The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has reported that more than a thousand children have been killed or seriously injured in Syria since the beginning of 2018 because of the conflict.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has reported that more than a thousand children have been killed or seriously injured in Syria since the beginning of 2018 because of the conflict.
"The situation continues to cause enormous concern from the perspective of children," said Cappelaere, who has pinned his hopes on the resolution taken by the United Nations Security Council that calls for a humanitarian break of at least 30 days.
A convoy, ready to enter Guta Oriental
He also announced that since the approval of that resolution last Saturday, Unicef has a convoy ready to enter Duma, within the region of Guta Oriental, where some 200,000 children reside, according to the agency.
Cappelaere obtained authorization for Unicef to enter the region on March 4 and its load will allow it to serve 70,000 children with medical and food supplies. "We have not included the provision of educational supplies since health and nutrition are the most immediate needs and we had to prioritize," clarified Cappelaere.
The expert has assured that he is aware that on other occasions some supplies have been removed from the convoys, especially medicines, although he has been hopeful that something similar will not happen this time since Unicef has not been as affected as other agencies. for these boycotts.
He also stressed that the levels of malnutrition in Guta Oriental are "alarming" and that "thousands of children could die" so their convoys will provide therapeutic food "that will stabilize the situation." "Acute malnutrition is not a threat to the life of a child, however it can be in the case that children have other health problems," said Cappeleare, who added that "poor diet weakens them in such a way that a cold can be lethal. "
In addition, Cappelaere recalled that a hundred children need to be evacuated from the region, some for a long time, either due to problems of malnutrition, serious injuries or other diseases that can not be treated with the resources available within the province.
"Many children can be marked for life, not because their diseases have no solution but because they have no access to it," he added, while recalling that 2.5 million children fled the country because of the conflict, most of them of them refugees in neighboring countries, of which 85% live in poverty.
Unicef has appealed to the parties involved in the conflict and the actors with influence over them to stop the war while requesting access guarantees in order to offer humanitarian aid in all regions of the country.
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Thousands of innocent lives die in wars, please no longer.