PHOTOS: CAIR-Chicago Participates in CIOGC Press Conference for Syrian Children Awareness Day
On Friday, March 14, 2014 CAIR-Chicago attended the Chicago Muslims, interfaith leaders urge prayer and fasting for Syria's children press conference. The conference was held at the Downtown Islamic Center (DIC) in Chicago and hosted by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) to urge people of all faiths to participate in a day of prayer and fasting for the children of Syria as part of a Syrian Children Awareness Day.
Participants in the press conference included:
- Dr. Mohammed Kaiseruddin (Chairman of CIOGC)
- Imam Matthew Ramadan (Deputy Executive Director of CIOGC)
- Reverend Gregory Livingston (Senior Pastor, Mission of Faith Baptist Church)
- Rabbi Michael Balinsky (Chairman, Council of Religious Leaders of Metro Chicago)
- Rev. Dr. Larry Greenfield (Executive Minister, American Baptist Church, Chicago)
- Agnieszka Karoluk (Senior Communications Coordinator, CAIR-Chicago)
- Safaa Zarzour (Chief Operations Officer, Zakat Foundation of America)
The following facts about Syrian children were recently published by UNICEF and were read at the conference:
- Nearly 5.5 million Syrian children lack protection, medical care, psychological support, and education
- Nearly 1 million Syrian children are living under siege withe little to no access to food and water
- More than 10,000 children have been killed in 3 years but the actual number is much higher
- Up to 2 million children need counseling for trauma
“This week, CAIR-Chicago announced the launch of ‘The Syrian Asylum Project'. Due to the gravity of the Syrian crisis, we intend to pursue asylum cases on behalf of Syrian Refugees. We need the community to remember that this crisis is more than just statistics, there are real families and children who are suffering and need our help," Karoluk said at the conference.
For more information on the CAIR-Chicago Syrian Asylum project click here.