syria-un-20160811 18

A/HRC/33/55 18 families to agree to the recruitment. In Al-Bab, Aleppo, ISIL offers $100 to $150 monthly to young men and boys, some only 14 years old, to join. 118. In Aleppo, the armed groups Nour al-Din al-Zinki and Sultan Murad Brigades also take advantage of the population’s poverty to recruit boys as young as 14, to whom they offer a monthly salary. Boys are under additional pressure when they are the oldest male family member and are expected to support the family. In Government-controlled areas, Popular Committees and the National Defence Forces reportedly recruit minors into their ranks and send them to battle without providing them with any military training. 119. Under constant bombardment and unable to pay for the high prices of food, families struggle to feed their children. Children, particularly infants, living in besieged areas are adversely affected by the lack of food. 120. A family from Madaya, still under government siege, recounted how their 10-year-old daughter wrote her will, believing she would die of hunger. Also in Madaya, a mother described how the situation became unbearable after the man who smuggled baby formula was maimed by a landmine. After some of their children’s friends starved to death, some parents decided to risk leaving the besieged areas. 121. In Aleppo, children suffer from malnutrition, with babies under the age of two being particularly affected owing to the low supply of milk for babies. A mother described how bread and potatoes were the best options to feed her oldest children. The cutting off of the Castello road, Aleppo’s lifeline, further endangers food supplies, with a potentially devastating impact for children. In Al-Waer, there are reports of children dying of malnutrition. 122. Attacks on infrastructure affect children disproportionately. On 27 April, a barrel bomb landed in the vicinity of Al-Quds hospital, killing three children and one of the few paediatricians in Aleppo. A 1-year-old child was rescued from the rubble one day after the attack, which killed his mother and siblings. On 8 May, an air missile landed 50 metres away from Al-Hakim hospital in Aleppo, forcing the evacuation of 10 babies in incubators. 123. Cases of children suffering from tuberculosis, cholera, meningitis and polio have resurfaced, owing to the inability of medical services to carry out full vaccination campaigns. A notable exception took place in March when the Government allowed a shipment of vaccinations to Douma. At least 20 children aged 1 to 3 years old were taken by Jaysh al-Islam members to a clinic where they received vaccinations. 124. On 27 May, government forces hit a school in Aleppo. There were no casualties but the school was damaged. Many schools are no longer running, and those still operational are often unable to give classes due to ongoing shelling. There is a lack of primary school teachers and no universities in rebel-held areas. In camps for internally displaced persons, hundreds of thousands of children are not attending school owing to overpopulation and the dire situation of the camps. 125. In Helwanyia village in Jarablus, Aleppo, all schools are closed. Boys receive religious education and ISIL gives children guns to play with. In Al-Bab, ISIL has allowed some schools to reopen but children are required to wear a jalabyia and are reportedly taught how to use weapons. 126. In Daraya, where only two makeshift schools function, volunteer teachers lack relevant credentials. Owing to an intensification of shelling by pro-Government forces since August 2015, children stopped regularly attending school. 127. The ongoing violence, coupled with the collapse of the educational system outside Government-held areas, continues to force children to work for survival. A mother described how she sent her 13-year-old son from ISIL-controlled Zaraaya, Aleppo, t