Child Welfare

Women are seen walking at the Roj Camp in northeast Syria, on April 8, 2025.

Exclusive

Syria's Kurds say Trump aid cuts are feeding radicalism in ISIS camps

In an interview at Syria’s Roj camp, the head of intelligence for the Women’s Protection Units warns that US funding cuts are fueling a resurgence of ISIS ideology among detained women and children, deepening an already volatile security crisis.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

usaid

Feature

How Trump's USAID cuts threw Lebanon's education system into tailspin

Students benefitting from USAID programs in Lebanon have been left in limbo after President Donald Trump ordered a freeze of international aid.

Mayah Hamadeh

By Mayah Hamadeh

Mayssa (C), 15, and Yara (R), 10, from Khan Younis, on board the UAE evacuation flight that arrived from Eilat to Abu Dhabi on Sept. 9, 2025.

UAE evacuates nearly 100 Gaza patients as 10,000+ await transfer

Abu Dhabi has pledged to bring in 1,000 injured children and 1,000 cancer patients from the Gaza Strip to be treated in the its hospitals.

United Arab Emirates

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) listen.

US lawmakers advance bill to block new UN rights for Palestine

The House Foreign Affairs Committee also voted on legislation to claw back UNRWA funds and denounce a UN decision to list Israel as an abuser of children’s rights.

Latest News

Sudan war rages amid reports of ethnic cleansing, children 'piled up and shot'

Children fill a bucket with water from a pipe in the southern Sudanese city of Gedaref on April 21, 2024. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria, Palestine, Yemen biggest violators of child soldier recruits: UN

A child stares at a US soldiers patrolling a village in the countryside of the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, near the Turkish border, on July 23, 2022. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt offers cash for families to control births

A man rides a scooter with a woman and two children along a main street adorned with Christmas and New Year's decorations, in the northern suburb of Shubra (home to a large Christian population), Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 31, 2021.

Iran committed 'horrific acts of torture' against detained children says Amnesty

OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images

Quake-hit displaced children play near tents set by Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) at Islahiye Atatürk Stadium in Islahiye near Gaziantep on Feb. 14, 2023, a week after a deadly earthquake struck parts of Turkey and Syria.

Earthquake orphans in Turkey, Syria face uncertain future

Thousands of requests poured into Turkey’s Social Affairs Ministry to foster children who survived last week's quakes, but the ministry maintains that its priority is to reunite kids with families or relatives, if they can.

An Egyptian Coptic Christian boy shouts slogans while holding a crucifix during a protest outside the Egyptian state TV building following sectarian clashes, Cairo, Egypt, March 10, 2011.

Culture

Egypt’s Coptic Christians outraged at government's mishandling of adoption case

The case of a little boy who was taken from his adoptive Christian parents by the Egyptian authorities and placed in an orphanage after being registered as a Muslim has triggered a backlash from rights advocates and brought the adoption laws under scrutiny.

Mourners attend the funeral of Omar Khmour, 14, in the Dheisheh refugee camp, Bethlehem, West Bank, Jan. 16, 2023.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian boy in West Bank

A Palestinian teenager was killed during a night raid amid increasing tensions in the West Bank, signaling more instability and clashes to come, while President Abbas arrives in Egypt for a tripartite summit.

Young Lebanese girls disguised as brides hold a placard as they participate in a march against marriage before the age of 18, in the capital Beirut on March 2, 2019. The placard in Arabic reads "The end of child marriage begins by educating them". (ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Child marriage raises controversy once again in Egypt

Child marriage is in the public spotlight again in Egypt, after two children were engaged in Sharqia governorate in northern Egypt.

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli army to investigate death of 16-year-old Palestinian girl

Defense Minister Benny Gantz has shot down accusations that Israeli troops intentionally killed teenager Jana Majdi Assam Zakarna during a raid in the West Bank town of Jenin, but the military investigation is ongoing.

Children wearing the uniforms of national soccer teams playing at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup line up during the opening ceremony of the "Camps World Cup" at the newly reopened Idlib Municipal Stadium, Idlib, Syria, Nov. 19, 2022.

Culture

Syrian children in Idlib take part in own World Cup

Refugee and internally displaced children in Idlib are taking part in the "Camps World Cup" event.

A volunteer serves food to needy children at a kitchen set up by charity groups in Lebanon's southern city of Sidon on Dec. 7, 2019.

Culture

Economic meltdown in Lebanon leaves schoolchildren hungry

Lebanon's struggling households are finding it increasingly challenging to afford school lunches for their children due to financial constraints.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli tech companies take fertility treatments to next level

With generous state financing for fertility treatments, the in vitro fertilization field is booming in Israel and several Israeli start-ups are working to innovate it.

A Palestinian child plays with a toy gun.

Culture

Gazan children talk about their ideas, lives in TED talks program

In a conference on June 9 and within the framework of the global TED Education Clubs, 10 children from the Gaza Strip talked in English about their ideas, life and ambitions.

Gazan chef Nagham Skaik teaches a group of children at the Honey Yum Yum summer camp, Gaza Strip, June 2022.

Culture

Gazan chef teaches children to cook

Gazan chef Nagham Skaik inaugurated the Honey Yum Yum summer camp for children, in light of the lack of government interest in children and the lack of children's activities in the besieged enclave.

Displaced Syrian orphans receive food aid at their school in the El Ardiye Orphanage camp run by the Turkish Red Crescent on the outskirts of Idlib, on Nov. 26, 2021 in Sarmada district, Idlib Province, Syria.

Culture

Syrians sponsor abandoned children

Amid the rising number of abandoned children due to the deteriorating economic conditions in northern Syria, one organization seeks to care for them and secure them a family that would cater to their needs.

A Syrian refugee child sells flowers in the street in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.

Children's education at risk in Lebanon due to economic crisis

More than 700,000 kids are at risk of never returning to a classroom due to rising poverty, while thousands have dropped out of school to engage in child labor or get married.