A humanitarian leader on Thursday warned of an “education crisis” in Syria, because children are suffering more from fighting, hunger and poverty than at any other point in the 10-year conflict.
And now they are having to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Sonia Khush, the Syria country director for Save the Children, told UN diplomats that most children in the nation know nothing but war and few have seen the inside of a classroom.
Syrians will next month mark the 10th anniversary of the start of protests against President Bashar Al Assad, which started a civil war between government loyalists, rebels, extremists and foreign forces.
“We are facing an unprecedented education crisis in Syria,” Ms Khush told the online UN Security Council briefing.
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“The combination of conflict, displacement, poverty and now Covid-19 has created the conditions in which millions of children are missing out on an education.”
Two thirds of children in northern Syria have no access to education because schools have been battered by shelling and air strikes, are frequently used by armed groups and often surrounded by unexploded bombs, she said.
Teachers in the country's north-east, much of which is administered by Kurdish authorities, say that 79 per cent of pupils dropped out to work and help their struggling families, Ms Khush said.
In the north-west, under a fragile truce between Turkish, Syrian and Russian forces, half of the teachers are working without pay and hundreds of others have gone on strike over unpaid wages, she said.
“Children today are facing a graver reality than at any other point in the 10-year conflict,” Ms Khush said.
“They are more likely to be in need of humanitarian assistance, more likely to go hungry, to die from preventable diseases, miss out on school and face protection risks.”
The UN's head of humanitarian affairs, Mark Lowcock, said more than 500,000 Syrian children under the age of five suffer from stunted growth, with rates highest in the north-west and north-east.
“The effects this will have on their development and learning will be lifelong and irreversible,” Mr Lowcock said.
“Malnutrition ... has become so normal that parents cannot spot the signs in their own children.”
Millions of people left Syria and millions more fled their homes since a crackdown by the government on protesters in March 2011 led to a civil war that has dragged in Russia, Iran, Turkey, the US and others.
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Company%20Profile
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What is double taxation?
- Americans living abroad file taxes with the Internal Revenue Service, which can cost hundreds of dollars to complete even though about 60 per cent do not owe taxes, according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service
- Those obligations apply to millions of Americans residing overseas – estimates range from 3.9 million to 5.5 million – including so-called "accidental Americans" who are unaware they hold dual citizenship
- The double taxation policy has been a contentious issue for decades, with many overseas Americans feeling that it punishes them for pursuing opportunities abroad
- Unlike most countries, the US follows a citizenship-based taxation system, meaning that Americans must file taxes annually, even if they do not earn any income in the US.
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ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
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