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31/08/2010
Dayah, UN Special Rapporteur Discuss Environmental Situation in Syria

Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Kawkab al-Sabah Daya discussed on Monday with the United Nations Special Rapportuer on the Right to Food
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30/08/2010
SPC, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Discuss Food and Economic Situation in Syria

Chairman of the State Planning Commission (SPC) Dr. Amer Hosni Lutfi said on Sunday the priorities of the new five-year plan focus on
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UN Global News
31/08/2010
Ban hails role played by civil society in advancing global health

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have an invaluable role to play in advancing global health goals, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today
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Stories

International Year of Youth launches in Syria with colourful events
2010-08-29

In proclaiming the International Year of Youth, which runs from 12 August 2010 to 11 August 2011, the United Nations called on governments, civil society,   ... More »

New life in the Ottoman Souqs of Deir Ezzor
2010-08-29

Throughout the Middle East, souqs have historically been the center of a city’s culture and livelihood. Centuries of wear and tear, however, have taken their   ... More »

Alongside Syrian health workers, UNICEF battles varied causes of malnutrition
2010-08-19

AL-HASAKEH, Syrian Arab Republic, 18 August 2010 – Syria’s Al-Hasakah governorate is no more than two hours away from Euphrates, Yet one of the biggest   ... More »

International Year of Youth Kicks off in Syria
2010-08-16

DAMASCUS: AUGUST 7 2010

By Rob Sixsmith

Syria’s youth made a boisterous declaration of intent at the launching ceremony of the 2010 International Year   ... More »

Historical Solutions to Modern Problems
2010-08-14

On the barren landscape of the North-Eastern Syrian plains, a splash of bright blue catches the eye. It is not the flowing waters of the   ... More »

Gorillaz celebrities get up close with young refugees during Syria performance
2010-07-28

There was nothing normal about the visit of the Gorillaz, one of the world’s biggest rock bands, to Syria – a country that is usually   ... More »

UNRWA and Mexico offer refugee children joy and hope
2010-07-20

Over 160 orphaned and disabled Palestine refugee children take part in a week-long summer camp by the Mediterranean financed by the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de   ... More »

Breaking the cycle: Iraqi refugee students in Syria need help to go back to school
2010-07-07

Support from UNICEF and European Union

By Rob Sixsmith

DAMASCUS, Syrian Arab Republic, 6 July 2010 – Lulls in conversation with 16-year-old Iraqi refugee Gailan   ... More »

Syrian girls pioneer softball in the Middle East
2010-06-17

A boisterous crowd cheered on the Latakia girls’ softball team as they brought home their final base runner to secure themselves as the victors of   ... More »

A life on the run for footballer refugee: Seeds of Success
2010-06-13

Hussein Deeb\'s life has been one of struggle both on and off the field, as the child of refugees who had to flee from their   ... More »

Students Run For Peace and Dialogue
2010-06-01

Five hundred Palestinian refugee school children flooded the streets of Yarmouk Camp in Damascus on the morning of 18 April, running under the \'VIVICITTA 2010’   ... More »

National Immunization Week in Syria aims for 100 per cent coverage
2010-05-11

DAMASCUS, Syrian Arab Republic, 30 April 2010 – Wide-eyed children waited with their mothers as UNICEF-trained health workers prepared to administer their vaccines.

UNICEF is   ... More »

UNICEF Tunes into Health Education for Syrian Schools
2010-04-22

Songs and poetry have always played a central part in Syrian life - employed to communicate the important things.

