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The impact of war on children across the Middle East · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: For more on the human impact of this war across
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  Speaker 1: the region. I'm joined now by UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Peutez,
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  Speaker 1: who is in Amman, Jordan. Ricardo, thank you for being
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  Speaker 1: with us. UNICEF says that more than two thousand children
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  Speaker 1: have been killed or injured in places like Iron, Lebanon,
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  Speaker 1: Kuwait since the start of the war. How do you
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  Speaker 1: arrive at those numbers and what do you see as
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  Speaker 1: the most immediate threat to children at this stage of
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  Speaker 1: the conflict.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, Janet, Well, we've seen this happening before,
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  Speaker 2: sadly in the region. The figures speak for themselves. Thousands,
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  Speaker 2: two thousand and two hundred actually either injured or killed
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  Speaker 2: in four weeks, and the numbers are mounting. That's an
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  Speaker 2: average of nearly eighty seven children either killed or injured
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  Speaker 2: every single day, every twenty four hours, hundreds of thousands displaced.
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  Speaker 2: Just that's the consequence of war. The children are the
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  Speaker 2: first to suffer and the ones who suffer the most.
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  Speaker 2: And it's no different now. Vill infrastructure that they depend
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  Speaker 2: so much as well, has been completely destroyed or partially
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  Speaker 2: destroyed across the two countries, especially around in Lebanon, hospitals, schools,
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  Speaker 2: warr and sanitation systems. So it brings chaos for them
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  Speaker 2: and they end up paying with their lives quite often
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  Speaker 2: and Ricarl.
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  Speaker 1: While we were talking about the impact on children, I
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  Speaker 1: want to get your statement on the US strike on
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  Speaker 1: a girls school that many experts say likely came from
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  Speaker 1: the US that killed nearly two hundred students there.
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  Speaker 2: That was on the first day of war, on the
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  Speaker 2: twenty eighth of February. So that painted a very grim
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  Speaker 2: picture of what was coming next and indeed very tragic.
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  Speaker 2: We know that at least one hundred and ten children
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  Speaker 2: were killed on that day, mainly girls in a school.
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  Speaker 2: So that's by itself unconscionable to think that any parent
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  Speaker 2: would have to go through such pain and children lose
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  Speaker 2: their lives in such a brutal way. But that's what
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  Speaker 2: we're seeing over and over since this war started four
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  Speaker 2: weeks ago.
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  Speaker 1: And aside from being injured or killed, there are millions
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  Speaker 1: of people who have been displaced. To talk to us
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  Speaker 1: about the impact of the humanitarian impact of that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's huge. We know that in Iran at least
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  Speaker 2: eight hundred and fifty thousand children have been pushed out
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  Speaker 2: of their homes in Lebanon. These number is over three
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  Speaker 2: hundred and fifty thousand right now, so we're talking about
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  Speaker 2: over a million children displaced in only two countries in
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  Speaker 2: four weeks. In a month, we're actually marking a month
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  Speaker 2: as we speak, and the impact is severe for them.
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  Speaker 2: They not only lose their homes, but they also lose
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  Speaker 2: their right to go to school. The systems that they
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  Speaker 2: so desperately depend on in a time of crisis are
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  Speaker 2: no longer there for them. They end up living in
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  Speaker 2: temporary shelters, They are at risk of protection threats, they
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  Speaker 2: get separated from their families, They don't eat enough nutritious food,
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  Speaker 2: clean water, is lacking health services, so it becomes a
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  Speaker 2: chaos for children and unicf We're used to dealing with
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  Speaker 2: this situation, unfortunately, over and over again, but it's never
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  Speaker 2: too much to remember that uprooting children from their homes
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  Speaker 2: is uprooting children from their childhood.
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  Speaker 1: And UNISF regularly cites international law, specifically the obligation for
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  Speaker 1: warring parties to protect civilians, but many have been frustrated
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  Speaker 1: by what they see as the lack of enforcement mechanisms
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to international law. You were just talking
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  Speaker 1: about the systems that people rely on to protect them.
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  Speaker 1: What do you say to people who are frustrated by
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  Speaker 1: that and may in many ways feel like organizations like
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  Speaker 1: the United Nations are ineffective.
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  Speaker 2: Look, the UN cannot take blame for this. We try
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  Speaker 2: our best day in and day out to respond to
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  Speaker 2: humanitarian needs. In our case that unicf on the needs
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  Speaker 2: of children. International humanitarian law is there and should be
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  Speaker 2: respected at all times. It exists for a reason. It
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  Speaker 2: was created post World War two for a reason so
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  Speaker 2: we wouldn't have to see things like this happening again.
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  Speaker 2: Children being killed or injured, oftentimes indiscriminately while there's no accountability.
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  Speaker 2: So crimes that go unpunished become crimes that get repeated,
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  Speaker 2: and that's what we're seeing now. The international law is
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  Speaker 2: not being respected. It needs to be enforced. It's not
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  Speaker 2: the role of units have to do that, but it
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  Speaker 2: is our role to call for accountability and for those
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  Speaker 2: who are perpetuating such horrors on children day in and
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  Speaker 2: day out, that they respond to justice international or locally.
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  Speaker 1: And to that point, as this new war escalates, the
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  Speaker 1: international focus has been largely diverted from what's happening in Gaza.
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  Speaker 1: What can you tell us about the humanitarian conditions there.
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  Speaker 2: No, it's terrible, it's catastrophic. I speak to colleagues on
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  Speaker 2: a daily basis who are in Gaza, and even though
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  Speaker 2: the situation has improved, we must say since the ceasefire,
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  Speaker 2: which we should actually call a lesser fire, because two
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  Speaker 2: hundred children have been killed since that agreement was in place,
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  Speaker 2: which is a staggering figure. But you know, apart from that,
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  Speaker 2: apart from the protection risks and the lack of safety,
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  Speaker 2: we're still lacking enough humanitarian supplies to attend to a
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  Speaker 2: situation that was generated after two years of unrelenting war.
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  Speaker 2: So children in Gaza are still suffering a lot, and
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  Speaker 2: we need to do a lot better as an international
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  Speaker 2: community to make sure that they're suffering subsides and that
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  Speaker 2: they don't continue to pay the highest price for a
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  Speaker 2: war that started over two years ago. That seems to
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  Speaker 2: have a ceasefire now, but they're still getting killed also
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  Speaker 2: in the West Bank, and again day in and day
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  Speaker 2: out goes by and the situation remains the same.
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  Speaker 1: So much suffering there and Gaza and so many other
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  Speaker 1: places in the Middle East. Ricardo Pirez from UNISF, thank
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  Speaker 1: you for being with us this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me