Greening: act now for Syrian children
11 Apr 2014 11:48 AM
Justine Greening urges international donors to
deliver on their promises to help thousands of children affected by conflict in
Syria.
International donors must deliver on their promises and
not forget the millions of children traumatised by the Syrian conflict who
continue to need support, International Development Secretary Justine Greening
has warned.
The
UK is convening a high level summit in Washington DC to underline the critical
need for renewed financial and political commitment for the No Lost Generation
Initiative. Meanwhile, Britain unveiled an additional £20 million of
support for child protection, counselling and education.
Chaired by Ms Greening, the meeting will bring together
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, European Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva,
UNICEF Executive Director Tony Lake and UN Education Special Envoy Gordon
Brown.
Speaking on the eve of the meeting, Ms Greening
said:
Millions of children need our help to rebuild their
lives after experiencing unimaginable horrors and hardship, in many cases
having lost both their parents.
Britain is committed absolutely to helping this
traumatised generation get through this crisis as safely as possible and to
supporting their education in order for them to have a future.
In
addition to our basic support for millions of displaced and refugee Syrians, we
have dedicated £50 million specifically for the protection, counselling
and schooling of children.
But
we cannot do this alone. Nations which have pledged aid must now deliver on
their promises. The international community must come together and make it
totally clear that their plight has not been forgotten.
The
crisis in Syria puts millions of children in danger of becoming a ‘lost
generation’ with over 5 million children affected.
According to UNICEF, nearly half of Syria’s
school-age children – more than 2.8 million – cannot get an
education as education services collapse and over 4,000 schools have been
damaged or destroyed. It estimates two million children affected by the
fighting are in need of psychological support or treatment, more than 10,000
have been killed and around 1.2 million are refugees, at least 500,000 of whom
are not enrolled in schools.
The
UK has previously provided £30 million for the No Lost Generation
Initiative, which is changing lives for children across the
region.
This includes:
-
funding to UNICEF to provide 70,000 children with
alternative education and 27,000 vulnerable children and women with access to
psychosocial support;
-
child-friendly spaces, child protection committees and
education for tens of thousands of children across the region;
-
support to Doctors of the World to provide psychosocial
support to young people in Jordan and Lebanon;
-
ensuring every child aged between 6 and 15 who attends
state school in Lebanon has a set of text books covering core academic
subjects;
-
funding to Islamic Relief to enable 3,500 Syrian refugee
children in Jordan to access education and assist their families to meet
housing costs; and
-
matching pound for pound all donations from the UK
public to the Christmas Appeals for UNICEF, OXFAM, Save the Children and War
Child, with a strong focus on meeting the needs of children.
Notes to editors
- The
UK is the second biggest single country donor to the Syria crisis and has
pledged £600 million so far. In Syria and the region each month, UK aid
is providing food for over 535,000 people and water for 1.5 million people. It
has also provided almost 316,000 medical consultations to
date.
- More information available at UK humanitarian response
in Syria page.