The fall of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has given hope to millions of Syrian refugees who fled their country during its 13-year civil war. We look back at the start and evolution of the conflict. Syrians wait to cross into Syria from Turkey at the Cilvegözü border...
Desperate to give daughters a safe life, some refugees marry them off early. One organization in Lebanon is showing girls that there is an alternative. Batoul, age 13, in an Alsama classroom in Lebanon. Batoul came to Alsama two years ago illiterate because her...
Girls face barriers to education due to poverty, cultural norms and practices, traditional gender roles, societal pressure and gender inequality. Katharine Lake Berz looks at how education and gender equality play a crucial role in redressing the balance and keeping girls worldwide from early marriage.
Exercise: Read the article. Use the ‘Questions to Consider’ below it as a starting point for discussion. Find out more about the importance of girls’ education and think about why it should be a priority. For further reading and research, use the following information on girls’ education: Girls Not Brides, World Bank. Discuss why this issue should be a priority and how it relates to SDG 4 and SDG 5. You could screen this ‘School is just the start’ TED Talk by Angelina Murimirwa (8min) and discuss the key points in groups.
The Kurdish people in North Syria are attacked by Turkey to the north and Syria to the south. No one wants them there but they have nowhere to go. People attend the funeral of four Kurds in the town of Jinderis, Syria, 21 March 2023. The assailants shot the Kurdish...
Russia has long treated relations with Kurds as a bargaining chip as it pursues broader objectives. Today in Syria, things are no different. A Kurdish girl in front of a poster of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Afrin, Syria, 24 January 2018 (AP Photo/Petros...
When Syrian refugees started flooding into Jordan, citizens in my city were angry and concerned. But with time and investment, tensions have eased. Syrian refugee children at the Za’atari refugee camp near Mafraq, Jordan, 19 March 2014. (EPA/Jamal Nasrallah) This...
Rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia, aspirants for leadership of the Islamic world, is at the crux of conflict across the Mideast, with deadly results. An Iranian woman in Tehran holds up a poster showing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent opposition Saudi Shiite...
By Chermaine Tay Islamic State fighters are on the run in Syria, squeezed on all sides by armed opponents whose only common goal is to annihilate the militant group. The eventual defeat of ISIS would be welcomed by their many disparate foes, who range from the Syrian...
The U.S. strike against Syria has drawn Washington deeper into a messy conflict and set back ties with Russia. But a military escalation is not sure. Abdul-Hamid Alyousef holds his twin babies who were killed during a suspected chemical weapons attack, in Khan...
Donald Trump has called for a ban on the entry of Muslims into the U.S. and conflated “Muslim” and “terrorist.” But many Arabs are hoping the next U.S. president will take a harder line on Iran. Donald Trump at a rally opposing the Iran nuclear...
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump suggested steps that could plunge the Middle East further into chaos. Once President, will he change tack? A staff member removes the Iranian flag after a meeting of foreign ministers and representatives of the U.S., Iran, China,...