Now, songs and poems   ... More »

Damascus Circus School Leaves Audience Breathless
2010-04-14

Forty young Iraqi and Palestinian refugees and Syrians demonstrated spectacular acrobatic prowess today as they performed to an excited audience at al-Faiha Stadium in Damascus.   ... More »

Shukran Murtaja - Education is the cornerstone of life
2010-03-29

Seeds of Success
Damascus, March 2010

For the last three years Shukran Murtaja has cast a spell on Syrian audiences through her portrayal of   ... More »

A Trickle Becomes a River as Students Hit the Street for World Water Day
2010-03-25

"I want to talk to them. So people can learn how to save water," announced Amani, a 9-year-old member of a water friendly team in   ... More »

International Woman's Day: Syrian Women Make Small but Crucial Gains
2010-03-23

By Rob Sixsmith

International Women’s Day opened in Syria with mention of inspiring Syrian women like Marie Ajami and Nazek Al Abed -   ... More »

Capoeira therapy brings joy to Iraqi children at a refugee camp in Syria
2010-03-16

By Rob Sixsmith

AL-TANF REFUGEE CAMP, Syria, 12 March 2010 – The closure in February of the Al-Tanf refugee camp on the Syrian-Iraqi border ends   ... More »

BIKE CAMP TO CAMP TEAM: Intrepid Fundraising Cyclists Visit UNICEF on the Ground in Syria
2010-02-22

By: Rob Sixsmith

DAMASCUS, 24 January 2010- UNICEF fundraisers go to extraordinary lengths to help nudge UNICEF towards the goal of alleviating child hardship.
More »

Syria: Going Organic
2010-01-12

As people world-wide are growing increasingly concerned about the quality of the food and the state of the environment, organic products are becoming ever more   ... More »

Poor conditions in Iraq drive returned refugees back to Syria
2009-12-28

DAMASCUS, Syria, December 21 (UNHCR) – Omar Salman\'s* Syrian visa expired two weeks ago. A refugee from neighbouring Iraq, he believes his family\'s residency permits   ... More »

UNICEF and the Embassy of Denmark launch refurbished water plant in drought affected central Syria
2009-12-08

SALAMIEH, Syria, 2 December 2009 – Syria is experiencing a severe drought that is jeopardizing the livelihoods of thousands of families. After a second straight   ... More »

Karrad, "If I stop working, how can we survive?"
2009-12-07

DAMASCUS, 30 November 2009 (IRIN) - Karrad, 16, and his family fled the sectarian violence in Iraq following the US-led invasion in 2003 and came   ... More »

Drought response faces funding shortfall
2009-11-24

(IRIN) - With a few weeks left before the end of this year’s planting season, UN officials have raised concerns over the lack of funds   ... More »

The desert gardener
2009-11-08

Bassim Mohamad, a Palestinian agricultural science professor from Baghdad University, lives in al Tanf refugee camp. He talks about his life, the art of survival   ... More »

Pedal for Peace Bike Ride 2009
2009-11-04

The message of peace was alive and well in Dera’a on 14 October as participants in the annual Pedal for Peace Bike Ride rode into   ... More »

Children situation analysis report by the Syrian Commission of Affairs and UNICEF highlights violence against children
2009-10-28

By Razan Rashidi

After two year’s work, the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs (SCFA) in collaboration with UNICEF has concluded a report on the Situation   ... More »

World food day is No Food Day for more than one billion of the world's hungry
2009-10-16

As the number of hungry people shoots past record levels, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today called on the world to remember the   ... More »

Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie urges the international community not to forget the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who remain in exile.
2009-10-04

DAMASCUS, Syria, October 2 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie called Friday on the international community not to forget the hundreds of thousands of   ... More »

Expressing frustration in a Healthy way
2009-10-01

Capoeira activities help to overcome fire shock in al-Tanf

In al-Tanf, a camp set up in no-man\'s-land between the Syrian and Iraqi borders   ... More »

Iraqi artist departs for new life in the United States
2009-09-06

DAMASCUS, Syria, September 2 (UNHCR) - Amer Ibrahim* always planned to become an artist when he enrolled at Baghdad University\'s Fine Arts Faculty in the   ... More »

Window to the world
2009-08-30

UNICEF Syria contributes to Palestinian community development

Text and Photos by Pawel Krzysiek

“I didn’t know that being a trainer was   ... More »

