Nov 25/12

Unicef is urgently mobilizing more than 100,000 children’s clothing kits and around 160,000 blankets, including baby blankets, along with other winter supplies for displaced children in Syria and surrounding countries.

Drawing on its global supply networks, Unicef is sourcing winter supplies where they are available and can be provided at speed.

“Temperatures are falling fast, down to 5 degrees Celsius this week with expected lows around freezing point. We urgently need to get clothing and other essential items to the most vulnerable children, no matter where they are,” said Ettie Higgins, deputy representative, Unicef Syria.

Many Syrian children fled their homes with only summer clothing. Now they are in temporary shelters and in desperate need of warm clothes. Unicef is worried about the impact winter will have on children’s health, including increased risk of respiratory conditions, Higgins said.

Children are already fragile from the ongoing stress associated with displacement and conflict.

Unicef is also procuring clothing kits for some 75,000 vulnerable children up to 15 years old inside Syria. Each kit includes thermal underwear, long trousers, a woolen sweater, socks, woolen gloves and hat, shoes and a winter jacket.

The blankets will be distributed to children and families displaced by the ongoing conflict, the vast majority inside Syria. They include 11,000 baby blankets for infants in Syria. Of these, more than 26,000 pre-positioned blankets, for example, will be leaving Unicef’s humanitarian hub in Dubai in the next week bound for Syria, while 41,000 further blankets are being sourced in Pakistan.

Health supplies that can meet the needs of more than 225,000 people for three months are also on their way to Syria from Unicef’s Copenhagen supply warehouse. Unicef has already readied half a million school bags, each containing stationery supplies, to boost numbers already distributed. Further supplies are being sourced within Syria where possible.

“Sourcing supplies from around the world and getting them into Syria is only half the solution,” said Higgins. “We face enormous challenges on the ground because of the security situation, but with our network of dedicated partners we will do everything we can to ensure that children get the warm clothes and blankets that they urgently need.”

It is estimated that half of the 400,000 Syrian refugees in surrounding countries are children.

In Lebanon, Unicef plans to reach more than 24,000 children with clothing kits and clothing vouchers, along with an initial 10,000 blankets. In Jordan, 78 heated winter tents for use as child friendly spaces and classrooms are to be set up over the next month. Solar panels are being installed at refugee washing centres in both Jordan and Iraq to provide hot water.

Nov 23/12

As Cold Weather Sets in, UN Agencies Deliver Winter Aid Supplies to Help Syrians Cope

New York, Nov 23 2012 12:10PM
United Nations agencies have begun delivering winter packages containing items such as blankets, thermal clothing and hygiene kits for thousands of Syrian families across the country and in neighbouring nations as temperatures begin to drop.

Inside Syria, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has now delivered vital aid packages to some 60,300 families, benefiting more than 300,000 people, spokesperson Adrian Edwards  ”http://www.unhcr.org/50af65699.html” told reporters in Geneva. “The goal is to provide such assistance to 500,000 people – or 100,000 families – by the end of this year.”

Each UNHCR family aid package weighs 42 kilograms and contains blankets, kitchen sets, jerry cans and hygiene materials. Deliveries so far this month have been made to the cities of Hassakeh, Aleppo, Homs, and in and around Damascus, the capital, Mr. Edwards said.

Syria has been wracked by violence, with at least 20,000 people, mostly civilians, killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began over 20 months ago. The violence has spawned more than 440,000 refugees, while more than 4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to UN estimates.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is mobilizing more than 100,000 children’s clothing kits and around 160,000 blankets, including baby blankets, for displaced children in Syria and surrounding countries. Each clothing kit includes thermal underwear, long trousers, a woolen sweater, socks, woolen gloves and hat, shoes and a winter jacket.

“Temperatures are falling fast, down to 5 degrees Celsius this week with expected lows around freezing point,” said the agency’s Deputy Representative in Syria, Ettie Higgins. “We urgently need to get clothing and other essential items to the most vulnerable children, no matter where they are.”

