More than 6.5 million children inside Syria and 5.8 million refugees outside the country now depend on assistance, the United Nations warned on Sunday.
More Syrian children are in need than ever since the country’s devastating war erupted over a decade ago. Still, their funding is “dwindling,” the United Nations (UN) warned on Sunday.
“Syria’s children have suffered for far too long and should not suffer any longer,” the UN children’s agency Unicef said in a statement, noting that 12.3 million needed aid both inside the country and in the broader region where they had fled.
“More than 6.5 million children in Syria are in need of assistance, the highest number recorded since the beginning of the crisis, more than 11 years ago,” it added.
Syria’s war is estimated to have killed nearly half a million people and displaced millions since 2011.
“Children’s needs, both inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, are growing,” said Adele Khodr, Unicef’s Middle East chief.
Children are among the most vulnerable, and the UN warned they are bearing the brunt of the impact.
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.”
Source: Iran Press
