A child was standing here before the bombing
Children, the first victims of war! Every year, thousands of children under the age of five are killed in wars all over the world. According to a new report by Australia's “Save the Children” organization, released at the Munich Security Conference, at least 870 thousand children under the age of 5 were killed in ten countries involved in war from 2013 to 2017, while during that time, only 175 thousand soldiers were killed. This report is based on data collected from the ten most war-affected countries, including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia. According to this report, the number of children born in war-affected countries has increased by 37% since the beginning of 2010, and the attacks against children have increased up to 174%, including attacks on schools or the use of children as soldiers in recent years. Many of these children are indirectly victims of the effects of war, such as hunger, lack of access to medicines, hospitals, sanitation, and clean water. This report also adds that in 2017, about 420 million children lived in war-affected countries, which is 30 million more than 2016. Sever violence Reported against children rose from 10 thousand in 2010 to 25 thousand in 2017. Another fact that this report uncovers is that 550 thousand infants were killed in war-affected countries in 2013 to 2017. The UN confirms that more than 7 thousand Syrian children were killed or permanently disabled in only 7 years. According to all statistics, child deaths during wars and terrorist clashes have reached their highest in the last 23 years. In 2017 alone, nearly 4 million Iraqi children were subjected to sexual assault, slavery, war killing, abduction as well as being forced to take part in wars. From the beginning of 2014 to the end of 2016, nearly 2 thousand Iraqi teenagers under the age of 18 were abducted, raped or forced to take part in wars. This report also reveals information on the war in Yemen, where children were attacked or bombed on a large scale. According to this report, about 85 thousand children under the age of five in Yemen have died of severe hunger or illnesses, and more than 11 million children are in need of urgent help in the current situation. In addition to raising the death toll among children in war-affected countries, there are also psychological issues. Unfortunately, recently, there has been painful news about the children of war committing suicide in Syria and Iraq. Children are the main victims of the adventures of people in powers and governments. They are born into the world to be a child, study and play at school, live in a friendly family, dream of the future, paint, play with their toys, play in the park with children of their age, but children in war-affected counties lose their homes and families, are deprived of education, wounded, raped, abused, and lose their arms and feet in bombings. They die of starvation and disease or drown in seawater when trying to immigrate illegally. In the
hands of war children, instead of toys and color pencils, there are cartridge shells and mortar shells, I am an artist from the Middle East, an area of the world that has been involved in many different wars for years, and many people have died daily because of war, diseases and hunger. The reason I presented this project was to show something that has concerned me and occupied my mind as an artist. I myself was born during Iran and Iraq war, and I myself am a war child and have suffered the war and its consequences. And I really want this project to be shown outside the Middle East so that the voices of the unheard children will be heard. I want these works to demonstrate the stealing good memories of children who are no longer among us. Children leaving this world without having any childhood memories. This project is a part of my life. Your event gives me a chance to send my message across. I have shown baby red shoes girl on ruins of a building in this project. This installation is a symbol of bombed areas and killed children.
