A UN agency warns of a devastating impact on 1.7 million Syrian children if aid is stopped

The United Nations Organization (UNICEF) said in a statement yesterday, Thursday, that there will be a “devastating impact” on 1.7 million Syrian children, if the UN Security Council fails to extend the mandate to bring aid into Syria through the Bab crossing.

“We call on the Security Council to authorize and expand cross-border assistance for a period of 12 months,” the organization added in its statement.

She stressed that “all avenues of assistance, across borders and across combat lines, are necessary to meet the growing needs and allow humanitarian partners to provide assistance to children in need wherever they are in the country,” noting that “the lives of millions of children in Syria depend on this decision.”

She warned that “in the absence of renewal, the already dire situation of more than 1.7 million vulnerable children in the region will worsen,” noting that “Syria is not a safe place for children.”

“Without cross-border aid, children will be denied life-saving assistance and have a severe impact on their protection, access to water and hygiene services, medical support and education,” UNICEF emphasized.

According to the organization, “Needs have increased by about a third since the closure of a key border point allowing aid to enter the area, and almost every child in Syria now depends on assistance, while indiscriminate attacks continue, putting millions of children at risk.
So far at least 12,000 children have been killed or injured – and possibly many more – across the country.

The UN Security Council is preparing to vote on a draft resolution to extend the entry of cross-border aid amid fears of a veto by Russia, which expressed its desire to close it, thus making all aid crossings to Syria closed, except for those that pass through Damascus.

The cross-border mandate has been in effect since 2014, but it was significantly reduced last year by maintaining one border entry point, the Bab al-Hawa crossing with Turkey. The mandate expires on July 10.