ABOUT THIS REPORT

Through the voices of children, parents and staff working in the region this report presents a glimpseinto the struggles faced by refugee and displaced families in the region. What is highlighted, however, is the ability of children – with appropriate and sustained support – to mitigate the impacts of adversity and move forward with a sense of purpose and possibility in their lives.

Save the Children and all other humanitarian actors can and must do more, and require the appropriate funding to do so. The rights and needs of children and families in all neighbouring countries affected by the Syria crisis must be better met. Child and youth issues must take a more prominent place on the political agenda, and funding for quality initiatives that support and protect children and youth mustbe dramatically increased.

Child protection is a life-saving response in humanitarian emergencies, of which psychosocial support is a key element. Resilience and psychosocial well-being in boys and girls can be promoted through multi-layered interventions that enhance healthy development. However, protection remains significantly underfunded with only 26% of requested protection funding for the Syria response secured as of October 2015.6

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Key recommendations are presented at the end of this report to enhance the child protection and psychosocial response to the Syrian crisis in the region. These emphasize

• The need for a concerted political effort to end the conflicts in the region
• Address policy barriers that refugee and displaced families face in raising their children and living with dignity
• Ensuring that donors fund, and humanitarian actors implement, evidence-based and appropriate programming that meets the developmental needs of children; especially the most vulnerable.

The full 'Childhood in the Shadow of War' report can be found attached below.