By Wendy Bruere

DOMIZ, Iraq – Hadija, 12, and her younger siblings are fast becoming part of a generation of Syrian children at risk of being lost. She has been out of school for over a year and has forgotten how to read.

“I miss school and I miss my friends,” Hadija says softly.

Her sister Sara is eight and has never been inside a classroom. Sara told me she wants to learn to read and write, “but there is no school.”

The family lives in Var City, a housing development in Domiz town, about 15 minutes’ drive from the refugee

camp. Around 700 Syrian families have moved in here. For families who can afford it, renting an apartment is generally preferable to living in a crowded refugee camp. But the vast majority of these children do not go to school.

While technically Syrian children are allowed to attend local schools, classes are taught in Kurdish, and they are used to learning in Arabic. There are also simply not enough schools in the area to accommodate them all – more than 70 percent of the 159,000 Syrian refugees in Iraq live outside the camp, nearly one quarter of them are children of school age.

Hadija says she wanted to become a doctor so she could help children. But right now she will be lucky if

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Children of Syria A UNICEF update

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UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Yoka Brandt visited the region to see the situation of the children of Syria first hand. Yoka’s first stop was in Lebanon where she met Syrian families in the Bekaa Valley. Here she meets with children in a UNICEF-supported school in Zaatari camp in Jordan. Next stop? Syria.

Lilith, 11, misses her school in Syria.

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A young Syrian boy at the opening of a school for Syrian children in Urfa, southern Turkey.

A fifth grader attending a history class at the KAR primary school in Domiz refugee camp, northern Iraq.

Faces of the Children of Syria

In Syria, Protecting children from the remnants of war©

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she manages to grow up literate, let alone get into medical school.

All Syrian refugee children we speak to tell us that missing education is the thing that upsets them most – they know their future is being stolen from them.

Eleven-year-old Lilith tells a similar story. She and her siblings have been out of school for two years – even before they came to Iraq, they stopped going to school in Damascus as the situation was too dangerous.

“I loved school,” says Lilith, a thin, quiet girl, with brown hair hanging to her waist. “My teacher taught me to read stories so that when I grow up I would be educated. But she’s still in Syria and we don’t know what happened to her… I loved her so much.”

But it’s not just the stress of missing school that Lilith and her siblings grapple with now. The children saw bodies in the streets in Syria – after that they would often cry, cling to their mother and have trouble sleeping.

“The children are getting better here,” says their mother, Amad. “But sometimes they remember things. We just tell them it’s a dream and to try to forget it.”

For children like Lilith, education can be crucial to their recovery - schooling restores routines and normalcy, and allows them to make new friends.

UNICEF and the Norwegian Refugee Council are currently finalizing a joint education assessment on Syrian refugees living in urban areas. The report will inform UNICEF interventions for refugees like the children of Var City. Hopefully, soon, more children can be brought back into formal education where they belong, and be given back their futures.

DAMASCUS, Syria – In times of conflict, being able to identify dangerous remnants of war can be a matter of life or death for many children.

Images, leaflets and posters explaining, in simple terms, how to avoid things like landmines and explosives and what to do when you find them, are key to raising awareness.

In Syria, UNICEF is working with a national partner to put together a kit which will be used by trained school teachers to spread awareness

about the risks of explosive remnants of war among school children, and educate them on best practices and behaviours to avoid injuries.

This kit was recently tested in a school club in Damascus.

“I was amazed by the level of interaction of the fourth grade children, and by the interesting feedback I got from them,” said Boutros Hobeika, UNICEF Child Protection Risk Education consultant.

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Being able to identify dangerous remnants of war can help save lives.

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Children of Syria

AMMAN/DAMASCUS – Finding ways to address Syria’s deepening water and sanitation crisis was at the centre of an unusual meeting of more than 150 experts, senior government officials, and representatives from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations in Damascus recently.

Participants at the gathering late June heard governorate representatives from Syria’s Water Authority describe the devastating impact that more than two years of fighting have had on the nation’s water supply and sewage systems.

In half of the country’s 14 governorates, water and sanitation infrastructure is deemed to be at high risk. Buildings and facilities have been heavily damaged or looted. Large-scale water development projects have been put on hold. Many employees have fled or are unable to report to work because of insecurity.

