*Latest Broll footage from Aleppo available here
*High-quality photos from Aleppo available here
Shocking images of Oman Dagneesh (5) should shake the moral compass of the world
DUBLIN, 19 August 2016 – The heart-breaking images of Omran Dagneesh, the little boy rescued from a destroyed building in Aleppo, remind us yet again of the unimaginable horrors Syria’s children face every hour of every day.
As fighting in Aleppo intensifies, children are being forced onto the front line of conflict. Nowhere is safe; not their hospitals, not their schools, not even their homes.
Children’s charity UNICEF is on the ground in Aleppo, delivering life-saving humanitarian aid to children.
UNICEF Ireland Executive Director, Peter Power, said: “The deteriorating situation in Aleppo over the last two weeks has been hugely worrying. Two million people in eastern Aleppo are without access to safe running water, because of damage to electricity networks and systems. Every day the risk of an outbreak of a waterborne disease grows.”
“UNICEF is leading the cluster of aid agencies responsible for looking after the water supply in Aleppo. It is absolutely crucial that humanitarian corridors are established, on a weekly basis, so that aid agencies can get in to offer assistance and make repairs. We need – at a minimum – a 48 hour lull in fighting every week, so that specialists can get in and maintain systems all over the city.”
UNICEF has already delivered 300,000 litres of fuel to operate water pumping stations and ground wells in the western part of the city – in that way, water is being supplied to 1.2 million people. UNICEF is also trucking in water on a daily basis (4 million litres every day to the western part of the city), and delivering water purification tablets.
The image of Omran Daqneesh has served as a stark reminder that no place is safe for children in Syria and that millions of children are witnessing horrific violence on a daily basis.
We remind parties to the conflict of their responsibility to keep children out of harm’s way and protect them at all times.
Nothing justifies attacks on children.
ENDS
About UNICEF
Find our Syria appeal here.
UNICEF promotes the rights and well-being of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. UNICEF has been operating for 70 years.
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For more information, please contact:
Aedín Donnelly, Communications and Media Manager for UNICEF Ireland | aedin@unicef.ie | Tel: +353 1 809 0281 | Mob: +353 85 1395272
