Paris – Statement by the Syrian Network for Human Rights:
Based on the many years of close coordination and the warm cooperative relationship between the international KidsRights Foundation and the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), the SNHR has this year nominated the Syrian child Muhammad Nour al Asmar for the International Children’s Peace Prize for the year 2021, in appreciation of his exceptional efforts in raising awareness of the suffering of the Syrian community, especially its children, due to the violations they have suffered at the hands of the Syrian regime and its Iranian and Russian allies.
We’re delighted to announce that Muhammad’s nomination has been accepted, along with nominations for 162 other exceptional male and female children from around the world, and express our hope that Muhammad, who is the only Arab child nominated in the peace category for this year’s award, will deservedly win this prestigious prize.
Muhammad Nour Aziz al Asmar is a 13-year-old child from Binnesh town in Idlib governorate. Despite his tender years, Muhammad has spent his childhood advocating for children like himself, engaging in artistic activities and community events directed at helping children, through which he’s shared his talents with and encouraged his peers, in areas including drawing and mental arithmetic, among others; among the most prominent of these activities was his participation, under the supervision of his father, artist Omar Aziz, in creating distinctive ‘graffiti’-style artwork on the rubble of destroyed buildings, including schools, one of a number of campaigns involving children’s participation.
Muhammad has worked to convey the suffering of children in his community, appearing in many photos and videos broadcast on the Internet, in which he talked about the absence of the most basic necessities of life for these children, as well as the suffering experienced by children in camps in northwest Syria. He’s appeared in many videos, speaking in English, to tell the world about the violations against children in Syria, and the devastating repercussions of the military operations by the Syrian-Russian alliance forces on their present and future, and raising awareness of their loss of the most basic rights of children, including education, decent living, play, safety and other fundamental rights. Muhammad’s been particularly interested in advocating for children who’ve suffered severe injuries or have had their limbs amputated as a result of the barbaric bombardment of the Idlib region by the Syrian-Russian alliance forces for years.
Muhammad has also participated in interviews and programs on many Arab and foreign TV channels and media agencies, speaking about the rights of children and their suffering, showing the physical and psychological risks they suffer as a result of the military operations by the Syrian regime forces in Idlib governorate, and demanding the protection of children and other civilians and the provision of care for them.