Child Refugee Crisis

For children in Syria who were struggling before this COVID-19 pandemic, things have only gotten worse. After ten years of conflict and displacement, 4.6 million children in Syria are now battling soaring malnutrition rates.

As the pandemic continues, Syrian refugee families will be pushed even further into poverty and child labor will increase. Even before the pandemic, prolonged exposure to war, stress and uncertainty left many children in a state of "toxic stress." Now, it's estimated that 2.1 million Syrian children are out of school.

Thanks to people like you, our work for the children of Syria is making a difference. Your support is reaching the most vulnerable children in Syria and in the refugee hosting countries. Inside Syria, you have supported over 3 million people, including 2.1 million children since the start of the crisis.

Our humanitarian teams and partners in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Turkey are also present in camps and host communities, providing Syrian refugees and vulnerable children from these host communities with food, shelter, water and sanitary services, and access to medical care, education and child protection.

• Protected 32,239 children from harm
• Supported 78,708 children in times of crisis
• Provided 169,633 children with a healthy start in life
• Gave 5,052 children vital nourishment

See the attached timeline to see how Save the Children has been responding to the crisis in Syria for the last 10 years. Thank you for your support.

• Syria timeline of 10 years of conflict (PDF)
  

Eight-year-old Razan* (name changed for her safety) seriously injured her eye while fleeing violence in Hodeidah, Yemen in July 2018.  She was riding with her father, Samir,  on a motorcycle when an airstrike hit another vehicle on the same street. A piece of shrapnel from the blast hit Razan in her eye, and immediately caused heavy bleeding and intense pain. As the heavy shelling continued, Samir was forced to continue their journey for safety, and only had time to wrap a shawl around her head.

 After an hour they arrived in Almrawah district and Razan’s eye was still bleeding heavily. Samir took her to a nearby hospital to try and stop the bleeding and treat her eye, but the hospital wasn’t specialized enough to help. They advised Samir to take her to a specialist eye hospital, but the family couldn’t afford the bus-fare.

Razan spent five days at home in intense pain, while her eye became more inflamed. Her condition kept deteriorating and she could no longer see through her injured eye. Finally, Samir found someone who could lend him enough money for the transport costs to hospital, and he rushed her there immediately. When they arrived, they met a member of Save the Children Team, who referred Razan for emergency surgery. After her surgery, Save the Children then referred Razan to a hospital in Sana’a for surgery and later for specialist treatment.

After two long surgeries, Razan’s eyesight was saved.  About a year after her operation Razan started getting constant headaches, so she was referred again to a specialist who recommended she get special glasses. Save the Children paid for the glasses and psychosocial support to help Razan recover from what she has been through. In 2020 during a check in Razan reported that she was feeling much better, and the glasses were very helpful. Her headaches has stopped ad she has started going to school again. 

Thanks to supporters like you, Save the Children is able to support the recovery of children like Razan, caught in conflicts they had no part in starting.  Thank you for your support!