When addressing the topic of infant and child nutrition in Syria, rather that be prosperity or decay, it is foremostly important to highlight the drastic difference between access to proper nutrition in Syria pre and post/during the Syrian Civil War. The Syrian economy between the approximate years of 1970-2010 was reported to be “turbulent”, having rather rocky stability until the 90s, when the economy showed strong signs of growth up until the beginning of the civil war. Following this, it is necessary to draw the connection between economy, security of area, and the accessibility to not just food in general, but food with proper nutrition needed to be considered healthy.
A 2017 survey of East Ghouta, which was sieged by anti-government forces for five years, showed that 11.9% of children under the age of five are reportedly malnourished. Malnourishment is very likely to lead to growth irregularities such as stunting, which increases a child’s risk to contract an illness and possibly die. Because of the unyielding unrest throughout the nation of Syria, the proper nutrition levels of Syrian children have been and are currently inhibited by not only factors such as general lack of resources, but war torn specific topics such as loss of shelter and refugee displacement, and orphanage to children. Another important condition regarding the children’s nutrition situation is the fact that recent statistics from the UN may simply not be recorded or have chances of inaccuracy because of the overall environment of the country, despite this it can be made very obvious to the rest of the globe that countless Syrian children have health defects because of the place they are growing up in.
Because the nation of Syria has been preoccupied for nearly the last decade in a life ruining war, the country has not had much ability to assist its people in feeding their children, instead employing armed forces to defend the territory in and outside of country borders. The Syrian Arab Republic proposes that because the nation is in the simultaneous process of recovering and defending the country, allied nations may feel encouraged to provide aid to our people. Reaching out to the nation can improve global reputation of one country based on their choice of action and regional beliefs, therefore having a large area of possibility for higher rankings and future benefits. Not only would helping the struggling nation make another country look good, it would also greatly and genuinely help improve the well being of Syrian children.
- Luna Samman
