Theirworld

Three years after tragedy struck her family, Bara’aa is back at school in Syria and top of her class

Barriers to education, Children in conflicts, Education in emergencies, Refugees and internally displaced people, Right to education, Safe schools

The BBC's Lyse Doucet meets the 11-year-old in Homs, where she is happy to be back in a classroom with other children.

When the BBC’s Lyse Doucet first met Bara’aa in the Syrian city of Homs, the eight-year-old was grief-stricken and traumatised.

Shel had stopped going to school after seeing her mother and brother killed in a mortar attack on their home.

Her family were victims of the six-year Syrian conflict that has seen more than five million people flee the country.

When Lyse – the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent – returned to Homs this week, she was reunited with Bara’aa.

Instead of the frightened little girl, Bara’aa is now back at school and top of her class.

“I am much happier now,” she said. 

Watch Lyse’s report for the BBC’s Newsround show, which is made for children.

Lyse also tweeted about the scenes in Homs, with children at school and learning in a safe environment.

But she also raised the subject of the funding needed to get all Syrian refugee children into school in neighbouring countries.

Just over a year ago, world leaders promised to get every Syrian refugee child into school in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan during the 2016-17 academic year.

At the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in London, they said the futures of all these young people would not be abandoned.

They were only half right. About half of those 1.7 million children are now back in a classroom. Theirworld’s #YouPromised campaign has been keeping up pressure on those leaders to stick to their pledge.

Next week, they will meet again in Brussels to review the progress since last year. We need your help to make sure the promise of education for all is on their agenda and these children are not forgotten.

Theirworld has made a special video message to the international community – help us to make sure they keep their promise by sharing the film on Facebook or Twitter.

Lyse Doucet knows how important it is to keep the promise to educate every Syrian refugee children. Last September she chaired a progress meeting in New York held by the co-hosts of the Supporting Syria conference.

She reminded them of their promise and said: “This is not just an issue for the neighbouring countries. This is everyone’s problem.”

Lyse also told the co-hosts and the audience to watch a powerful film made by Theirworld that featured some of our Global Youth Ambassadors from across the world.

If every Syrian child gets back into school, then they will be smiling again – just like these children from Homs.

As well as sharing our video, you can also send a message to the co-hosts of next week’s Brussels conference.

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