Marie Soueid is CVT policy counsel.

Imagine for a moment that the entire population of Washington, D.C. suddenly takes refuge in Tennessee over the course of 5 short years. The new residents, however, are restricted from working, half of their children remain out of school, and housing prices continue to rise for both Tennesseans and Washingtonians.

Suzanne Jabbour, executive director of PATH partner Restart Center in Tripoli, Lebanon, gave the keynote address at a special event on December 10 in Washington, D.C. We have shared her comments from the event on our blog.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently issued a report on the plight of Syrian refugee women. Woman Alone: The Fight for Survival by Syria's Refugee Women shows that more than 145,000 Syrian refugee families in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan – one in four of all households – are headed solely by women. According to UNHCR, the report uncovers that “Many [women] live under the threat of violence or exploitation, and their children face mounting trauma and distress.”

In early July, the UN Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict released the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict. The report, which covers January to December 2013, found that children were recruited and used, killed and maimed, victims of sexual violence and other grave violations in 23 conflict situations around the world last year.