Syrian children and the war
The future of Syrian children represents one of the greatest humanitarian challenges of our time. After years of war, displacement, and destruction, millions of children live in extremely difficult conditions, deprived of their most basic rights to life, education, and health. Looking toward the future, we at the Family Affairs Office of the Syrian Future Movement, along with our partners from various Syrian national elites, bear the responsibility for our children—the generation of the future and the backbone of our Syrian people.
The first challenge facing Syrian childhood is war and its repercussions, which shake the nature and mentality of peoples, leading to deep psychological trauma due to the violence they have witnessed, as well as the loss of family members, homes, friends, and schools. Poverty and deprivation have caused school dropouts, and we have tried to address this in our “Tawad Educational” schools as our contribution to helping students who have fallen out of the educational system.
In a field study that we will publish in a detailed special paper, our office team in Syria found that many families are seeking to marry off their daughters or force their sons to work to secure a livelihood. The rate of child marriage under the age of 18 has reached 80% in some areas of northern Syria, while child labor stands at 70% due to low wages, weak purchasing power, and a scarcity of available jobs, making employers prefer children, particularly those aged 10 to 17, because of their lower costs compared to older age groups.
Despite these significant challenges, there remains hope for a better future for Syrian children. By providing education, whether inside Syria or in host countries, and offering psychological support programs to help them overcome the traumas they have experienced, as well as protecting them from violence and exploitation, and providing legal assistance, we have presented an important paper on this matter that we invite you to review, published on our official website titled: “Highlighting Children’s Rights in International Law.”
Here, we emphasize the necessity for countries and international institutions to increase their support for humanitarian programs in Syria and to work toward finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
The future of Syrian children depends on all our efforts, so we must work together to provide protection and care for these rising generations and help them build a better future for themselves and their country. For the Syrian Future Movement, despite our genuine Syrian efforts and funding, as well as the hard work of our dedicated volunteers, we view all this with humility in the face of our people’s suffering, especially the Syrian children. We call on every Syrian to stand with us in our collective national project aimed at protecting our children from the consequences and harsh repercussions of war.
