DAVID ADAMS reports on a new appeal to end violence against children in the Syrian conflict…
People around the world have been urged to add their voices to a global appeal demanding an end to violence against children in Syria along with an end to the blocking of humanitarian assistance to people within the country.
The No Lost Generation Appeal was launched this week by relief agencies including UNICEF, the UNHCR, World Vision, Save the Children and others including USAID and MercyCorps.
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IN THE MIDST OF CONFLICT: Children living in Jordan neighborhoods often have nowhere to go and nothing to do. Islam, one (left); Semer, two (centre); and Adel, five (right), are thin and lethargic from spending their days in the dilapidated, empty room they call home. In the summer, it’s stifling hot; in winter, bitter cold. Their mother, Nura, says, “I want my children to be able to play, go to school and grow up healthy and strong.” PICTURE: © 2013 Nicholas Ralph/WVA |
It aims to collect at least a million signatures on a document which, along with demanding an end to violence against the children of Syria and an end to the blocking of humanitarian assistance, also calls for an end to attacks on humanitarian workers and facilities such as schools and hospitals, a “renewed commitment” to reconciliation and tolerance, and greater investment in the education and psychological protection of all children affected by the conflict.
Launch of the appeal – which aims to collect the million signatures before 15th March, the third anniversary of the conflict – follows news last weekend that the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution demanding all parties in the conflict facilitate immediate access by humanitarian groups to people in need.
Figures show there are nearly 5.5 million children in Syria and neighbouring countries who have been affected by the conflict with children believed to account for 10 per cent of the death toll from the conflict, now estimated at more than 100,000 people.
Anthea Spinks, World Vision Australia’s head of humanitarian and emergency affairs, says the appeal, which was already in planning before the UN Security Council resolution, was a recognition of the “significant” impact the conflict was having on children and others both inside and outside Syria’s borders.
While progress had been made in some areas – such as the evacuation of Homs and getting the parties to meet at peace talks in Geneva – Ms Spinks said that with no end to the conflict in sight, it was important not to let the third anniversary of the conflict pass without keeping up “that pressure and that momentum”.
Ms Spinks adds while the Security Council resolution was a welcome step forward at this stage it was a little too early to tell the effect of the Security Council’s resolution.
And as to why a million signatures? Ms Spinks says that while the appeal will hopefully attract more than a million signatures, the figures of a million was a number that “demonstrates the size of the support”.
“If we were able to have a million voices in Australia, just imagine how fantastic that would be (but) it is a global call and I think we can actually beat that.”
Hosted by change.org, the appeal can be found at http://bit.ly/nolostgeneration.
