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The protracted conflict - which is accompanied by persistent, serious violations of human rights and a worsening of the humanitarian situation - is having disastrous effects on the safety and wellbeing of girls and boys across Syria. Almost 3 million children have never known anything but war in their short lives. 5.8 million boys and girls in Syria are in of need humanitarian assistance and protection, with nearly 7 million living in poverty and 2.7 million children are internally displaced.1
The 2017 Syria Humanitarian Response Plan requests $76 million USD for child protection interventions for 900,000 children. As of May 2017, only 7 million has so far been received.2
Children across Syria live in daily fear of mortar shells, airstrikes or bullets. International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law continues to be breached, with persistent use of explosive weapons in populated areas resulting in countless deaths and injuries, and massive destruction of essential civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, playgrounds, and homes. Children are at risk of harassment, abduction, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and ill treatment. In addition to other protection risks and violations they experience on a daily basis including recruitment and use in the conflict, engagement in the worst forms of child labour, family separation,physical and sexual violence, and lack of birth certificates, and profound psychosocial distress. All of this against a backdrop of continuous displacement, deepening poverty, and the persistent lack of access to even the most basic necessities.
Violations of children’s right to protection have life-threatening, immediate impacts. Some effects may only be seen in the long term, yet are no less significant and detrimental for children, families and societies as whole, and may exacerbate and maintain conflict, perpetuate cycles of poverty, violence and community instability.3
There is an urgent need to expand and strengthen Child Protection programming to address these challenges and ultimately save lives. Without the ongoing investment from donors we risk losing a generation of children:
- 800,000 children and caregivers will not receive access to psychosocial support and child protection programmes needed to reduce the risk that short-term distress leads to longer-term mental health and protection concerns.
Centre and mobile services provide essential psychosocial support to children and their caregivers to provide a sense of normality, stability and structure to children to reduce the risk that short-term distress leads to longer term concerns, and assist child protection actors in identifying and supporting children in need of more specialised child protection interventions, for example high risk cases such as unaccompanied and separated children.