A/HRC/43/CRP.6 I. Introduction 1. A six-year-old boy imitated hanging a two-year-old child after witnessing the public execution of a man in Yarmouk camp, Damascus. During the siege of Madaya, Rif Damascus, a mother described to the Commission how her ten-year-old daughter wrote her testament believing that she would die from hunger. Their stories are not uncommon and paint a stark picture of what has been, and continues to be, the grim reality for scores of girls and boys in the Syrian Arab Republic. 2. After eight years of conflict, children in Syria have experienced unabated violations of their rights: they continue to be killed, maimed, injured and orphaned, bearing the brunt of violence perpetrated by warring parties. Children’s experiences in the Syrian conflict have been deeply gendered. Females have been disproportionally affected by sexual violence and the threat of rape has resulted in restrictions on their movements. Girls have been confined to their homes, removed from school or faced obstacles to access health care. Boys, in particular those aged 12 and above, have been arrested in a widespread manner and kept in detention facilities, as well as targeted by armed groups and militia for recruitment into their ranks to actively participate in hostilities. 3. For those boys and girls, the unprecedented and recurrent nature of these violations has affected generations to come. The psychological impact of the conflict on children has been a striking feature of the war in Syria with far reaching consequences. As a result of repeated exposure to violence and insecurity, children exhibit signs of trauma, including psychological and behavioural disorders, as well as chronic fatigue and acute stress. 4. As hostilities continue, displacement is pervasive and impacts upon the ability of children to exercise their basic rights. Millions of children now live in situations of protracted displacement, often with severed family ties, unaccompanied and left to survive by themselves without adequate access to schooling or medical care. At the time of writing, approximately five million children in Syria were in need of some form of humanitarian assistance, including nearly half a million of children in hard-to-reach areas due to denials of access by parties to conflict.1 5. The effects of eight years of war on the enjoyment of basic human rights, in particular the right to education, has been stark and wide-ranging. Girls have been acutely vulnerable as they are unable to access schools and, as a result, are less likely to return to education due to their families seeking their “protection” through early marriage. With pre-existing gender inequalities further exacerbated, girls with limited access to education are more likely to have reduced power in decision-making processes relating to their own lives. Boys have been used to participate in hostilities, or compelled to take on the role of a breadwinner and engage in petty jobs to secure an income for their families. Children with disabilities encounter significant protection and assistance concerns, especially when relocated to settlements in which access to services is severely limited, which in turn further reduces the possibility for many to resume their studies. 6. Education is a means for the realization of rights and a tool for meaningful participation in the community.2 When stripped from their fundamental right to education, children are more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. This will have a significant impact on the ability of Syrian children to contribute positively to society, exercise their rights and participate in civil and political life, as the country moves forward. 7. The information in this report is based approximately 5,000 interviews between 2011 and October 2019 with Syrian children as well as eyewitnesses, survivors, relatives of survivors, medical professionals, defectors, members of the armed groups, healthcare 1 2 4 See https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/syrian-crisis General Comment No. 13 (1999) on Article 13 on the right to education, of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, on the right to education: “education is both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other human rights. As an empowerment right, education is the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities.”