More than 12.3M Syrian children in need of help: UNICEF report

Damascus: More than 12.3 million Syrian children are in need of humanitarian assistance, a record number since 2011, the date of the outbreak of the Syrian revolution.

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said in a report on its official website that more than 6.5 million children in Syria need assistance and 5.8 million depend on aid from neighboring countries.

UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khader said that millions of children continue to live in fear, uncertainty, and destitution in Syria and neighboring countries.

According to UNICEF, it is the largest number recorded since the conflict began 11 years ago, adding that many families are facing difficulties in meeting their needs.

The prices of basic staples, including food, are rising significantly, partly because of the crisis in Ukraine.

UNICEF stated that “the crisis in Syria is not over yet,” noting that 13,000 children have been killed or injured since 2011, including the 213 during the first three months of 2022.

Nearly half a million people have died since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011, which caused the largest population displacement since World War II.

UNICEF has called for $20 million to fund “cross-border operations” in northwest Syria – the last major opposition stronghold in the country – to create the “single lifeline for nearly a million children”.