated by displacement from their home country. The programmes target Syrian refugee children, as well as vulnerable Jordanian children, aged 3 to 24 years old.

The Government of Germany is the single largest donor to UNICEF Jordan’s emergency response programme, providing a total of 45 million Euros (approx. $58.7M) since 2012. Their contribution has supported services including water and sanitation, education, child protection, and health and nutrition programmes for children and families in refugee camps and communities across Jordan.

For more information, please contact:

Miraj Pradhan, UNICEF Jordan, +962-79-021-4191, mpradhan@unicef.org

Fatima Azzeh, UNICEF Jordan, +962-79-705-6306, fazzeh@unicef.org

Amman 5 July 2014 – Well into the fourth year of the Syrian crisis, its impact on children is becoming ever more devastating, newly-released United Nations data shows.

The data, which accompany a revised UN funding appeal for its response to the crisis across the region, shows that 6.5 million Syrian children now need immediate humanitarian assistance, whether inside the country or living as refugees. The number is an increase of more than two million compared to just one year ago.

“These figures confirm the devastating impact this conflict is having on the lives of Syria’s children,” said Maria Calivis, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Children are seeing their homes, schools, health centres and communities targeted and destroyed. Millions of dreams and hopes are being shattered. This is no time for the world to look away.”

It’s a sense of loss and fear that Syrian children themselves continue to convey vividly. Ala’a*, 13- year old boy from Aleppo who now lives as a refugee in Turkey, told a UNICEF staffer: “We left our village to escape the bombing. We drove for three hours to get close to the border and once night fell, we walked another three hours to cross into Turkey. There were many checkpoints along the way. I saw people carrying guns and I was scared.”

The violence, coupled with repeated displacement, mounting evidence of disease outbreaks including polio and measles and a break-down of vital services like water, sanitation and education, are prompting UNICEF to redouble its efforts to reach as many children as possible inside war-torn Syria and in the neighbouring countries.

Inside Syria so far this year and despite huge obstacles due to the violence and access restrictions,  UNICEF with partners has helped ensure the availability of safe water for nearly 17 million people, as well as supporting the vaccination of 2.9 million children against polio – part of an unprecedented regional immunization campaign reaching 25 million children. Meanwhile, as part of efforts to meet the needs of children directly affected by the conflict, UNICEF has provided 114,000 children with education materials and 34,000 children with psychological support.

But lack of funding threatens UNICEF’s ability to continue providing vital assistance to children; the agency has a gap of US$ 487 million to cover its emergency programmes for children inside Syria and in neighbouring countries by end of 2014.

“We are very grateful to our donors who have been extremely generous. But without fresh resources our operations – including life-saving water and sanitation interventions for refugees in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan – will inevitably interrupted and some might be completely stopped”, said Calivis.

*Name has been changed

For more information, please contact:

Simon Ingram, UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, Tel. +962-79-590-4740, singram@unicef.org

Juliette Touma, UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, Tel. +962-79-867-4628, jtouma@unicef.org

اقرأ بالعربية

DAMASCUS, Syria, 2 July 2014 – Recent and increasing interruptions of access to safe drinking water in Syria are compounding the dire water, sanitation and health conditions for hundreds of thousands of internally displaced and vulnerable people inside Syria. This has resulted in a high risk of outbreaks of water- and food-borne diseases, such as typhoid, hepatitis A, cholera, and other diarrheal diseases during the current summer season.

Water and sanitation systems have significantly deteriorated over the past year, with a breakdown of the main water supply networks and widespread pollution of water, including in the Euphrates River, which is a primary source of drinking water for the northern and eastern governorates in Syria. In 2014, the lowest rainfall precipitation on record has resulted in unprecedented drought and this is contributing to a worsening situation.

On 2 June, an explosion caused damage to water, sewage and electrical networks, resulting in a severe loss of capacity to pump water to Aleppo City, and leaving an estimated 2 million people without regular water supply. The situation remains critical. To date, safe access to the pumping station has not been secured, and the repairs will require three weeks of work to complete.

