Beirut (HRNW) – The number of malnourished children starving in northeastern Syria, an area ravaged by more than a decade of conflict, has risen by 150 percent, aid group Save the Children said Thursday.
“Every day we have to deal with more malnourished children than the day before,” the aid agency said, in an urgent appeal to donors.
“Malnutrition is life threating to children. Poverty and the inability to afford food are the main reasons families are giving for this increase.”
From April to September, the aid agency recorded more than 10,000 malnourished children, compared to 6,650 in the previous six months.
On top of conflict, Syria is mired in its worst economic crisis since war erupted in 2011 when the government brutally repressed pro-democracy protests, resulting in nearly half a million people killed.
The UN estimates 90 percent of the 18 million people in Syria are living in poverty, with the economy hit by conflict, drought and the Covid pandemic as well as the fallout from the financial crash in neighbouring Lebanon.
The situation appears to be extreme in areas outside the control of the Damascus government.