Banksy creates a new image of hope to stand #WithSyria

Popular British graffiti artist Banksy has shown his support for the #WithSyria campaign by reworking his iconic image of a little girl with a balloon, entitled “There is Always Hope“, to show a Syrian child.

Banksy is one of hundreds of thousands of people joining together this week to show solidarity with the Syrian people. Vigils will be held in more than 30 countries, including in both refugee camps and host communities in Jordan, in major capitals around the world including Washington, Paris and London, and in countries that have current or very recent experience of conflict within their own borders, including Sudan, the DRC and Mexico.

In all these countries, people are calling on political leaders to do all they can to ensure we’re not marking four years of conflict in 12 months time.

The humanitarian suffering caused by the crisis is overwhelming.

• More than 9.3 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance, including 6.5 million within Syria’s borders.
• There are now more than 2.5 million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries.
• Half of these refugees are children.
• Thousands continue to flee Syria daily.

You can make a difference

• The #WithSyria campaign is a coalition of more than 90 organizations around the world, including Oxfam, Save the Children, Amnesty International and many more. We are uniting to stand with Syria as we reach the 3rd anniversary of the start of the conflict there – three years of suffering for the people of Syria, and three years of failure by the international community to bring about an end to the bloodshed.
• Join the Thunderclap calling for humanitarian access for all civlians in Syria.
• Support Oxfam’s humanitarian response to the Syria crisis

Joel Bassuk is Oxfam International Digital Comunications Manager.
A longer version of this blog originally appeared at blogs.oxfam.org