Violence and child marriage: The many risks refugee girls face Girls in many places in the world face challenges from the day they are born. They struggle to get access to education and financial opportunities, and are often vulnerable to abuse. Refugee girls — or girls who’ve been displaced in their own country — face particular challenges. Addressing the unique needs of girls is a part of Mercy Corps' response to humanitarian crises. But reaching refugee girls can be difficult. We spoke with Amy Spindler, Mercy Corps’ adolescent girl and youth advisor, about the unique challenges refugee girls are facing — and how our work helps them survive, cope and achieve their goals. Q: What are the biggest challenges young girls are facing around the world? Amy Spindler: One of the biggest challenges facing girls is the opportunity to go to school. Schooling is about so much more than what happens inside the classroom. Sometimes girls are kept from school because it’s unsafe for them to walk to school. Photo: Corinna Robbins/Mercy Corps Absolutely. Yes.
Life Through the Lens of Syria’s Uprooted Teens “To Whom It May Concern”: These words I read every day on my UNHCR asylum seeker certificate. I’m a Syrian child. The only thing I hope in the world is to wake up from this terrible nightmare and to return to my friends, to return to my life, to my home before this war. And if the time goes back, I just want to play with the people who lost their lives, and I will ask them to leave Syria. I never thought that I would live in a tent, but that’s alright. These are the words of Anwar Al Sayed, a 15-year-old Syrian refugee who has been living in Jordan for the past three years. In Jordan, our classroom consisted of 20 students, all Syrian refugees, ranging in age from 13 to 15. It was more than inspiring to picture the world through these students’ eyes. To make a donation and to learn more about Photo Camp Jordan’s partners and team, please scroll to the bottom. “The [Bashar al Assad Baath] regime came to our area and took the house next to us. “I have two sisters and three brothers.
Using art to create a brighter future for Syrian children - Unicef UK Blog Amal* painting at her Unicef-supported art classes. Amal* still has nightmares about the bombs in Syria every night. In her nightmares she often dreams that armed men are chasing her family and she wakes up crying most mornings. But when Amal, 11, paints in her Unicef art class in Za’atari refugee camp she says it helps her forget about the bad things that happened in Syria. Amal and her friends work on a painting at Unicef-supported art classes in Za’atari refugee camp. “When I come to the centre I forget about the nightmares,” she said. Many Syrian children like Amal have witnessed or experienced horrific violence that can leave deep emotional wounds. Carving Arabic letters into wood during a Unicef-supported art therapy class. Unicef is providing children with psychosocial support to help them come to terms with their experiences and look toward the future. A Syrian refugee woman walks past artwork decorating walls in the refugee camp. Find out more about SyriART
Omran's story: Soccer is a comfort from home Omran, his father Hasan and little sister Naba sit on the "garden patio" they made between their caravans to recreate a little bit of home. The 10-year-old likes to help his father with the odd construction jobs he finds. Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Omran (right) loves playing soccer with his friends because it reminds him of home. The fiery boy has been dealing with a lot of anger after being forced to leave his home. Within Syrian culture the garden or veranda are central to socializing and spending time with family. But last Wednesday, I found myself enjoying a morning drinking Turkish coffee and chatting with 10-year-old Omran and his extended family in their “garden patio” in Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp. Omran’s extended family is lucky to have three caravans among them, making up the frame of their interior garden patio. Being able to play soccer with other youths has also given Omran a sense of home. “After leaving Syria my life changed,” he told me. How you can help
Sandcastles bring happiness to Syrian kids Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Last spring, one of the children’s facilities we've built at Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp was set to be covered with concrete when Mercy Corps Project Manager Hazem Salman had the idea to put the desert sand to creative use in the hands of the children. Five months later, hundreds of kids continue to build castles, tunnels and fortresses with focus and determination. The children love the activity so much that the our team hopes to hold a sandcastle-building contest for the avid young architects in the near future. In these photos, you can see how the simple opportunity to play and use their imaginations brings comfort to the youngest refugees.
Camp for Syrian refugees starts to look more like home At the new Safeway store in the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, the Syrian cashiers wear bright blue tabards that read "here to help you". Buying groceries at this supermarket is giving refugees here a taste of normal life. Families push shiny new shopping trolleys as they walk up and down aisles stacked high with food. "We opened in January and offer a special service for the refugees," says Nahed al-Abed, Safeway's operations manager in Jordan. "Customers are happy with the prices and variety. They can find everything under one roof." There is no need for cash. "Syrians are among the gourmets of the region and like a diverse, sophisticated diet that we can't provide through regular food distribution," says the WFP's Jonathan Campbell. "Giving them the vouchers gives a sense of normality and allows them to make choices. Um Adham has just returned from the supermarket to her cabin, off the main road through the refugee camp, jokingly referred to as "the Champs Elysees".
Humanitarian Response | Jordan | Save the Children Child Protection Since the beginning of the response Save the Children has prioritized support to child protection- through the establishment of Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) in the camps and in urban areas. We have set-up numerous safe areas for Syrian children to meet, play, and talk through their experiences as well as Youth Friendly Spaces (YFS) in Zaatari camp. Education Our programs help Syrian children who have missed out on education due to the situation in Syria, as well as early childhood educational support. Basic Education (6-14 years old): enhance a physical learning environment as well as education infrastructure. Informal Education (12-24 years old): provide informal education programs to adolescents and youth, with special focus on those who dropped out of school and cannot be reintegrated in formal education. Food, Security and Livelihoods Save the Children has partnered with the World Food Program (WFP) to distribute dry rations to the entire population of Zaatari camp.
