A child smiles while queuing with his mother in front of a UNICEF health and nutrition mobile clinic for consultation and distribution of medicine at Musab Bin Omair mosque, Tal Hajar, Hasakah city, northeast Syrian Arab Republic, on 27 January 2022. The mosque is currently a temporary shelter for some 120 internally displaced families. Some 45,000 people were forced to flee their homes due to conflict. As violence continues in and around the Ghwayran/ Sinai’i detention centre, in northeast Syria, children continue to be critically vulnerable and in urgent need of protection. Violence forced thousands of people in the area to flee, most are women and children. Some have been displaced several times fleeing violence in other parts of Syria over the years. UNICEF is on the ground, working with partners, to provide displaced children and their families with lifesaving assistance, including clean water and critical hygiene supplies. UNICEF’s volunteers have helped people reach shelters and clinics and distributed food, blankets, mattresses, clothes, and medicine. They have also distributed materials on the risks of explosive ordnance to raise awareness among boys and girls in the shelters and keep them safe. A UNICEF-supported mobile health and nutrition team is providing services and medicine to vulnerable children and their mothers. To date, the team has provided health consultations and free medicine; screened children, pregnant and lactating women; and provided malnourished children with ready-to-use supplementary food. UNICEF is providing information to families on how to prevent separation and access psychosocial support to children and caregivers.

Our work for
Syrian children

DONATE NOW

Home > Our work for Syrian children

The war in Syria has been going on for almost 12 years. This, coupled with the destruction from the February 2023 earthquakes, means that over 6.5 million children need your help urgently.

Please donate to help children affected by the earthquakes.

We are working to protect Syrian children and give them hope for a happy future. We’re there in Syria and in the refugee camps, ensuring children have life-saving supplies including medicine, healthcare, and therapeutic food. And we’re also providing longer-term support to help children, young people and families rebuild their lives. We’re providing education, psychosocial support, and safe spaces for them to play and have some much-needed fun.

You can help us reach more children by making a donation today

Help protect children affected by the earthquakes in Syria

Donate Now

How your donations help children like Nahla to rebuild their childhood

“No matter what, I never want to miss out on learning again,” said Nahla, 14. Nahla had to drop out of school in 2019. She started working in her father’s carpentry shop to help her family earn a living.

In 2022, Nahla heard from relatives about the UNICEF-supported ‘curriculum B’ programme. The programme allows children to combine two academic years in one and catchup on missed learning. This gave Nahla an opportunity to resume her education. Something she had always wished for.

Excited and determined to continue learning, Nahla enrolled with her sister Fatima in Level 1 of UNICEF’s ‘Curriculum B’ summer programme at the school near their home. “I was worried because it had been a while since I had been to school. I didn’t have friends there, and I had forgotten many things I had learned in the past. But it all turned out to be fine,” she said.

Help more children like Nahla

Nahla, 14, studies at home in Aleppo city, north Syria, on 19 August 2022. “No matter what, I never want to miss out on learning again,” said Nahla, 14. She had to drop out of school in 2019 when she was in Grade 6. She had to start working with her five sisters in her father’s carpentry shop to help her family of eight earn a living. “I’m happy to help my father. He only has us to rely on,” said Nahla. She was quick to learn the trade and after four years of working at the workshop, she began to run the place with her father. In May 2022, Nahla heard from relatives about the UNICEF -supported ‘curriculum B’ programme. The programme allows children to combine two academic years in one and catchup on missed learning. The programme provided Nahla an opportunity to resume her education. Something she had always wished for. Excited and determined to continue learning, Nahla enrolled with her sister Fatima in Level 1 of UNICEF’s ‘Curriculum B’ summer programme at the school nearby their home. “I was worried because it had been a while since I had been to school. I didn’t have friends there, and I had forgotten many things I had learned in the past. But it all turned out to be fine,” she said. “The teachers explained the topics well, and I was able to follow the classes,” Nahla added. She also made friends with other students in the programme. https://www.unicef.org/syria/stories/girl-power-making-difference

No matter what, I never want to miss out on learning again

Nahla, age 14

How else are we helping children in Syria?

We are one of the few humanitarian organisations working inside Syria, as well as being present for refugee families in surrounding countries, including Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Türkiye and Egypt. We’re also working to protect, promote and uphold the rights of those Syrian children who have made the perilous journey to Europe in search of a better future.

We are trying to help children with life-changing injuries and disabilities to recover; and to keep children safe by explaining the risks from landmines and unexploded ordnance. We’re also helping repair water sources inside Syria, as well as providing essential water, sanitation and hygiene facilities for Syrian refugees.

Across the region, we are creating child-friendly spaces, which offer learning support and psychological care, as well as a safe space to play. We’re working closely with education authorities to make sure that children can to go to school. We’re working to ensure that more than 3.5 million Syrian children are able to learn; and are helping thousands more get life-skills education.