UNICEF is particularly concerned about the impact winter will have on children’s health, including increased risk of respiratory conditions. Many of them fled their homes with only summer clothing and are already fragile from the ongoing stress associated with displacement and conflict.

Health supplies that will benefit more than 225,000 children for the next three months are also on their way from UNICEF’s warehouse in Copenhagen, Denmark, the agency said in a news release. These include half a million school bags, each containing stationery supplies. Further supplies are being sourced within Syria where possible.

“Sourcing supplies from around the world and getting them into Syria is only half the solution,” said Ms. Higgins, adding that UNICEF urgently needs an additional $79 million to support its emergency response in Syria and the four surrounding countries – Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

“We face enormous challenges on the ground because of the security situation, but with our network of dedicated partners we will do everything we can to ensure that children get the warm clothes and blankets that they urgently need.”

UNHCR had previously warned that delivering aid throughout Syria has become increasingly hazardous, and Mr. Edwards noted that there had already been a number of security incidents, including the hijacking of three trucks during the last week of October, which were carrying some 1,500 mattresses, and a fire in an Aleppo warehouse reportedly caused by shelling that resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of aid items.

Both agencies are delivering supplies to Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. In Lebanon, UNICEF plans to reach more than 24,000 children with clothing kits and clothing vouchers. In Jordan, 78 heated winter tents for use as child friendly spaces and classrooms will be set up over the next month. Solar panels are also being installed at refugee washing centres in both Jordan and Iraq to provide hot water. 

07/10/12

The European Commission said Sunday it has granted 4.6 million euros ($6 million) to the UN children’s fund to educate children in Syrian refugee camps in Jordan.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, accompanied by UNICEF chief Anthony Lake, announced the grant during a visit to a school in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.

“We have to ensure that families who have had to flee their country can live in decent conditions and that their children do not lose their right to education and to a brighter future,” Barroso said, according to a commission statement.

The statement said the donation covers teacher training and salaries, school fees, textbooks, school equipment and refurbishment, support for children in need and other costs.

The school that opened last week can host up to 2,200 pupils and UNICEF seeks eventually to expand its capacity to accommodate up to 5,000.

-AFP

14/09/12

A Syrian child, who along with his family is taking shelter at a school, stands at the entrance of a makeshift hospital in Suran, on the outskirts of Aleppo.

Humanitarian chief Valerie Amos talks to refugee children temporarily living in a school in Zahera, Damascus, Syria, during a visit on 14 August 2012. Photo: OCHA/Ben Parker

14 September 2012 – Efforts to rehabilitate Syrian schools ahead of the academic year are underway despite the ongoing violence across the country, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today.

Addressing a media briefing in Geneva, a UNICEF spokesperson, Marixie Mercado, reported that according to Syrian Government estimates some 2,072 schools – out of 22,000 across the country – have been damaged or destroyed, and over 600 are occupied by displaced persons.

She also noted that UNICEF had completed repairs in 64 schools in Deraa, Rural Damascus and Lattakia, while another 100 schools would be rehabilitated within the coming days and weeks.

The Syrian Government was also moving internally displaced persons (IDPs) out of some schools and into alternative sites, such as unused public buildings, in order to prepare for the school year which is set to commence on 16 September, Ms. Mercado said, adding that it was “extremely important” that children returned to school as a way of providing stability and respite from the conflict.

More than 18,000 people, mostly civilians, have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 18 months ago. Amidst reports of an escalation in violence in recent weeks in many towns and villages, as well as the country’s two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, UN agencies now estimate that some 2.5 million Syrians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

Syria’s neighbouring countries have also been affected by the crisis, as hundreds of thousands of refugees have spilled over the borders and into refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.

Pointing to the situation in Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp, where half of the estimated 28,000 refugees are children, Ms. Mercado said that UNICEF was busy registering those of school age while working to build an educational facility that could accommodate up to 5,000 pupils. In the interim, she continued, students were being taught in temporary learning spaces, including tents, as the school year in Jordan had already begun last week.

In Lebanon, schools will accept an estimated 32,000 Syrian refugee children in the country’s public school system when classes begin on 24 September, though absorption capacity remains a concern. UNICEF will be providing those children with education kits, remedial education, recreational and psychosocial activities. At the same time, the UN agency was undertaking the construction of 10 temporary schools in the country’s Al Qaim refugee camp where 1,250 children are already being sheltered.

