UNICEF warned on Thursday that 3.7 million children in areas affected by the February 6 earthquake in Syria faced increasing threats, following a visit by its director general to the country.
“Children in Syria have already endured untold horrors and suffering,” United Nations Children’s Fund Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
“The 3.7 million children in Syria affected by the earthquake face a dramatic accumulation of hazards,” he added.
“Now these earthquakes and their aftershocks have not only destroyed more homes, schools and places where children can play, but have also shattered any sense of security for so many children and families among the most vulnerable,” he added.
Call for donations for $172.7 million
The earthquake killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria. The death toll in Syria is almost 6,000 dead.
Since then, more or less violent aftershocks have been felt from time to time.
The director of Unicef traveled in particular to Aleppo, the second city in Syria under government control, hard hit by the earthquake.
Unicef has launched an appeal for donations of 172.7 million dollars to provide immediate aid to 5.4 million victims of the earthquake, including 2.6 million children.
According to the UN, 8.8 million Syrians have been affected by the earthquake.
The Unicef director also mentioned “the increased threat of contagious, contact and waterborne diseases for displaced families”.
The earthquake rocked a country already ravaged by a civil war since 2011 that has claimed nearly half a million lives, displaced millions and devastated infrastructure.
Several schools in the affected areas served as shelters for survivors of the earthquake, which in particular destroyed water sanitation facilities already damaged by the war, posing the risk of increased spread of diseases such as cholera that spread spreads since September in Syria.
Source: BFM TV
