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WORLD NEWS Friday 14 december 2018

UNICEF: 2 million children in Syria still out of schools

By BASSEM MROUE community has been gen-
Associated Press erous but we need to stay
BEIRUT (AP) — Even though the course. The needs are
Syria’s civil war is winding enormous.” Syria’s conflict
down, 2 million of the coun- that began in March 2011
try’s children are still out of has impacted children
schools and it will likely take heavily, many of whom
years and a lot of funding have been killed or wound-
to help overcome the scars ed. The Britain-based Syr-
of the seven-year conflict, ian Observatory for Human
the head of the U.N. chil- Rights, a war monitor, re-
dren’s agency said Thurs- leased a death toll for the
day. conflict this week saying
UNICEF’s Executive Direc- that among the half a mil-
tor Henrietta Fore said the lion people killed over the
agency has a shortfall of past seven years, 20,819
$95 million this year and were children or teenagers.
has appealed for funds. The war has also wounded
She expects the agency’s more than a million per-
needs to swell even more sons, including children
only in 2019 as more refu- who lost their limbs as a
gees return to Syria and in- result of bombardment or
ternally displaced people touching unexploded ord-
move back to their homes. UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press nance.
Speaking to The Associ- after returning from a visit to Syria, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. Fore said UNICEF and its
ated Press in Beirut after re- Associated Press partners are working on
turning from a visit to Syria, doors and windows. Fore urb of Douma, the southern food. This is winter time in psychosocial support for
she said schools that have spent five days touring ar- province of Daraa and ar- Syria, its cold but with just the children who’ve been
not been destroyed by war eas recaptured earlier this eas in the central provinces a little of plastic sheeting through too much violence
are packed with students year by government forces of Homs and Hama. you cannot close in these and mine awareness pro-
although some of them from insurgents including Speaking about Douma, apartments that are amid gram is one of the most im-
lack electricity or even the Damascus eastern sub- Fore said that for families the rubble.” portant required now. She
that have returned to the “The living conditions are added that some three
Pope to visit Bulgaria, Macedonia suburb “it is very difficult. I extremely difficult,” Fore million children are trying
mean they are looking for said. “The destruction is to learn about unexploded
in May in busy travel year water, they’re looking for widespread. The donor ordnances. q

Pope Francis leaves after he celebrated Mass on the occasion
of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in St. Peter’s Basilica at
the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018.
Associated Press
Associated Press 2016 for her dedication to
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope serving the poor. She was
Francis is travelling in May born Agnese Gonhxe Bo-
to the Orthodox countries jahxiu in Skopje in 1910 and
of Bulgaria and Macedo- died in Calcutta in 1997,
nia, where he will pay trib- where she spent much of
ute to Macedonian-born her life. The former Soviet
Mother Teresa, officials republic of Bulgaria, too, is
said Thursday. During the mostly Orthodox and host-
May 5-7 trip, Francis will visit ed St. John Paul II in 2002.
the Bulgarian cities of Sofia During that visit, the Polish-
and Rakovski, followed by born John Paul tried to
a stop in the Macedonian put to rest suspicion that
capital Skopje en route Bulgaria’s secret service
home, the Vatican said. was behind Turkish gun-
Francis canonized Mother man Mehmet Ali Agca’s
Theresa as St. Theresa of attempt to kill him in St. Pe-
Calcutta in September ter’s Square in 1981.q