Humanitarian needs in Syria will continue to grow

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

23 September 2014 – As news breaks about airstrikes in Syria by the US and five Arab nations, World Vision warns the immediate humanitarian needs in the region will continue to grow.

World Vision is gravely concerned about the impact of the escalating Syrian crisis on a generation of children. More than half of those needing humanitarian assistance are children, with 1.5 million children having now fled Syria. Twice that number remain, many under direct threat of violence, says World Vision.

With world leaders gathering in New York today for the United Nations General Assembly – where the crisis in Syria and Iraq is expected to dominate discussions – the child focused aid agency is calling for all parties to the conflict, supported by those states with influence over them, to urgently focus on reaching a peaceful agreement to end the bloodshed and take immediate steps to protect children and enable humanitarian access.  

“The international community is not doing enough. The children affected by the conflict in Syria need to become a priority for world leaders, particularly those with influence over parties to the conflict,” says World Vision’s director of external relations, Chris Derksen Hiebert.

Approximately 6.5 million children have now been affected by the Syrian conflict, and 1.5 million have become refugees. World Vision is working in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Kurdish Region of Iraq, meeting the needs of hundreds of thousands of people and appealing for more funds to assist the most vulnerable.

ENDS