FILE -- In this May 29, 2014, file photo, Lujain Hourani, 11, a Syrian refugee girl who lost part of her shoulder in a government forces airstrike in the Syrian village of Zara, near Homs, stands outside her family room, at a collective center where many Syrian refugees live, in Kirbet Daoud village in Akkar north Lebanon. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
The Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - More than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the country's conflict, including growing numbers of those who were forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty, the U.N. children's agency said Monday, on the fifth anniversary of the crisis.
Peter Salama, the agency's regional chief, called on donor countries to make good on money pledges made at a Syria aid conference in London last month. His agency, UNICEF, seeks $1.16 billion for 2016 to help Syria's children, including close to 3 million who are not in school.
The agency has so far received only 6 percent of the amount it seeks for this year. Salama said it would make more sense for donors to provide the funds early on and enable more effective, longer-term planning.
"Let's stop the suffering now, let's ensure that they (Syria's children) have a future, and they see that they have a future," Salama told The Associated Press. "We have an opportunity still to save this generation."
Salama spoke as the U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, reconvened indirect talks in Geneva between representatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad and opposition groups trying to topple his government. The talks resumed after a fragile, partial cease-fire took hold on Feb. 27.
The Syria conflict began in March 2011 as a popular uprising against Assad that quickly escalated into civil war. Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed. Almost half the pre-war population of 23 million has been displaced, including more than 4.8 million who fled their homeland.
UNICEF said the conflict has affected more than 80 percent of Syria's children, including 7 million who now live in poverty. This has led to growing numbers of children leaving school to work, marrying young or joining armed groups, as a way of supporting their families financially, the agency said.
In refugee camps in Jordan, one-third of marriages involve girls under the age of 18 - triple what it was in 2011.
Armed groups are recruiting more children and younger children. More than half the UNICEF-verified cases of children recruited in 2015 were younger than 15, compared to 20 percent in 2014, the report said.
The agency said it was able to confirm 354 cases of recruitment in 2015, compared to 278 in 2014.
"We now face a new and disturbing era, a new and disturbing set of patterns of violations against children's rights that pushes the frontiers of brutality, even during times of war," Salama told a news conference.
The agency verified some 1,500 cases of grave attacks on children in 2015, with 400 children who were killed and 500 wo were maimed, many in or near school. Salama said that this is "the tip of the iceberg."
"In short, no place today is safe for Syria's children," he said.
FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 11, 2015 file photo, Bara'ah Alhammadi, 10, a Syrian migrant, is carried on the back of her father as they make their way along a railway track after crossing the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, southern Hungary. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2014, file Photo, Syrian refugee children, sit near a tent at the entrance of their refugee camp as they wait to attend an activity, in the eastern Lebanese Town of Al-Faour near the border with Syria, Lebanon. UNICEF said Monday, March 14, 2016 that one-third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since an uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a civil war. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 2 , 2015 file photo, A Syrian refugee woman and child are wrapped with thermal blankets to shelter from the cold after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Thursday, May 29, 2014 file photo, a Syrian refugee girl sits in a classroom at a Lebanese public school where only Syrian students attend classes in the afternoon, at Kaitaa village in north Lebanon. UNICEF said Monday, March 14, 2016 that one-third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since an uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a civil war. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
The Associated Press
In this Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015 photo, A Syrian refugee boy walks in a sunflower field while he and other migrants wait inside and outside a bus before being taken by Hungarian police to board a train to the Austrian border, in Roszke, southern Hungary. UNICEF says nearly 7 million children in Syria now live in poverty. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2015 file photo, a Syrian boy looks out through his tent door covered in snow at a refugee camp in Deir Zannoun village, in the Bekaa valley, east Lebanon. UNICEF said Monday, March 14, 2016 that one-third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since an uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a civil war. The fighting has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced almost half the country's pre-war population of 23 million. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Sunday, July 19, 2015 file photo, Syrian refugee girl, Zubaida Faisal, 10, skips a rope while she and other children play near their tents at an informal tented settlement near the Syrian border on the outskirts of Mafraq, Jordan. UNICEF said Monday, March 14, 2016 that one-third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since an uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a civil war. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this May 29, 2014, file photo, a Syrian refugee boy stands outside his family room at a collective center, in Kirbet Daoud village in Akkar north Lebanon. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015 file photo, Syrian refugee children attend a class at a makeshift school set up in a tent at an informal tented settlement near the Syrian border on the outskirts of Mafraq, Jordan. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013 file photo, A Syrian refugee boy sits on the ground at a temporary refugee camp, in the eastern Lebanese Town of Al-Faour, Bekaa valley near the border with Syria, Lebanon. UNICEF on Monday, March 14, 2016 said it verified close to 1,500 grave violations against children in 2015, including killings and abductions. The agency says the actual figure is believed to be higher. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015 file photo, A Syrian refugee woman tends to her daughter while cooking inside her tent at an informal tented settlement near the Syrian border on the outskirts of Mafraq, Jordan. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
The Associated Press