In the long history of global conflict, there have been few scenarios more complex or troubling than that in Syria today. The war there so far has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and has displaced millions more, prompting an exodus of refugees on a scale scarcely seen since World War II. Devex spoke with Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children U.S., and how conflicts and their causes can be more effectively addressed in future. Below are excerpts from this conversation.
What would you say your key learnings have been from a conflict as complex as Syria?
First of all I would say that Syria represents such a huge shift in conflict response for organizations like Save the Children, because of the numbers and the length of time. We’re now into our fifth year of working on this (conflict), and the numbers are just so huge; 11 million people who have been displaced, both internally and externally, and about half of them are children under the age of 18. So we have never actually experienced for such a long period of time serving that number of refugee children with all the needs that they have.
About the author
Musa Okwonga
Musa Okwonga is a journalist, poet, broadcaster, musician, and PR consultant currently based in Berlin, Germany. He has written for several publications, including The Guardian, The New Statesman, ESPN and The New York Times, and is the author of two books on football, the first of which, A Cultured Left Foot, was nominated for the 2008 William Hill Sports Book of the Year. Find out more about his work at www.okwonga.com.
