Child Protection

Six years of conflict in Syria: Save the Children series

Firas* sleeps next to his mother every night. His older brother has the top bunk of the bed for himself, while their sister takes the single bed on the opposite side.

Six years of conflict in Syria: Save the Children series

Rama had to sleep for three months in a hole dug in the ground. She was trapped under the rubble for an hour before her family found out she was still alive. She was only three.

Six years of conflict in Syria: Save the Children series

It is a narrow passage. As one walks, one has to avoid the hanging wires and watch out for water pouring down from the tops of the buildings.

Fouad* opens the door himself. He offers a seat and exchanges cheerful greetings, all while quickly moving around the room.

‘’Togetherness means different minds and cultured spirits.’’

On an oval-shaped cardboard inside one of the classrooms, these words are inscribed. The handwriting is that of a child, probably a group of children. The message, for them, is clear: ‘’We are together. Friends.’’

Save the Children is helping children as young as seven to escape child labour in Lebanon by teaching them about their rights at three recently opened centres in Akkar, North Lebanon.

Some 200 children, who work in a range of occupations, including painting, mechanics, butchery and construction, come to these centres in Bireh, Mounseh and Akroum where they can spend time relaxing after a long, hard day’s work.