In Deir ez-Zor, the reported cuts to the water and electricity supply have contributed to the spread of diseases, and health workers continue to report increased cases of suspected typhoid. The Early Warning and Response System (EWARS) has reported over 1,650 cases of suspected typhoid in Deir ez-Zor governorate, mostly in Al-Bukamal and Al-Mayadin towns. Also, recent reports of military action in East Ghouta may further affect water supplies to host communities and neighbouring areas.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) urgently call on parties to the conflict in Syria to halt using access to safe water and other vital services as a tactic of war. UNICEF and WHO call for an immediate ceasefire in Bustan Al-Basha in Aleppo to enable the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and technical experts to safely access the area for repairs.

We re-state the urgent need for unimpeded access for the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance, including safe water, health and hygiene supplies, to vulnerable populations to mitigate the risk of disease outbreaks this summer.

Finally, we urge the international community to prioritise the dire humanitarian needs of the Syrian people and extend all of its influence and advocacy to end the targeting of water supplies and to immediately facilitate humanitarian access.

For further information, please contact:

• Kumar Tiku, UNICEF Syria, ktiku@unicef.org, +963-934-202330
• Juliette Touma, UNICEF Regional Office, jtouma@unicef.org, +962-79-8674628
• Karim Shukr, WHO Syria, shukrk@who.int, + 963-953-888470

AMMAN, 1 July 2014 – “UNICEF is following with grave concern the situation of some 140 Kurdish schoolboys between 14 and 16 years old who were reportedly kidnapped in northern Syria last month by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“All of them, with the exception of four who escaped, are still in captivity. It has been over four weeks since the children were abducted as they returned to their hometown of Ayn al-Arab, after taking their junior high school final exams in Aleppo.

“These children have nothing to do with the war raging in Syria. They just wanted to finish their exams and go back to their families.

“The abduction, recruitment and use of children in hostilities are grave child rights violations.

“UNICEF expresses its deepest solidarity with the families of the abducted children. Those who commit such crimes must be held accountable.

“It is disheartening and inconceivable that children have to endure such brutal acts of violence and be forced to participate in this war.”

For further information, please contact:
Simon Ingram, UNICEF Regional Office in Amman, Tel: +962 79 590 4740, singram@unicef.org
Juliette Touma, UNICEF Regional Office in Amman, Tel: +962 79 867 4628, jtouma@unicef.org
Najwa Mekki, UNICEF New York, Tel: +1212 326 7448, Mobile: +1917 209 1804, nmekki@unicef.org

Statement on killing of school girls in Rural Homs; attributable to Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Syria Representative 

Damascus, 1 July 2014 – UNICEF is appalled at the senseless deaths of four young girls who were killed by a mortar explosion as they left their school in Homs governorate earlier this week (29 June).

The four deceased girls, aged 13-14 years old, had been attending a UNICEF-supported school club at Al Sabaat school in Al Rastan, a town about 20km to the north of Homs city. The area is the scene of ongoing fighting.

At least four other children were injured in the attack.

The loss of children’s lives due to relentless, indiscriminate attacks on civilian-populated areas is totally unacceptable.

Schools should be safe spaces for children, where they can get much needed respite from the constant fear of attack. At the same time, children should be able to go to and from school safely.

UNICEF renews its repeated calls for all parties to the conflict in Syria to immediately cease all attacks against civilians and to fully respect the special protection afforded to children under international humanitarian and human rights law.

UNICEF has reached close to 328,000 children in Syria through school clubs which provide remedial education classes and recreational activities, along with educational supplies, and teaching and learning materials.

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do.  Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. 

For more information:

Kumar Tiku, UNICEF Syria, ktiku@unicef.org, Mob: +963 934 202 330

David Youngmeyer, UNICEF Syria, dyoungmeyer@unicef.org, Mob: +963 934 202 326

Juliette Touma, UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, jtouma@unicef.org, Mob: +962 79 867 4628