Children Bearing the Brunt

Ten Years of War in Syria Cost $1.2 Trillion: Report

Date: 06 March 2021 - 21:50

News ID: ۸۸۲۶۷

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – The economic cost of the ten-year foreign-backed war in Syria now exceeds $1.2 trillion, and even if the war ended today, the cost would climb by an additional $1.7 trillion through to 2035, according to a new report launched by international aid agency World Vision in partnership with Frontier Economics.
The ‘Too high a price to pay: the cost of conflict for Syria’s children’ report examines the overall impact of the ten year war on both Syria’s economic growth (in GDP), and on its human capital, with a specific focus on Syria’s children.
The findings reveal the immense effect on children resulting from ongoing violence, forced displacement and limited access to education and health services. The report concludes that an entire generation has been completely disrupted, compromising Syria’s recovery and economic growth, once the war ends.
"The war in Syria has been a decade of disaster,” says Michael Messenger, President & CEO of World Vision Canada. "While the world has stood by and allowed this conflict to rage on, millions of children have been caught in the crosshairs. Children continue to be killed, ripped from their homes, robbed of their rights and denied essential services like healthcare and education. Lasting peace is now the only viable solution and the international community must do everything in their power to make this happen before more young lives are cut short.”
"Children come to us on a daily basis in Syria, hungry, cold and deeply distressed by what they have witnessed and experienced,” says Johan Mooij, World Vision Syria Response Director.
"Boys and girls aged five or six can name every type of bomb by its sound, but sometimes can barely write their name, having missed out on the chance of an education. We cannot let them remain trapped in this cycle of violence. We must stop the war and the shadow pandemic of violence against children before it is too late.”
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Zionist regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.
Syrian government troops and their allies have managed to retake roughly 80 percent of the war-ravaged Arab country’s territory from the Takfiri terrorists.
The Syrian army is fighting to drive out remaining terrorists, but the presence of U.S. and European forces in addition to Turkish troops has slowed down its advances.