Syria Crisis 4 Years On

Helping teenagers find their own solutions amid the crisis

16 year old A’laa last saw his home in a neighbourhood of Homs two years ago. That was when the fighting in the city got so bad that his family decided to pack their bags and flee.

That experience — of terrified flight amid chaos – is familiar to countless Syrian children in the four years since their country plunged into brutal civil conflict. Many will remain forever scarred by the horrors they have been exposed to.

That might have been A’laa’s fate too. But once his family had resettled in a safer area of Homs, something happened that put his life on a more positive course.

A’laa enrolled at a life skills and vocational training centre for adolescents, run by a local NGO with support from UNICEF. There, he joined a group of teenagers learning ways to improve their critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills.

“It showed me ways that I could help my friends and peers deal with some of the bad things in their lives,” says A’laa. “I also became more confident about making new friends, and interacting with other people in general, including my parents and my brothers and sisters.”

Seeking solutions for communities

The idea, according to Veera Mendonca, UNICEF Regional Advisor for Adolescent Development, is to give adolescents and young people the chance to work on identifying – and solving — critical issues in their communities. They discuss their ideas within their teams, and with local community leaders, then develop them into workable solutions that will impact the daily lives of the community.

“Alaa is an example of how young Syrians, with a little training and support, can become empowered citizens, able to think creatively and propose solutions to the often terrible situations they and their peers find themselves in,” says Ms Mendonca.

Inside Syria, adolescents constitute a quarter of Syria’s population — around 5 million in all. As the crisis has worsened, these teenagers have missed out on schooling and other opportunities to develop and learn. Many – especially girls – are forced to stay indoors for their safety. Others have to work to help provide income for the family — the case for many adolescent boys.

In this dangerous environment, the absence of choices can lead adolescents and young people into harm’s way. Some may end up joining armed groups. Some girls are forced to marry at a very young age.

In 2014, within Syria, programmes organised by UNICEF and its partners have reached more than 100,000 adolescents, expanding positive options and choices for adolescents and young people.  A total of 19 Adolescent Friendly Spaces have been established in Tartous, Homs, Deir-Ez-Zour, Aleppo, Lattakia, Idlib, Damascus and Rural Damascus.

Meanwhile, outside the country, some 600,000 Syrian refugee children between the ages of 12 and 18 are grappling with equally difficult situations and unmet needs. Similar programmes are operating in Jordan and Lebanon, expanding positive options and choices for adolescents, whether refugees or members of the host communities.

Back in Homs, A’laa is today an experienced peer to peer trainer and reflecting on the difference this role has had on his life.

“For the first time, I started to re-imagine a future of hope,” he says.

In 2015, UNICEF and partners are aiming to expand the programme to reach 165,000 adolescent boys and girls in life skills and vocational training and 150,000 adolescents in psychological support and life skills training.

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