This is very much a children’s crisis.
I know I keep beating this drum, but it is worth beating because so very little of our public conversation about Syria focuses on the plight of Syrian refugees and internally displaced. This is also the one population that we can relatively easily serve and protect — if we just had the money to do so.
Groups like UNICEF and the World Food Program a stand at the ready to provide life saving assistance to Syrians caught in conflict, but they do not have enough money to fully fund their humanitarian response. It is a matter of needing cash on hand to buy and deliver food, medicine, tents and the like. But so far, only 20% of the $1.2 billion pledged to support humanitarian efforts has been received. That’s pathetic. We can — and must — do better.