Against that backdrop, a spokesperson for the new Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States on the Syrian crisis, Lakhdar Brahimi, confirmed today that the UN-Arab League official met separately in the Syrian capital of Damascus with the Ambassador of Russia and the Charge d’Affaires of China, while Mr. Brahimi met with the Iranian Ambassador on Thursday.

The spokesperson further noted that Mr. Brahimi was scheduled to meet with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday morning.

14/09/12

Thousands of Syrian schools have been destroyed and hundreds are being used as shelter, the United Nations said Friday as it struggles to prepare for the start of the school year.

“It’s going to be an immense challenge,” Marixie Mercado, a spokesperson for the UN agency focused on children’s rights, UNICEF, told reporters in Geneva. 

The Syrian Ministry of Education has set the term start for Sunday, September 16, and Mercado insisted it was crucially important for children to return to school to shift the focus from the “nightmare” they were living.

More than 2,000 of Syria’s 22,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed as a result of the 18-month conflict, Mercado said, citing Syrian ministry figures.

Eight hundred and one schools also continue to host displaced families, she said, pointing out that this was “200 more than last week.”

UNICEF, she added, had seen their activities limited to Deraa, rural Damascus and Latakia.

“We’ve carried out light repairs on 67 schools and another 100 will be rehabilitated in coming days and weeks,” she said.

“Obviously the security conditions will dictate which schools open and which will not,” she added.

Following the Ministry of Education’s announcement, families sheltered in schools are being moved to sports halls and other public buildings by the Syrian government and are receiving support from UNICEF in the form of vaccinations and recreation kits.

Faced with insufficient space to teach children, schools may have to double-shift or send children elsewhere, said Mercado.

The situation is less clear for children of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries, she added, with classes yet to begin in Jordan’s Zaatari camp and “no specific date” on when that might happen.

Otherwise, Jordanian authorities have declared that Syrian children not living in refugee camps can attend the country’s schools, which opened last week, the UN agency said in a statement.

In Lebanon, where schools open on September 24, authorities are trying to place an estimated 32,000 children but capacity “is already a concern,” UNICEF said.

“For children, being back at school is one of the most effective ways of giving them a sense of stability, hope and normality,” said Mercado. “It really is a hugely important way of enabling children who have gone through a nightmare to see that they do have a future,” she added.

-AFP

Thousands of Syrian children are being screened to prevent malnutrition as part of a regional response to meet the growing health and nutrition needs of an estimated 1.3 million children affected by the ongoing crisis – including children inside Syria and in surrounding countries. 

The nutrition screening in Za’atari refugee camp in northern Jordan is taking place in parallel with a weekly immunisation clinic in the camp. UNICEF and the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and partner agencies, will also launch a large-scale polio and measles vaccination campaign targeting more than 100,000 children in Za’atari, nearby transit centres, and communities hosting refugees in northern Jordan. 

“Conflict has disrupted health services across Syria so most refugee children and their families have not had access to routine immunisations or other basic health services,” says UNICEF Middle East Regional Health Advisor Mahendra Sheth. “This work is vital because during a crisis children are most vulnerable to disease outbreaks and malnutrition, especially children living in camp settings like Za’atari.”

Under extremely difficult conditions, UNICEF and local partners in Syria are also reaching families sheltering in schools across Damascus with life-saving health care. Eight mobile medical teams are to be dispatched to reach 175,000 people in many regions hardest hit by the ongoing conflict including Aleppo, Damascus, Dara’a, Hama and Homs. Rapid assessments to monitor the nutritional situation of children are to also be scaled up in Damascus and rural Damascus.

In Lebanon and Iraq, where more than 40,000 and 15,000 Syrian refugees are sheltering respectively, immunisations are also being provided and the nutritional status of children aged 5 years and under is being monitored closely.

“The health and nutrition needs of Syrian children across the region are rapidly increasing so we must act now to ensure they are protected,” says UNICEF’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Maria Calivis. 