Recommendations made

The situation of some 400,000 people – representing over 10 per cent of the 4.25 million internally displaced by the conflict – living in collective shelters is particularly dire. Many lack basic services and the shortage of water and sanitation facilities has led to outbreaks of hygiene-related diseases and skin conditions.

“This meeting was an important step towards boosting the water and sanitation response, which is of vital importance to the whole country,” said Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Representative in Syria.

The workshop made a series of recommendations designed to strengthen the production and supply of safe drinking water, deal with overflowing sewage systems and improve garbage collection.

Particular focus is to be given to the needs in shelters for displaced persons, as well as hospitals and schools.

Humanitarian actors in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector have made significant achievements so far this year, including the delivery of 2 million litres of chlorine to water treatment plants – enough to treat water for up to 10 million people – the distribution of hygiene and sanitary kits for nearly 1 million people, and the delivery by UNICEF of 68 generators of which 30 are already operational.

Funding for the sector remains a significant constraint. Of $68.4 million needed for 2013, only $15.6 million have been received, leaving a funding gap of more than 75 per cent.

Charting the way forward for Syria’s water, sanitation and hygiene sector

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A new generator in Homs is providing safe water for thousands of households.

Refugees by numbers*

Lebanon 611,000

Jordan 487,000

Turkey 393,000

Iraq 160,000

Egypt 88,000

North Africa 12,000

Total 1,778,000(UNICEF estimates that 50% of these

refugees are children.)

- Figures have been rounded

*UNHCR registered refugees and individuals awaiting

registration as of 17 July 2013

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Children of Syria

Syria

A total of 457 UNICEF-supported school clubs are providing educational support to more than 145,000 children.

Jordan

Students in School II in Zaatari started their second semester which will last until September. School I is also open, for summer activities and catch-up classes.

Lebanon

So far this year, more than 45,000 children have benefited from formal and non-formal education services and psychosocial support.

Iraq

Nearly 1,000 boys and girls have so far registered for summer school activities at Kar and Qamishlo schools in the North.

Turkey

UNICEF helped train over 1,000 Syrian teachers in three locations on teaching standards in emergency situations and how to deal with children affected by conflicts.

By Toby Fricker

ZAATARI, Jordan – When the war came to their doorstep, 17-year old Hanadi and her family fled their home in Damascus. For one year they moved across Syria to escape the violence.

Three months ago they finally crossed the border to safety in Jordan. With it came an overwhelming sense of relief. But life in Za’atari, like any refugee camp, is tough.

“When I came here I faced lots of challenges,” said Hanadi. “The first month I didn’t go to school because I didn’t know about it and I was very sad. The second thing that bothered me was that I had no friends so I didn’t go out.”

School provides hope

Hanadi now attends one of the two schools in Za’atari. In her classroom there is a sense of focus. The girls, aged between 16 and 17, realise the importance of education for their future and that of their country.

Hanadi is relieved that she can at least continue her schooling, “I didn’t expect that I would study here but

thank God there are schools here.” She is determined to do well to realize her dream of becoming an architect. Young people, like Hanadi, will play a key role in rebuilding Syria.

When classes finish, the dusty two-kilometer walk home begins. Hanadi now has friends. Rana and Isra are in her class and live close to her family in the camp that now houses some 120,000 Syrians.

Preparing for a future back in Syria

Outside of school finding things to do is a challenge, particularly for the thousands of young people in the camp. Around half of Za’atari’s population is under the age 18.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNICEF, has established a new youth center that targets young people such as Hanadi.

Those aged 14 to 25 will be able to take part in writing and math classes, as well as studying English and IT. Classes offering vocational training will go hand-in-hand with recreational activities, such as drawing and football. The programme ultimately aims to enable youth to better deal with their experiences of war and displacement.

For young people, such opportunities will at least help them make the most out of an extremely tough situation. Hanadi’s thoughts rarely leave her home country. “In Syria, the things I miss most are my friends, my house, the streets, the markets, and everything.” she said. “My main hope is to go back.”

Hanadi’s story: Being young, female and a refugee

Hanadi prepares lunch for her family in one of Za’atari’s communal kitchen blocks.

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For more information:Najwa MekkiUNICEF Middle East and North Africa

nmekki@unicef.org menaro@unicef.org

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