Q+A: How we're protecting Syrian refugee kids | Mercy Corps At the child-friendly spaces we've built in Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp, Syrian kids enjoy guided activities like storytelling, crafts and games. Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Playgrounds and shared spaces in the camps help create a support system for both kids and parents. Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Boys write and draw in their Comfort for Kids workbooks. The program in Lebanon gives kids, many of whom are no longer in school, the opportunity to express themselves and process trauma. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps The Moving Forward activities we're leading with children in Lebanon help build team work and self-esteem. Children who have escaped Syria still carry the emotional scars of war, and now face new struggles as refugees. Here, she tells us what their life is like and what Mercy Corps is doing to keep them safe, now and in the future. Q: What did children experience in Syria? For many children, the sound of bombs and gunfire continues to haunt them.
Meet the Malala of Syria Muzoon Almellehan is trying to convince parents to let their girls stay in school rather than marrying them off as child brides. Fifty miles from the border with Syria, 16-year-old Muzoon Almellehan treads the dusty paths to her school, a sprawl of mural-covered buildings surrounded by chain link fence in the desert expanse of Jordan’s Azraq refugee camp. The 11th-grader is currently furious because two young classmates in her science program have dropped out to get married. In her community of war survivors, Muzoon has been dubbed the Malala of Syria. Muzoon arrived to Jordan among a huge influx of fleeing Syrians in 2013, not long after fighting in their hometown of Daraa shut down the schools. “A lot of them thought education for a girl was unimportant,” Muzoon says. Child marriage wasn’t something she saw commonly at home in Syria, but in the camps it seemed rampant. In Jordan, the legal age for marriage is 18, but this can be petitioned for younger girls. Thank You!
Jordan - Students promote learning in Za'atari Camp, Jordan By Toby Fricker The school year is starting, in Za’atari refugee camp, Jordan. Fourteen-year-old Mozoun is among 30 children on a mission to get their peers back to school. ZA’ATARI CAMP, Jordan, 12 September 2013 – A group of young girls are striding out of the school gates with a purpose. The new school year is starting, and they’re on a mission to get their peers back to school. Mozoun, 14, is one of thirty 12- to 15-year-olds who are crossing the refugee camp, home to some 120,000 Syrians, to promote education to children and their parents. She comes across a mother and her children hanging up washing outside their caravan. “I love education, and I’m aware of the importance of it. Mozoun describes herself as an ambassador of education in the camp. Support from prominent figures With about 30,000 children of school-going age in Za’atari, there’s a lot of ground to cover. At a tented mosque, Abu Omar, one of the camp’s imams, spreads the word about the value of education.
After winter break and heavy rains, back to school at Za’atari refugee camp, Jordan | UNICEF:Learning for Peace By Toby Fricker ZA’ATARI, Jordan, 28 February – It’s back to school for thousands of Syrian children at Za’atari refugee camp in northern Jordan. “I am more than happy to return to school and study. I love my teachers, my classes – and I really love my studies and the girls in my class,” said Arwa, a Syrian refugee child at the camp, with a joyful smile, on her return to school. After a one-month winter break, class is in session again in Za’atari refugee camp, Jordan, bringing a sense of normality to Syrian refugee children. School closed for break, open for shelter The school at the Za’atari refugee camp was closed for three weeks following heavy rains that flooded some of the refugee shelter areas. ©UNICEF VideoAccording to UNICEF Jordan Representative Dominique Hyde, back-to-school day is the beginning of hope for many parents who see education as the only future for their children right now. Luckily, this disruption took place at the same time as the winter school break.
Education for refugees can help save Syria's lost generation With the world’s focus firmly on the European response to the refugee crisis in recent weeks, attention has been diverted away from the humanitarian needs of the Middle East itself. Only a minority of refugees have fled to Europe, with the majority of Syrians travelling across neighbouring borders to Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. These movements of people have placed considerable pressure on already stretched public services, and children – one of the most vulnerable groups – are being severely affected. Hundreds of thousands of them are at risk of becoming ill, malnourished, abused and exploited – and for the vast majority, they have no access to education. A significant proportion of the 13m children reported by UNICEF as deprived of an education in the Middle East, are from Syria. Limited access The humanitarian needs of the region are complex. Most recently the UN World Food Programme has had to cut food rations substantially for populations in all refugee hosting countries.
Refugees Daily Syrian refugees find normalcy in football Publisher: Al Jazeera EnglishStory date: 29/06/2014Language: English Amman, Jordan – "Maybe you've heard about landmines, small bombs. These are very dangerous," Saleh Shloon, a football coach, said as he stood before a few dozen girls at a school in Kitim, a village in northern Jordan. He held up a series of posters, at times struggling to unfurl them, with pictures of mines in different shapes and colours. Some girls watched Shloon. They had just finished 10 minutes of football drills with Shloon and other coaches on a battered concrete pitch where two netless basketball hoops with backboards of cracked wood stood like dead trees. "Most kids' heroes are the local soccer coach or the captain of the football team," Scott Lee, the founder of Spirit of Soccer, which helps set up mine-risk education programmes all over the world, including the ones in Jordan, told Al Jazeera. The programme started in the fall of 2013 with three male coaches.