Palestine Refugees Enter the Welding Workforce in Homs
2009-08-25

"A business man once shared with me his employment strategy. He hires not the best technician, but the one most in need of work in   ... More »

Syrian Aid Workers Deliver Help and Hope
2009-08-21

By Anna Jozwik

By Anna Jozwik

“Everything has a price. Even when you’re doing a good thing, making a humanitarian effort,   ... More »

Food for Education
2009-08-11

“I don’t want to go back to shepherding the cows. That’s what I was doing before my father heard that he would get a lot   ... More »

Partners for change, partners for future
2009-07-26

Syrian adolescents step into action at the Youth Conference in Aleppo

Fifteen-year-old Hiba calmly scans the faces of a large audience gathered in   ... More »

Empowering Syrian Women
2009-07-26

The “Poverty Alleviation and Women Empowerment” programme, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in cooperation with the MoSAL, endeavors to reduce internal migration   ... More »

Treating Tuberculosis, One of the World's Oldest Pandemics
2009-07-15

Two billion people world wide have been infected with tuberculosis (TB) although most of those individuals never develop symptoms. While only five to ten percent   ... More »

Starting new lives at the age of six
2009-07-13

Inside the UNICEF/SARC Multidisciplinary Child Protection and Psychosocial Support (CP & PSS) Unit in Saida Zainab, six year old Tareq* clings to his mother’s abaya and   ... More »

Iraqi refugee youngster flown to Monaco from Syria for heart surgery
2009-07-05

MONTE CARLO, Monaco, June 30 (UNHCR) – An infant Iraqi refugee has been flown to Europe for life-saving surgery under an accord signed here less   ... More »

Syria’s refugees kick off World Refugee Day in Barça attire
2009-06-22

Iraqi and Somali refugees awarded FC Barcelona uniforms at World Refugee Day soccer tournament in Damascus.

DAMASCUS, Syria, June 21, 2009 (UNHCR) – Iraqis, Somalis and   ... More »

Dara’a Goes Green
2009-06-17

Syria, April 2009

‘During spring and early summer the Syrian countryside blossoms. From the rolling hills in its northern limits to its vast   ... More »

Transitions: Iraqi musicians on the move
2009-06-14

Three Iraqi refugees produce an album with UNHCR’s help and release it on music-sharing sites. The profits will help other refugees in Syria.
More »

Biodiversity Conservation in Syria
2009-06-11

By Ingrida Kerusauskaite

“The global decline in biodiversity remains alarming. The main causes include deforestation, changes in habitat and land degradation, often linked to   ... More »

Syrian and Iraqi Children playing in the shade
2009-06-10

BY Bianca Baumler

Eleven year old Miriam is from Baghdad. She moved to Damascus and has been attending the Jerji Toma School, Sahnaya, Damascus since   ... More »

Here is your banana and drop your cigarette please!
2009-06-09

Joint action on World No Tobacco Day

They are all excited about what they have done recently. It seems like it has been   ... More »

World No Tobacco Day: Yarmouk Students Taught to Teach
2009-06-03

As the sweltering heat of the Syrian summer engulfs the streets of Yarmouk refugee camp, a group of schoolgirls dashes towards the cooling shade of   ... More »

An entire community says “NO!” to tobacco
2009-06-01

By Ingrida Kerusauskaite

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the world and one of the biggest public health threats we face today.   ... More »

UNICEF promotes improved practice in the treatment of gender-based violence
2009-05-26

Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the precarious situation of Iraqi refugees has attracted greater attention to Sex and Gender Based Violence (SGBV)   ... More »

Valuable Vocations and Real Opportunities
2009-05-24

The Damascus Training Centre (DTC) is an example of how the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and its donors succeed in providing valuable   ... More »

SYRIA: Extra food aid for drought-hit Iraqis in northeast
2009-05-14

HASSAKE, 11 May 2009 (IRIN) - Extra food distributions by NGOs have begun to Iraqi families struggling to meet basic needs in Syria’s drought-hit rural   ... More »

