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STORY: SYRIA HUMANITARIAN / OPEN LETTER
TRT: 1.11
SOURCE: UNICEF / WFP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: RECENT / FILE
FILE – WFP - 15 DECEMBER 2013, DAMASCUS, SYRIA
1. Various shots, children receiving food aid
UNICEF - RECENT / NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Anthony Lake, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund:
“The conflict in Syria is approaching its third terrible year. We’ve all been shocked by the images of so many children suffering so much. Less visible is the long-term impact of this brutal conflict – on the minds and hearts of children torn from their homes and their school, children whose very childhoods have been stolen away, children who have witnessed such violence that they may begin to see it as normal somehow.”
15 DECEMBER 2013, DAMASCUS, SYRIA
3. Various shots, children receiving food aid
UNICEF - RECENT / NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Anthony Lake, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund:
“We cannot afford to lose an entire generation of children in Syria. We must act now to provide these children with the education, the protection, and the support they need to become the leaders of a better tomorrow. We need to champion the children of Syria, for they are the future of Syria.”
FILE – WFP - 15 DECEMBER 2013, DAMASCUS, SYRIA
5. Various shots, children receiving food aid
For the first time, leading humanitarian agencies issued on Tuesday (21 Jan) an open letter calling on all parties to the Syrian conflict meeting in Geneva to urgently take measures to protect the country’s children.
Since the conflict began three years ago, more than 11,000 children have died and 4.5 million children are in need of assistance.
UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, recently said “we cannot afford to lose an entire generation of children in Syria. We must act now to provide these children with the education, the protection, and the support they need to become the leaders of a better tomorrow. We need to champion the children of Syria, for they are the future of Syria.”
With the parties in Syria’s conflict meeting in Geneva, the humanitarian agencies it was time “to urgently focus on the plight of children” and called for aid to be allowed to reach the children who need it the most.
The letter said hundreds of thousands of children are trapped in conflict zones and are receiving little or no humanitarian assistance at all.
Lake said “We cannot afford to lose an entire generation of children in Syria. We must act now to provide these children with the education, the protection, and the support they need to become the leaders of a better tomorrow. We need to champion the children of Syria, for they are the future of Syria.”
The letter was signed by Lake as well as Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Laureate, Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Antonio Gutteres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Programme, Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative for the United Nations Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict, Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Mark Malloch Brown, former United Nations Deputy Secretary General and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Jan Egeland, Secretary General, Norwegian Refugee Council, Louise Arbour, President and CEO, International Crisis Group, David Miliband, President and CEO, International Rescue Committee, Carolyn Miles, President and CEO, Save the Children, Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, Oxfam International, and
Kevin Jenkins, President and CEO, World Vision International
