“They have lost their families, lost their house, they lost hope. They are full of anger – I repeated this, they are full of anger, and if it continues, we will face a generation of illiterates,” Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, told journalists in New York.

The news conference is Ms. Zerrougui’s first since returning from a nearly month long visit to Syria and neighbouring Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, to see first-hand the impact of the conflict on children, to report, and to show those who are violating children’s rights that there is a professional system for gathering and assessing the credibility of information that would ultimately hold them accountable for breaking international laws, she said.

During her visit, the envoy met with Government officials and had contacts with members of opposition groups. She urged all parties in Syria to take urgent measures to protect children and other civilians, highlighting that the Government is on the UN’s “list of shame” for killing and maiming children, as well as attacking schools and hospitals, while the opposition has been enlisting recruits under the age of 18.

The list is used by the Security Council to indicate to the world those groups, individuals and Governments violating the rights of children and where they are active.

Zerrougui stressed that the list is a “tool that allows us to have influence,” and even if the perpetrators feel safe today, “we know by heart that those who commit violations will pay.”

She recalled visiting a local hospital, “You cannot imagine when you see a child without a leg, and he’s telling you, they will fix my leg and I will go to fight. And you see the brother that is lying on the bed that lost a kidney, that lost a pancreas, and you see the mother sitting there. That is the reality.”

In addition, the Special Representative also raised the issue of detention of underage recruits, predominantly with the Government. “I had a very fruitful discussion to say this is your responsibility. You cannot just consider that you are fighting terrorism, you have to also work with part of your population which is not happy that is not happy with how it is treated.”

Since fighting began in March 2011 between the Syrian Government and opposition groups seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad as many as 100,000 people have been killed, almost 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries and a further 4 million have been internally displaced.

Inside Syria, 6.8 million people require urgent humanitarian assistance, half of whom are children.

Among the main problems in the region as a result of the displacement of families is the disruption to schooling. While neighbouring countries have attempted to assist, Zerrougui said, problems continue as a result of curriculum, capacity and language.

In addition, refugees are faced with the problem of certification – who will give you the recognition that your schooling has value and you will have a degree, the Special Representative added.

Comparing the current situation in Syria with what Zerrougui experiences during her last visit in December, the Special Representative noted the increasing polarization of society between those who are against the Government and those who are for.

“There is no reward to be won in Syria,” the Special Representative stressed. “The Government today is feeling that they are winning. We need to work with them to let them understand that the only way to bring them together is to bring society together. And to understand that there is grievance and there is a need to move forward on a political agenda.”

With the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and other UN agencies, UNICEF brought to Aleppo four trucks filled with 89 medical kits, 2,000 family hygiene kits and 2 resuscitation kits along with 1,000 towels, 48 boxes of soap, summer clothing and school supplies.

“The situation is extremely difficult because of the conflict,” said Ettie Higgins, Deputy Representative, UNICEF Syria, after returning to Damascus from Aleppo on Thursday. “But UNICEF continues to work around the clock and with partners to ensure that children, no matter where they are, and who live in the most difficult and horrendous circumstances, are reached with life-saving support.”

In a separate mission, nine trucks filled with emergency medical supplies, food, 1,000 family hygiene and 500 baby kits, along with some 160 school-in-a box supplies and 900 bottles of shampoo arrived in Talbiseh, benefiting over 55,000 people.

“I will never forget how happy children were when they saw the trucks of supplies arriving, and especially when they first saw the educational materials for them,” said Abdul Kadir Musse, Chief of the UNICEF Homs Field Office, noting that mothers had been particularly pleased to see the medicine for their children.

Living conditions inside Syria, especially in the hardest hit areas, have become increasingly desperate. Children continue to bear the brunt of the crisis, as violence and the level of destruction escalate. Many hospitals, schools and homes have been destroyed, more than 4 million people have been internally displaced, half of them children, with many living in over-crowded and unsanitary conditions.

Despite obstacles on the ground and funding shortages, UNICEF and partners continue to deliver assistance for the children inside Syria and the over 600,000 more who have fled to neighbouring countries.

The deeply divided 15-member council, however, has failed to take action over the Syria’s 18-month conflict which has left 2.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and more than 200,000 refugees as Russia and China have vetoed three resolutions on Syria since the beginning of the uprising against Assad’s rule.

The meeting will also be attended by ministers from Syria’s neighbours: Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. However,  less than half the council members are sending ministers, and of the permanent members – the US, China, Russia, Britain and France – only the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, and his British counterpart, William Hague, will attend, according to Reuters.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who will chair the UN session as France heads the Council in August, said Wednesday the issue of buffer zones would be brought up, even if “it is very complicated.”

“Talk of buffer zones firstly is not on the table and secondly it is an unrealistic idea by hostile countries and the enemies of Syria,” said Assad, speaking Wednesday in interview with pro-government Adounnia TV channel.

Mr. Assad’s comments, made in an interview with pro-government Adounnia TV, come amid a renewed interest in the international community in creating a “buffer zone” inside Syria.

Turkey has also floated the idea of creating buffer zones within Syria to protect the displaced Syrians in the country.

The interview with Addounia TV was the second time Assad has made a public appearance on television this month after a six-week absence in the wake of the July bombing that killed some of his top regime members.