Squeezing the Budget
2009-04-15

Support programmes for Syria’s Iraqi refugee population are in jeopardy, with the global financial crisis and donor fatigue producing a sharp decline in international donations.   ... More »

Facing the challenge
2009-04-12

A normal work day in UNRWA´s Poly Clinic in Damascus

Everyday there is a small crowd, men, women, families with small children, waiting outside the UNRWA’s   ... More »

Upgrading HIV and AIDS facilities in Syria
2009-04-01

By Sarah Birke

Next month the Professional Centre for Diagnosing Infectious Diseases in the Zablatani area of Damascus will begin offering tests for common sexually transmitted   ... More »

Raising the Roof: Yarmouk women take their future into their hands
2009-04-01

They are using their own hands to build a floor. It is hard work, but worth the effort. As the Palestinian women from the Yarmouk   ... More »

Iraqi artists in Syria get a rare chance to exhibit their work
2009-03-26

DAMASCUS, Syria, March 25 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency's Damascus office has opened an exhibition of widely diverse works by 22 Iraqis, giving them   ... More »

“It’s Like Waking Up”
2009-03-19

By Annika Folkeson

For Palestinians growing up in the camps of Syria, life sometimes seems to bring nothing but challenges. Although Palestinians in   ... More »

Food Distribution
2009-03-01

by Sarah Birke

Hamid, 81, and Ghanea, 70, are at their first food collection. Hamid is fragile – he has a pacemaker and struggles to   ... More »

Syrian Olive Oil Becomes Environmentally Friendly
2009-02-18

By Sarah Birke

With its Mediterranean climate Syria is a natural home to the olive tree. It is ranked fifth in the world in production of   ... More »

Syria opens the first shelter for victims of human trafficking
2009-02-08

By Sarah Birke

In a building in Damascus the first safe shelter for victims of human trafficking* opened on the last day of 2008. This   ... More »

Child Friendly Spaces bring hope to Iraqi refugee children
2009-02-05

by Annika Folkeson

Upon arrival at the children’s center Selma immediately disappeared into one of the empty rooms. She did not answer questions   ... More »

Syrians to get better access to justice
2009-02-01

By Sarah Birke

The importance of a good legal system cannot be overstated. With stable laws citizens can plan their lives and start businesses; with   ... More »

Deir Ezzor – attracting business and tourism
2009-01-29

By Sarah Birke

Along the banks of the vast Euphrates River in the eastern region of Syria lies the bustling town of Deir   ... More »

Innovative solution protects both farmer and environment
2009-01-28

By Annika Folkeson

On a little farm in Ruha, rural Sweida, one finds something as sophisticated as a biogas digester. With the manure from only three   ... More »

UNHCR helps Iraqi students achieve university dreams
2009-01-26

DAMASCUS, Syria, January 22 (UNHCR) – Eighteen-year-old Maryam* is living her dream as she studies a legal textbook at the back of her family's rented   ... More »

A childhood of rape and exploitation ends mercifully with a new life in Canada
2009-01-07

DAMASCUS, Syria, Dec. 31 (UNHCR) – For any refugee, the chance to begin a new life in Canada is a coveted prize. But for Hiba,*   ... More »

Number of Iraqis recommended by UNHCR for resettlement hits 50,000
2008-12-21

The UN refugee agency reached a milestone late  last month when a  former Baghdad resident became  the 50,000th Iraqi refugee  submitted for resettlement from host   ... More »

Street-cleaning Volunteers Raise Awareness and Hope for a Cleaner Future
2008-12-10

by Annika Folkeson

On December 5th, approximately 125 volunteers set out into various neighborhoods all over Damascus to clean up the city. After leaving the meeting   ... More »

The implication of gender inequality for women’s safety and reproductive health
2008-12-02

by Sarah Birke

For Sadeia what should have been a joyous occasion turned into a tragedy. The 25-year old mother of two had been   ... More »

