Fast Facts for spokespersons

Syria Regional Crisis

June 2016

General

Syria child population

è  Nearly 10 million

Number of children under five

è  More than 3.7 million

Inside Syria

è  2.9 million

In refugee countries

è  810, 926

Turkey (458,380), Lebanon (190,494), Jordan (108, 956), Iraq (37,902)

Children in need inside Syria

è  6 million children

Children in need inside Syria and in neighbouring countries

è  8.4 million children

Child refugees from Syria in neighbouring countries (Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt)

è  Nearly 2.4 million Syrian refugee children

Child protection

Children trapped without aid in besieged and hard to reach areas in Syria

è  More than 2 million including at least 200,000 living in areas under siege*

*4.6 million people in hard-to-reach areas including 592,700 in 18 locations under siege

Total # of unaccompanied and separated children who crossed Syria’s borders

è  15,257

Total # of Syrian children born refugee in neighbouring countries

306,000

Violations against children verified in 2015

è  1,500

Number of verified child casualties in 2015

è  900 (400 killed and 500 injured)

è  The number includes more than 150 killed at school or on their way to or from school

Child recruitment

è  354 children recruited compared with 278 last year.

è  Children as young as seven years old recruited

Number of UNICEF supported child friendly spaces in Syria and neighbouring countries

è  597

Education

Children out of school in Syria and neighbouring countries

è  2.8 million children (2.1 inside and 700,000 in neighbouring countries)

Number of schools that can no longer be used

è  6,000 schools

Attacks on education facilities and personnel in 2015

è  47 attacks including 40 on schools

Poverty and development

è  Nearly 7 million children inside Syria live in poverty

è  Children as young as three are working or begging to keep families afloat

è  Syria’s development has been pushed back four decades.

Health

Hospitals functioning in Syria

è  One third of total hospitals.

WASH

Percentage of population without access to reliable water

è  70 per cent

è  Only one third of Syria’s sewage is treated

UNICEF’s Key Response Activities for 2016 (as of March)

Inside Syria

➔  More than 12 million people reached with support to operation and maintenance of water and sanitation systems.

➔  More than 2.5 million children under the age of five years old reached with vaccination against polio.

➔  Over 106,000 children in information education reached with school supplies

➔  More than 112,000 children and adults reached participated in psychological support programmes including parenting programmes.

In the Sub-Region (Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt)

➔  UNICEF and partners provided some 234,000 people with safe drinking and domestic water.

➔  Vaccinated over 16 million children under 5 against polio (number includes 15 million in Egypt including Egyptian children)

➔  Helped more than 417,000 refugee children to enrol in formal education.

➔  Provided over 133,000 children with psychosocial support services

Implementation of UNSCR 2165 and 2191

è This year, UNICEF conducted 41 cross line missions to deliver much needed supplies and support the delivery of services including in health, nutrition, WASH, education and child protection to children and families in need; including reaching over 426,000 people.

è Cross-border deliveries continued under the Security Council resolutions 2165 (2014) and 2191 (2014). In 2016, UNICEF has reached at least 800,000 children through cross border assistance. UNICEF has so far sent 269 trucks of aid across Syria’s border this year compared with 155 the whole of last year.

Funding

UNICEF is appealing for US$ 1.1 billion for 2016

è  $US 316.7 million for inside Syria

è  $ US 847 million for the neighbouring countries

è  UNICEF received 31% of its funding requirements for 2016.

è  UNICEF has a funding gap of 803 million US$ for its operations inside Syria and in neighbouring countries for 2016.

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