UNICEF is appealing to the international community for increased funding of its emergency water, sanitation, education, health and nutrition programmes which are reaching tens of thousands of Syrian children and their families in Syria and neighbouring countrie

08/09/12

#Syria,” Walk for the Children of Syria ” TODAY

Walk for Children of Syria - Coming to a city near you!
The children of Syria have become victims of violence, torture, and killings. With thousands of children killed, wounded, detained, or left without family, THE WORLD MUST KNOW about this atrocity for medical aid and humanitarian assistance to reach them.

Reclaim Human Dignity. The Journey Begins & IT STARTS WITH YOU!

Join The Syrian American Council, UNICEF and Rise4Humanity at the Walk for Children of Syria on September 8, 2012 at a city near you. PLEASE SHARE THIS VIDEO, SHARE THIS CAUSE & SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE with your friends, family, co-workers, public figures, and elected officials.

TOGETHER WE CAN SAVE THE CHILDREN & RECLAIM HUMAN DIGNITY!

To learn more about the Walk for Children of Syria and to register for a walk near you, visit http://www.walk4childrenofsyria.org.

AMMAN, 6 September 2012 – Thousands of Syrian children are being screened to prevent malnutrition as part of a regional response to meet the growing health and nutrition needs of an estimated 1.3 million children affected by the ongoing crisis – including children inside Syria and in surrounding countries.

The nutrition screening in Za’atari refugee camp in northern Jordan is taking place in parallel with a weekly immunization clinic in the camp. UNICEF and the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and partner agencies, will also launch a large-scale polio and measles vaccination campaign targeting more than 100,000 children in Za’atari, nearby transit centres, and communities hosting refugees in northern Jordan.

“Conflict has disrupted health services across Syria so most refugee children and their families have not had access to routine immunizations or other basic health services,” says UNICEF Middle East Regional Health Advisor Mahendra Sheth. “This work is vital because during a crisis children are most vulnerable to disease outbreaks and malnutrition, especially children living in camp settings like Za’atari.”

Under extremely difficult conditions, UNICEF and local partners in Syria are also reaching families sheltering in schools across Damascus with life-saving health care. Eight mobile medical teams are to be dispatched to reach 175,000 people in many regions hardest hit by the ongoing conflict including Aleppo, Damascus, Dara’a, Hama and Homs. Rapid assessments to monitor the nutritional situation of children are to also be scaled up in Damascus and rural Damascus.

In Lebanon and Iraq, where more than 40,000 and 15,000 Syrian refugees are sheltering respectively, immunizations are also being provided and the nutritional status of children 5 years of age and under is being monitored closely.

“The health and nutrition needs of Syrian children across the region are rapidly increasing so we must act now to ensure they are protected,” says UNICEF’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Maria Calivis.

UNICEF is appealing to the international community for increased funding of its emergency water, sanitation, education, health and nutrition programmes which are reaching tens of thousands of Syrian children and their families in Syria and neighbouring countries.

04/09/12

UNICEF this Baby is the only survivor his family was killed due to #Assad bombarding#Maysser #Aleppo #Syria yesterday

Syria civil war sees deadliest week,

UNICEF says

(CNN) — At least 1,600 people were killed in Syria last week, making it the deadliest week yet in the civil war, a UNICEF spokesman said Sunday.

Patrick McCormick of the U.N. children’s fund said the toll included children, as the government of Bashar al-Assad fights to suppress an 18-month uprising against its rule.

Nearly 5,000 people died in August, according to the Center of Documentation of Violation in Syria, which put the toll for the month at 4,937.

And there appeared to be no letup in the violence on Sunday, with opposition sources saying at least 144 people were killed across the country.

Showdown in Syria

Syria refugee crisis mounting

Gerges: Assad not backing down

Syrian activist: Three types of beatings

The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition group, said the toll includes a “massacre” of 35 people in the village of Al Fan in Hama province.

The state news agency SANA said there had been a clash between government forces and an “armed terrorist group” in the area.

Separately, a bombing near a government security building in the capital Damascus left at least four people wounded, state television said, calling the incident “terrorism.”

