DAMASCUS, Syria, 7 November 2014 – The attack on the Al Hayat Primary School in the district of Qaboun in eastern Damascus on Wednesday killed 11 children and injured many more – yet another horrific reminder of the terrible price Syria’s children are paying in a brutal conflict now well into its fourth year.
The Qaboun assault is the latest in a series of indiscriminate attacks on schools, teachers and students. In the first nine months of 2014 alone, the United Nations in Syria has verified at least 35 such incidents that killed 105 children and injured 293. The real numbers are surely higher, and there are indications that attacks in some areas may have been deliberate.
UNICEF has repeatedly called upon all parties to the conflict to uphold their responsibility to protect children, schools, and other civilian infrastructure from the conflict. Schools should be zones of peace and safe havens where children can learn without fear of death or injury. All parties to the conflict have specific obligations under International Humanitarian and Human Rights Laws to afford children special protection.
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About UNICEF UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: http://www.unicef.org/
For more information, please contact:
Kumar Tiku, UNICEF Syria, ktiku@unicef.org, +963 93 420 2330 Razan Rashidi, UNICEF Syria, rrashidi@unicef.org, +963 93 354 9020 Roshan Khadivi, UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, rkhadivi@unicef.org, +962 79 565 1574