Syrian Farmers Go Green
2008-11-25

by Annika Folkeson

Every year, pesticides poison millions of people and inflict severe damage to ecosystems around the world. This problem is particularly acute in developing   ... More »

Girls Seek Competitive Expertise at the DTC
2008-11-16

by Annika Folkeson

“The guys are more skilled but I think soon I can be better than them”, Hanin said with a confident smile. “It was   ... More »

Trying to Make Ends Meet: Iraqi Tales from Douma
2008-11-03

by Sarah Birke
Since my husband disappeared - I presume he was killed, on a trip back to Iraq - it has been harder to   ... More »

Making the Desert Bloom at Deir Mar Musa
2008-10-29

by Annika Folkeson
Approaching from a distance, the features of the old monastery slowly start to appear from the surrounding sand-colored mountains. Squeezed   ... More »

Teenage Iraqi refugees focus on a career in Damascus exercise
2008-10-07

DAMASCUS, Syria, (UNHCR) – Threading his way through the streets of old Damascus, the bicyclist suddenly faced an unexpected obstacle – a group of energetic   ... More »

Schools Open with a New Look: UNICEF and the Ministry of Education (MoE) have recently begun a rehabilitation project to upgrade overcrowded schools in four provinces
2008-09-18

Damascus, September 2008 - For some schools, the last weeks preceding the beginning of the new school year have been extremely busy.

Walking into Artouz   ... More »

Death of Palestinian boy highlights dangers at Iraq border refugee camp
2008-09-10

The death of a nine-year-old boy in a road accident on the Iraq-Syria border has focused attention once more on the extremely dangerous and harsh   ... More »

In Preventing Maternal Deaths, Every Nanosecond Counts
2008-08-12

DAMASCUS - Some disagree that a minute counts during an emergency delivery.  According to Dr. Abdul Salam, “a nanosecond is very important in saving the   ... More »

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angelique Kidjo sends a message during her performance in Damascus.
2008-07-29

Damascus, 24th of July 2008 - “We should engage all our capacity to make sure that our children are safe.”

This was Kidjo’s message to   ... More »

Seaside break in Syria proves too much for young Palestinians
2008-07-14

AL TANF, Syria, June 30 (UNHCR) – It seemed like a good idea. Take a group of Palestinian children to the seaside to help them   ... More »

UNICEF celebrates with Refugee Children from Iraq
2008-07-06

"I am having the best time ever," said Shahed, an Iraqi girl living in Syria, while she was completing a puzzle game during the special   ... More »

UNHCR resumes second food distribution of the year in Syria
2008-06-26

DAMASCUS, Syria, June 26 (UNHCR) – To the huge relief of tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Damascus, the UN refugee agency and   ... More »

World Refugee Day: Iraqi musician raises USD 24,000 for UNHCR
2008-06-19

Acclaimed Iraqi oud (lute) player Naseer Shamma has raised more than USD 24,000 for UNHCR's Iraqi refugee programme with a concert at the Damascus Opera   ... More »

Women of Jabal Al-Hoss Village: Tailoring the Way to Self Empowerment
2008-06-11

Women of Jabal Al-Hoss, one of Syria’s poorest areas on the outskirts of Aleppo, are viewed as non-productive burdens on the society and are thus   ... More »

UNHCR faces funding shortfall for Iraq operation
2008-05-14

GENEVA -- Faced with a looming funding shortfall, the UN refugee agency warned
today that it could soon be forced to reduce and in   ... More »

UNICEF & EU partner up to supply schools teaching Syrians and Iraqi Refugees
2008-03-20

When Abdi Dahir Osman, Education Specialist at UNICEF, visits the Achrafiya Sahnaya primary school, he is greeted as Santa Claus, describes Ms. Iman Aboud, director   ... More »

Iraqi refugee youngster flown to Monaco from Syria for heart surgery
2007-07-01

MONTE CARLO, Monaco, June 30 (UNHCR) – An infant Iraqi refugee has been flown to Europe for life-saving surgery under an accord signed here less   ... More »



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