A new UNHCR report reveals that over 145,000 Syrian refugee families in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq are headed by women alone. UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres paid a visit to Awah, who is raising her children on her own in Amman. Explore Woman Alone “Syrian refugee women are the glue holding together a broken society. Their strength is extraordinary, but they are struggling alone. Their voices are an appeal for help and protection which cannot be ignored.” Keep up … [Read more...]
Syrian Women Giving Birth in Exile
ZA'ATARI, Jordan — In a tent hospital bed, a Syrian woman who was four months pregnant when she fled her country's civil war cradles one of the newest residents of this dust-swept refugee camp: Her newborn son, just delivered by Caesarean. Around a dozen babies are born every day in Za'atari camp, which is home to 120,000 Syrians and counting – and there's only one, overworked Moroccan doctor performing C-sections. Still, the clinic where he operates and several other field hospitals here … [Read more...]
Taking Action for Syria – ENOUGH – ENOUGH !!!
APPEAL BY HEADS OF LEADING UN HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES FOR THE PEOPLE OF SYRIA … [Read more...]
Syrian refugees to reach 4 million by the end of 2013
UNITED NATIONS, Istanbul/Amman/New York — Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will be visiting refugee camps in Turkey and Jordan to underscore the urgent needs of women and youth affected by the crisis in Syria. There are currently over 1 million registered Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and other countries. More than 400,000 people have become refugees since 1 January 2013 alone. Out of the 4 million people … [Read more...]
Syria’s Unseen Crisis: Women Face Rape, Insecurity, Poverty
Syria's Unseen Crisis: Displaced Women Face Rape, Insecurity, Poverty In the past week, the Syrian refugee crisis has grabbed headlines around the world as the number of Syrians who have had to seek asylum abroad reached one million. But there is another, less-discussed displacement crisis unfolding inside Syria. Syria’s internally displaced population passed the two million-mark months ago – by some estimates, there are more than three million Syrians uprooted within their country, most … [Read more...]
Syria: “We Want Our Lives Back. We Want To Go Home”
During her recent trip to Syria, WFP Senior Spokesperson Abeer Etefa met Souad, a 27-year-old mother whose family lost their home to the fighting. Eking out an existence in an empty building near the battles lines, she and her family are surviving on food provided to them by WFP. “Please look at me closely, look at my face. Do I look like a 27 year old?” she asks me. She is waiting for an answer from me. She certainly doesn’t look like she is 27. “When I happen to come across a mirror … [Read more...]
UNRWA, Syria midwife delivers baby in harsh conditions
Damascus The vibrant cry of a baby burst out from a small room in the Khan Eshieh refugee camp in southern Damascus. Forced to find refuge in a shelter housing another 15 people, Mayada Yahya gave birth in a small room with no privacy. The room has provided shelter to Mayada and her husband ever since they fled the fighting in Daraya, near Damascus, a few months ago. Little did she know that she would be delivering their child in this same room months later. Makeshift … [Read more...]
The Internet Gender Gap | Magdy Martinez Soliman
How can the use of mobile technologies best benefit Women? The role of ICTs as development enablers is more widely understood today as access to new technologies, particularly mobile phones, has grown exponentially. SPECIAL COMPUTER TRAINING COURSE DESIGNED FOR DEAF PEOPLE IN DAMASCUS, SYRIA. PHOTO: UNDP IN SYRIA Mobile phone subscriptions exceeded six billion by the end of 2012, three-quarters of which were in the developing world. However, Women are at a disadvantage: they are 21% less … [Read more...]
Syrian Women Cope, ZA’ATARI REFUGEE CAMP
ZA’ATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Mafreq, Jordan — Syrian women residing in the are trying to cope with life in the fenced area that hosts some 40,000 refugees, by engaging in several activities organized by UNFPA. For Fathieh, participating in these activities helps kill time. “Currently, I train women on weaving and embroidery skills, and I learn other handicrafts,” said the mother of ten. Fathieh noted that she attended workshops about family planning organized by the UNFPA and the Noor Al … [Read more...]
Syria, save the children at Camp Neirab
Syria Syria’s Arab Spring is turning bloody. Over 5,000 protesters have been killed, and so have some 400 children. • One four-month-old was reportedly tortured to death. • The international community, previously reluctant to intervene, is getting ready for action. In the morning of 28 September 2012, four Palestine refugees were killed and 5 were injured, 3 of them reportedly seriously, in Neirab Camp in northern Syria. The deaths and injuries were caused by a shell which exploded in the … [Read more...]
The Brookings Institute asks “End the War in Syria? How? When?”
“The beginning of wisdom,” a Chinese saying goes, “is to call things by their right names.” And the right name for what is happening in Syria — and has been for more than a year — is an all-out civil war. Syria is Lebanon of the 1970s and ’80s. It is Afghanistan, Congo or the Balkans of the 1990s. It is Iraq of 2005-2007. It is not an insurgency. It is not a rebellion. It is not Yemen. It is certainly not Egypt or Tunisia. It is important to accept this simple fact, because … [Read more...]