The opposition Free Syrian Army’s Grandsons of the Prophet Brigade said it carried out the attack.

CNN cannot independently verify reports of violence, because the Syrian government limits access by international journalists.

Opposition fighters claimed Saturday to be making advances, saying they captured a military air force base after an 11-day siege.

They seized the base to prevent airstrikes and shelling of civilians, Ridha Al-Alwani said via Skype from the border city of Albu Kamal in Deir Ezzour province.

A Free Syrian Army spokesman said the installation was the Air Defense battalion headquarters in Albu Kamal.

The military, however, still controls two other bases that it used to launch airstrikes following the rebel attack, Al-Alwani said.

At least 162 people died across Syria on Saturday, including 55 in and around Damascus, opposition activists said.

Several political activists reported that regime forces raided a hospital in the Damascus suburb of Kafar Batna, killed medical staff, and wounded patients. They said regime forces later burned the hospital.

The Local Coordination Committees of Syria said the regime forces had targeted the hospital in the past because it treated protesters.

CNN’s Sarah Jones, Amir Ahmed and Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report.

for video click

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/02/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

A young new arrival at Jordan’s Za’tari camp. His family fled violence in Syria’s Daraa governorate. Photo: UNHCR/A. Eurdolian

As violence spreads, fewer places for Syrians to

find refuge, UN agency warns

3 September 2012 – The worsening conditions and deepening violence in Syria is making it increasingly difficult for displaced civilians to find refuge, the United Nations humanitarian agency said today, warning that insecurity is hampering efforts to provide the population with access to basic services such as food and water and sanitation.

“Civilians – ordinary men, women and children – are bearing the brunt of the violence,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “People have been killed in their homes or on the streets as they seek food and other essentials or try to evacuate the wounded. Countless homes, clinics, hospitals and other essential infrastructure have been destroyed. Blockades and curfews imposed on cities such as Homs, Hama, Dera’a and Idlib have prevented people from obtaining water, food and medical supplies.”

More than 18,000 people, mostly civilians, have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began nearly 18 months ago. There have been reports of an escalation in violence in recent weeks in many towns and villages, as well as the country’s two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.

According to OCHA, over 2.5 million people are in need of urgent assistance and protection. However, reaching those in need has become increasingly difficult with mounting insecurity in many parts of the country.

“UN agencies and humanitarian partners report an increase in the number of military checkpoints, roadblocks and road closures, affecting their ability to reach those in need of assistance,” says the agency’s latest humanitarian bulletin, calling for increased access to affected areas to provide assistance to vulnerable populations.

In spite of these obstacles, some 310,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have received essential items across the country and the World Food Programme (WFP) has dispatched food rations to more than 530,000 people over the last three weeks, with the food agency stating that it will target 1.5 million people this month.

OCHA also warned that pressure is mounting for refugee communities inside Syria, which hosts about half a million Palestinians and one million Iraqis. The UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), estimates that 225,000 Palestine refugees in

Syria are now directly affected by the conflict, and - while many have sought refuge in UNRWA schools - more than 4,000 have fled to Lebanon and Jordan. In addition, some 30,000 Iraqis have returned to Iraq since mid-July.

“Thousands of refugees have contacted refugee outreach volunteers and called

UNHCR hotlines for help and advice,” OCHA said, adding that the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had also reported an increase in the number of cases of threats and harassment against refugees

Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake on Syria following the report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic

“UNICEF is appalled by the impact on children of the escalating violence in Syria.

“Calls by the international community for the violence to stop continue to go unheeded. More and more children are being killed and injured. The injured are too often unable to get medical care. Many have witnessed violence and have lost loved ones.

“It is deeply disturbing to hear the pleas of Syrian families in need of help and to see the worsening suffering of children. UNICEF echoes calls for an immediate end to all acts of violence and immediate humanitarian access to all those in need of assistance.

“We ask all involved to remember that the children bear no responsibility in the violence among their elders. They are quite simply, the victims of this tragedy.”

Syrian refugee children make paper crafts at a school run by UNICEF.