World Vision calls on the United Nations to investigate allegations of chemical attack in Syria

Reports of an alleged chemical attack in Syria are extremely concerning to World Vision. Information coming out of Syria is not easy to verify, but we, like others, are hearing that several hundred, potentially more than one thousand people, may have died in this single attack, including many children.

If true, this sets a dangerous precedent in its deliberate targeting of civilians, particularly children, and we have grave concerns for what it signals.

As an impartial aid agency focused on children, our job is to respond to the needs of those affected by the conflict, and these needs are already overwhelming, both inside Syria and in neighbouring countries.

Daily we see children with wounds, physical and emotional, that may never heal. Aid agencies cannot keep up.

We deplore indiscriminate attacks on civilians and especially children. We urge restraint on all sides of the conflict and request the United Nations to continue its probe into these claims as soon as possible.

Children play no part in this conflict and they are the ones who are suffering, and will continue to suffer, until the fighting stops. Meanwhile, the humanitarian community desperately needs donors to fulfil pledged funds as we continue working to meet the ever-increasing need.

ENDS