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We are facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent decades, if not the worst since the Balkans war and Rwanda. Syrian cities are turning into ruins with millions of people, mainly women and children, affected. According to the latest gruesome statistics, more than 115,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the conflict. A quarter of the Syrian population has been internally displaced while more than 2.1 million are refugees in the neighboring countries. This means that a third of the population has been forced to leave behind home, land and work.
Consider also the terrifying escalation of this crisis. In one year the number of people killed has quadrupled; the number of people in need of assistance inside Syria has tripled; and the number of refugees has multiplied eight times. Women and children are paying the heaviest price. At least 6,500 children have been killed. More than a million are refugees. Thousands of schools have been destroyed or pressed into use as shelters for internally displaced people. School dropout is on the rise. If we do not take rapid action, the most dramatic effect of the Syrian crisis will be the loss of an entire generation who, when this war finally ends, are exactly those who can rebuild their country. A fifth of all the country’s health centers have been destroyed and a third of the country’s hospitals too. Many doctors and health staff, targeted by combatants, have fled. The water and sanitation systems are less and less reliable. As a direct consequence waterborne diseases are on the rise. Access to food is a growing concern. The 2013 harvest is the worst in 30 years because people are not cultivating the land and food stocks are running out. The government of Syria has thus far cooperated with UN chemical weapons inspections. But violations of international humanitarian law continue unabated. There is a risk that the focus on chemical weapons and the renewed hope of a Geneva II political conference may well overshadow the deepening human crisis in Syria. — Salam, Jeddah