Syrian crisis
After more than a decade of conflict, children continue to pay the heaviest price.
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Crisis in Syria: What you need to know
What is happening in the Syrian Arab Republic?
More than a decade of humanitarian crisis and hostilities has had a profound impact on the situation of children in Syria, across the region and beyond. Every Syrian child has been impacted by the violence, displacement, severed family ties and lack of access to vital services caused by massive physical devastation.
Eleven years of conflict and sanctions have had a devastating impact on Syria’s economy, setting development back 25 years. Most of the basic systems and services children depend on – health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education, and social protection – have been cut to the bone. Families are struggling to put food on the table, while nearly one-third of all children are chronically malnourished and more than 6.5 million children need urgent assistance.
Read 'Every Day Counts', UNICEF Syria’s thematic outlook on child protection, education, health, nutrition, and water, hygiene and sanitation.
How have children been affected?
For many children in Syria, war is the only thing they know. They continue to live in fear of violence, landmines, and explosive remnants of war. They struggle with physical and psychological scars of war. In 2021, a third of children in Syria showed signs of psychological distress including anxiety, sadness, fatigue, or frequent trouble sleeping.
The war has also brought one of the largest education crises in recent history, with a whole generation of Syrian children paying the price of conflict. Education facilities are overstretched, and many schools cannot be used because they have been destroyed, damaged, shelter displaced families or are being used for military purposes.
Children with disabilities carry a double burden when it comes to violence, threats to their health and safety, hunger, risk of abuse, and loss of education. Lack of mobility and difficulty fleeing harm have further compounded the challenges they face.
What is UNICEF doing to help children in the Syrian crisis?
Across Syria and in the neighbouring countries, UNICEF and partners continue to work to protect children, to help them cope with the impact of conflict. This includes improving psychosocial support to help children and caregivers recover from trauma, as well as delivering lifesaving support and services for children struggling physically and psychologically.
Working with partners, UNICEF continues to deliver assistance including hygiene kits, safe drinking water, and screening and treatment of malnutrition. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, UNICEF and partners have been sharing prevention and risk awareness messages and materials. Read more about UNICEF’s work and results in the country.
Check here for the latest Situation Reports.
Syrian crisis snapshot
What UNICEF is doing in Syria
UNICEF and partners are on the ground in Syria and across the region working to protect children, to help them cope with the impact of conflict and to resume their childhoods. This includes improving access to education and psychosocial support services to help children and caregivers to recover from trauma and to restore a sense of normalcy.
UNICEF delivers critical humanitarian assistance, such as vaccines and other health and nutrition items across the country, including accessing hard-to-reach areas. Meanwhile, UNICEF and partners are improving school facilities, training teachers and repairing water and sanitation facilities.
Read UNICEF’s 2022 Humanitarian Action for Children Syrian appeal