Organization warns of the high rate of suicide among children in northern Syria
Save the Children, in a report, warned of an increase in the number of suicides among Syrian children, in northwestern Syria, during the last three months of the past 2020.
The organization said, “The attempts have increased by 86 percent over the number of suicide attempts in the first three months of 2020,” noting that “in the last three months of last year, the region recorded 246 suicides, and 1748 suicide attempts.”
The organization added: “One of every five suicide attempts and deaths recorded in the last three months of 2020 belong to children, and 42 percent of those who attempt suicide are under the age of 15.”
Adolescents and young adults between the ages of 16 and 20 years, about 18 percent of the numbers registered.
The increase in these numbers, in the northwest regions of Syria, is due to many reasons, including the economic situation in the region, poverty, lack of education and employment, domestic violence, early marriage, broken relationships, and bullying in societies that have been suffering for decades, according to the report.
The organization called on donors and the international community to increase their investment in mental health programs in the region, to try to prevent possible causes of mental health problems.
On November 20, 2020, Syria was ranked among the most dangerous countries for children in 2019, along with Afghanistan, Iraq, Congo, Nigeria, and Mali.
