On the International Day of Innocent Children-Victims of Aggression, June 4, Canadian Jesuits International highlights the plight of more than *450 million children living in or fleeing from conflict zones and whose human rights are denied and violated.
CJI reaffirms its commitment to promoting peace and supporting its Jesuit partners who provide humanitarian aid, psychosocial and rehabilitation support, and educational opportunities to children whose education has been interrupted by war and conflict.
In South Sudan, CJI supports the work of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), which provides education, health and relief services to internally displaced persons and, more recently, to refugees and returnees fleeing the conflict in Sudan. In Maban and Renk, JRS provides safe learning spaces that protect children’s health and well-being and promote social inclusion, which enhances their learning experience and resilience. Children and their families are guided and supported to fully integrate into the local education system.
In Lebanon, CJI supports the work of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), whose programs help improve the lives of Syrian refugee families in Beirut, Bekaa, Byblos, and Mount Lebanon. JRS also runs an accelerated learning program to help Syrian refugee children integrate into the local Lebanese education system.
The world cannot ignore the plight of children who have been robbed of their innocence and of their future. Children in conflict zones are being killed or maimed, recruited as child soldiers, abducted, subjected to sexual violence, and denied humanitarian aid, according to the UN Secretary-General’s latest Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict.
The UN General Assembly designated June 4 as the International Day of Innocent Children-Victims of Aggression on August 19, 1982, during a special emergency session on the question of Palestine, stating that it was “appalled at the great number of innocent Palestinian and Lebanese children victims of Israel’s acts of aggression.”
Sadly, the situation in the Middle East has not changed. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, following the violent October 7th attack by Hamas, has upended the lives of children, who make up 47% of Gaza’s population of over two million. About 7,800 children have been killed, about one million have been uprooted from their homes and are suffering from hunger and disease, and tens of thousands have been orphaned or separated from their families, according to the UN.
