Food Shortages Put Syria's Children at Risk of Malnutrition, Save the Children Warns
(firmenpresse) - TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 09/24/13 -- A lack of access to food, soaring prices and a collapse in food production has left the children of Syria at risk of malnutrition, Save the Children warned today.
The aid agency has gathered testimonies from refugees in neighbouring countries as well as residents trapped by fighting and enduring siege like conditions who detailed families' desperate struggle to feed their children.
More than four million Syrians - over two million children - are unable to produce or buy enough food, with many thousands living under fire and with no access to all but the bare minimum foodstuffs needed to survive. We are already seeing reports that one in 20 children in Rural Damascus is severely malnourished.
Save the Children has heard refugee accounts of children forced to subsist off nothing more than lentils or bread for days on end, with one family trapped in their basement by explosions eating just half a piece of bread each over the course of four days.
In a briefing on the state of hunger in Syria, released today, Save the Children also details how severe food shortages are being compounded by an explosion in food prices. The cost of even the most basic food items has spiralled out of control with the cost of the most basic supplies increasing 100 per cent.
Among the testimonies the charity has gathered:
The war has shattered Syria's economy and the United Nations now estimates close to seven million inhabitants have been plunged into poverty since fighting began. In addition, Syria's agriculture and infrastructure is collapsing, with grain production falling to less than half of what was typical before the war.
Save the Children's Regional Director for the Middle East, Roger Hearn, said: "The world has stood and watched as the children of Syria have been shot, shelled and traumatised by the horror of war. The conflict has already left thousands of children dead and is now threatening their means of staying alive.
"That some children are going to bed trapped amid fighting - terrified, alone, vulnerable - and with empty stomachs ought to be a stain on all our consciences. We understand there is a political debate over what to do next in Syria but we believe everyone can agree on the critical need for safe humanitarian access across the entire country. There is no room for delay or argument: Syria's children must not be allowed to go hungry."
A lack of security makes gathering data on child malnutrition rates extremely difficult throughout Syria. However, all available evidence - including spiralling food costs, a collapse of infrastructure and food production, and testimonies of individuals' experiences with hunger - suggests Syria's children are facing a mounting struggle to feed themselves.
To view the report associated with this press release, please click on the following link: .
Contacts:
For additional information and/or interview requests
please contact: Save the Children Canada
Kirsten Walkom
National Senior Manager, Public Relations
647-631-3862
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Datum: 24.09.2013 - 06:34 Uhr
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News-ID 1266443
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