WUNRN
Syria – How the Syria Conflict Is Driving More Children to Work
- GIRLS
Direct Link to Full 14-Page 2015 UNICEF & Save the Children Report Summary:
http://childrenofsyria.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CHILD-LABOUR.pdf
Direct Link to Full 81-Page Report: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ChildLabourAssessment_ZaatariCamp2015-2.pdf
Before its disastrous plunge into crisis and
armed conflict, Syria was a middle-income country capable of providing a decent
living for most of its people. Almost all children went to school, and literacy
rates were above 90%1.
Four
and a half years into the crisis, four out of five Syrians are estimated to be
living in poverty2 and
7.6 million people are internally displaced3.
By
the end of 2014, the unemployment rate had almost quadrupled to reach 57.7%4. Neighbouring
countries are also suffering the consequences of what has become a regional
crisis, struggling to cope with an influx of four million refugees, about half
of whom are children5.
Children’s
lives have been profoundly affected by the crisis. Inside Syria, children are
exposed to escalating violence and indiscriminate attacks, and the trauma they
bring with them. Some have been forced to take up arms. Too many have lost
loved ones or had to flee their homes and communities, sometimes multiple
times. Syria’s children are paying a heavy price for the world’s failure to put
an end to the conflict.
Child
labour was a fact of life in Syria prior to the war, but the humanitarian
crisis has greatly exacerbated the problem. As a result, many children are now
involved in economic activities that are mentally, physically or socially
dangerous and which limit – or deny -- their basic right to education. In its
most extreme forms -- such as child recruitment by armed forces and groups, or
sexual exploitation -- child labour is a grave violation of children’s rights.
The
Syria crisis has dramatically reduced livelihood opportunities and impoverished
millions of households in the region. Whether in Syria or neighbouring
countries, children are often the main – or even the sole -- breadwinners. In
Jordan, 47% of refugee households say they rely partly or entirely on income
generated by a child6.
1 Save the Children, ‘Futures under threat. The impact of the
education crisis on Syria’s children’, 2014, p. 3
2 Syrian Centre for Policy Research (SCPR), ‘Alienation and
Violence. Impact of Syria Crisis Report 2014’, Syria, 2015, p. 8
3 Key figures UN OCHA, May 2015, www.unocha.org/syria accessed,
2015 4 SCPR, ‘Alienation and Violence. Impact of Syria Crisis Report 2014’,
Syria, 2015, p. 8
5 UNHCR, Syria Regional Refugee Response Statistics, 2015
6 UN Women Inter-Agency Assessment, ‘Gender-Based Violence and
Child Protection Among Syrian Refugees in Jordan, With a Focus on Early
Marriage’, 2013, p. 35
Some
2.7 million Syrian children are currently out of school, a figure swollen by
children who are forced to work instead. The limited access these children have
to quality education is part of the problem; moreover, children who work are
more likely to drop out of education.
As
the economic circumstances of families become more desperate, the working
conditions in which children find themselves are worsening.
In
Jordan, for example a majority of working children in host communities work six
or seven days a week; one-third work more than eight hours a day. Their daily
income is between US$4 and US$77. Children also start working very
young, often before the age of 12. In some parts of Lebanon, children as young
as six are being put to work8.
Harmful
work hurts children’s bodies as well as their prospects in life. Around 75% of
working children in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan reported health
problems; almost 40% reported an injury, illness or poor health9;9 35.8% of
children working in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley are unable to read or write10. Boys and girls
involved in harmful work miss out on their childhood.
Child
labour represents one of the key challenges to the fulfilment of the “No Lost
Generation” initiative launched in 2013, in which UNICEF, Save the Children and
other partners aimed to put child protection and education at the centre of the
humanitarian response to the Syria crisis11.
The purpose of this report is to shed light on the plight of working children and influence a bold discussion on strategies to address the phenomenon. Drawing on assessments and studies undertaken in countries affected by the Syria crisis, it examines the implications for children, and proposes a set of recommendations for stakeholders to consider that could reduce the impact of child labour among Syrian children, and help them reclaim their childhood.