Photo essay
High-flying dreams: Yousef's journey of talent and triumph
Embedded video follows >> Watch in Arabic, Homs City, Syria , – “Reading has become a true passion of mine,” says eight-year-old Yousef from Homs. Despite being visually impaired, Yousef's journey is a powerful testament to resilience, talent, and the power of inclusive education. From an early age, Yousef's parents nurtured his love for learning. His mother began by teaching him the sounds of letters. "I…
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Nizar’s story: Education brings hope in hardship
Al-Safira city, rural Aleppo, Syria, : “The chances of me surviving were very slim. But I made it and I strive to overcome all the odds,” said Nizar, 15. Nizar was five, playing with his siblings when a bullet hit his head, broke his skull, and left him with hemiplegia. He grew up not being able to move his right ...
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Mohammad moves towards his dream with resolve
Qamishli, Syria –, “I want to show society that people with disability have special abilities, and that their disabilities do not hinder their will to succeed,” said 16-year-old Mohammad. He uses his hobby of photography to highlight persons with disabilities. “I am physically different from others, and I face cha...
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Turning challenges into accomplishments
Aleppo, Syria -, UNICEF continues to support youth and adolescents in Syria by offering them opportunities to develop their skills, be included, and actively participate in their communities. Youth-friendly spaces that engage children and young people, aged 10-24 years, are a platform for youth engagement and empo...
Photo essay
UNICEF-rehabilitated school enables more children to continue their education in Rural Damascus
Almost 13 years into the conflict in Syria, nearly half of school-aged children are out of school and a third of the country’s schools are not functional. UNICEF has been supporting the children to continue their education. Light rehabilitation of schools is one of the ways UNICEF is helping. The rehabilitation wo...
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Going back to learning helps Ali envisage a bright future
Ar Rastan, rural Homs, Syria, - “Going to school has meant a lot to me,” said 18-year-old Ali. Born with severe visual impairments, he struggled with learning difficulties and suffered from intimidation at school from an early age. During the long years of conflict, Ali and his family were forced to flee from the...
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Najah paves the way for children’s success in learning
Aleppo city, – “Taking into account the best interest of students and striving to improve the quality of education for the children are my main priorities,” said Najah about her mission in life. Najah is the principal of Arabistan school in one of Aleppo city’s neighbourhoods. Like many residents of the neighbourh...
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Learning restarts in classrooms at a rehabilitated school
Zamalka, Rural Damascus, ,, Syria, : In Syria, one in three schools are no longer used for educational purposes. They have been severely damaged, continue to shelter displaced families or are being used for other purposes. Low numbers of rehabilitated schools and overcrowded classrooms further hamper children’s ac...
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Barriers for Ahmad - a thing of the past
Dar’a city, south Syria –, “He used to, cry after his siblings went to school,” said Iman, Ahmad’s mother. Like too many children in Syria, Ahmad, 11, was out of school for years. But unlike many, the six years he missed out on education were not mainly due to the conflict. At a young age, Ahmad was mistakenly dia...
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Seeing beyond challenges
Inside the training venue in Homs stood Yehya, 43, asking his blindfolded trainees to feel the Braille ruler with tactile dots representing numbers, to help them relate to his experience, and that of the students they will teach in turn. Born with visual impairment, Yehya lost his sight completely by the age of fi...