On World Humanitarian Day, read Deema’s firsthand account from Ar Raqqa, Syria. A conflict survivor, amputee, and founder of Ukkaz, she is fighting to rebuild lives by supporting children with disabilities and advocating for their rights, inclusion, and access to education and care.
In Ar Raqqa, one of Syria’s most impacted cities by the conflict, 35-year-old Deema leads Ukkaz (Arabic for "Crutch"), a local non-governmental organisation established in 2020. As a survivor of the conflict, an amputee, and a first-year law student, Deema brings both passion driven by her personal experience and professional ambition to her work.
Save the Children partnered with Ukkaz on a Child Rights Governance (CRG) project, that addresses the deep marginalisation and institutional barriers facing children with disabilities in a region still transitioning from war to recovery.
Deema’s Story
In June 2017, as the military offensive against ISIS intensified, Deema’s home in Ar Raqqa was struck by four missiles.
"I don't know how I survived," Deema recalls. "I remember looking at my own body burning. I had to hold my almost cut-off leg with my own hands. In the operating room, I remember seeing the surgical saw brought in before I was put under anaesthesia. When I woke up, my leg and one of my fingers had been amputated", said Deema.
The nightmare did not end there. The hospital itself came under frequent attacks, forcing her to flee outside the city. Displacement and delayed medical treatment caused severe complications, leading to the amputation of another finger and half of her palm.
Years later, Deema returned to Ar Raqqa. The city she loved was unrecognisable, flattened by the conflict and heavy airstrikes.
The pain behind the passion and Ukkaz
Returning to a ruined city with a prosthetic limb and a crutch (Ukkaz) opened Deema’s eyes to a systemic crisis. Walking, which she once loved, became an agonising battle against the rubble, broken streets and high curbs. When she tried to re-enter the workforce, she was repeatedly dismissed and rejected purely because of her disability.
Deema realised that if an adult faces such immense physical and social isolation, children with disabilities must be enduring far worse. "Back then, I heard a lot of talk about rebuilding the city," Deema says. "I remember thinking to myself: Before rebuilding buildings, rebuild the people. Now that the war is over in Syria, I feel like this is more possible than ever.
Determined to create change, Deema founded Ukkaz in 2020 to protect, support, and integrate children with disabilities into a society that had effectively “abandoned” them, as she says.
The Reality of Children with Disability in Ar Raqqa
Deema and her team work against staggering odds in a landscape that remains unfriendly to anyone with a disability. The city has thousands of children with disabilities including those with physical disabilities, sensory and intellectual disability. In Syria, 8.8% of Syrian families have at least one child with a disability.
The largest number of children that Ukkaz works with are those with physical disabilities. They face very limited infrastructure that accommodates their disability, severely limiting their mobility. For example, roads are in poor condition, and there are no pavements. Schools, parks and healthcare facilities do not have wheelchair ramps or specialised social workers employed. The city is essentially telling its most vulnerable inhabitants to “be confined to their homes and blocking them from public life".
Even when physical fixes alone are done, they are not enough. Ukkaz rehabilitated a local school to make it accessible, yet children still dropped out as the roads to get to it from their homes were not paved and became very muddy in winters. Other children dropped out due to bullying from peers, discrimination by untrained teachers, or being outright denied registration by school administrations.
According to estimates by Ukkaz, one-third of children with physical disabilities are victims of conflict, injured by shelling, landmines, or other remnants of war. This tragedy continues even after active fighting has ceased - landmines and exploded ordnance still maim children today. Since December 2024, explosive ordnance and landmines have reportedly killed and injured 881 children across the country including tens in Ar Raqqa.
The destruction in Ar Raqqa four years afer the fighting ended in the city.
Children with sensory and intellectual disabilities face almost total exclusion. For example, visually and hearing-impaired children are left behind because there are no tailored educational materials, audiobooks, or sign language interpreters. Local NGOs simply lack the resources to even begin integrating them.
There are so many children who need surgeries, prosthetics, and physiotherapy just to get rid of the pain in their bodies, to be able to move, and interact with the world around them, but there is no one who supports these interventions and their families cannot afford it. In fact, over 52% of children with disabilities have not received the medical care they need due to financial constrains.
Due to the widespread poverty and the absence of public service, the suffering of children with disabilities is directly proportional to their family's financial situation. Those who have the financial means can afford homeschooling, arrange transport to schools, and provide health services. But for most, this is far from their reality.
"Through our work, we see brilliant children," Deema emphasises. "But their bodies and their environment limit them. Physical constraints mean nothing to their potential—they share the exact same aspirations as anyone else. They want to learn, work, and build a future."
My Voice, My Right
With support from Save the Children, Ukkaz implemented an initiative called “My Voice, My Right.” The initiative aimed to enhance the meaningful community participation of children with and without disabilities in Ar Raqqa through awareness-raising and interactive activities.
By empowering them to express their views and advocate for their rights, the project promoted inclusion and non-discrimination in a safe, enabling environment. The project has so far benefited 60 children—including 40 with disabilities—while also targeting parents and teachers to better support the rights of these children.
"The initiative with Save the Children is very important because it gives children a voice," says Deema. "These children have been sidelined for so long, and it is crucial that they have ownership of their issues. I remember a girl whose hand was amputated at the wrist; she came to the first session feeling incredibly shy and self-conscious, hiding her hand and never speaking at all. Yet, by the end of the project, she was confident enough to demand ‘her right to education.’ It was a moment of pride for me and my team.”
An interactive session within the 'My voice, My Right' initiative supported by Save the Children
The Struggle of Local NGOs
Local organizations like Ukkaz possess the community trust, lived experience, and deep dedication required to do this work. Yet, local NGOs in Syria operate under immense pressure. They face severe resource shortages and short-term project cycles that abruptly end vital services just as children begin to heal.
"For example, during one of our first projects years ago, we provided a safe spaces where children with disabilities could play, learn, and receive psychosocial support," Deema recalls. "The project only lasted six months. On the final day, the children wept because they did not want to leave. I remember crying right along with them. It highlighted our desperate need for long-term sustainability—yet today, the situation remains largely the same.”
Last year, Ukkaz also had to shut down a safe space for young girls and women due to financial struggles. The activities included a sports club, physical health, psychological support, training sessions, in addition to human rights awareness. It was one of very few respites for girls and women with disabilities.
Ukkaz’s Asks on World Humanitarian Day
On this World Humanitarian Day, solidarity must move beyond praise. Deema and her team in Ukkaz call on stakeholders to take action to help children with disability in Ar Raqqa, Syria and the world by:
- Rebuilding Syria cannot just be about concrete. All reconstruction efforts for schools, hospitals, roads, and public spaces must accommodate persons with disabilities’ needs, including wheelchair ramps, paved walkways, and accessible transit.
- We need systematic training for teachers on inclusive education, the deployment of specialised social workers in schools, and strict anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies to ensure children with disabilities are welcomed, not rejected.
- International actors must scale up funding for the clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war in Ar Raqqa and Syria to stop the cycle of preventable amputations among children.
- Global humanitarian funding must bypass heavy bureaucracies and route flexible, multi-year funding directly to grassroots organisations like Ukkaz who are best positioned to deliver sustainable care.
