Statement on the Escalation of War in the Middle-East

We at IBBY UK endorse the IBBY statement and are saddened by the news from Lebanon. We work closely with our IBBY colleagues there and have worked together on several projects in collaboration with Book Aid International. The current work on providing books to displaced children in the south in the Bekaa valley will now be suspended. 

The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is deeply distressed at the escalation of violence in the Middle East, and the threat of it spreading wider. 

As in all wars and armed conflicts, children suffer the most. Thousands of them are killed or maimed. And those who remain lose not only their families, friends, homes, schools and libraries, but often hope as well. 

As IBBY Lebanon President Shereen Kreidieh reports, ‘children and women are among the killed, with thousands—often entire families— crowding into vehicles packed with belongings to flee the south of Lebanon to Beirut.’

The future of the world is closely knitted to the mental well-being of those who will inherit it. How much longer will children be traumatized and punished? And what will their behaviour be when they take charge? 

At IBBY, we stand with and for children. With 85 Sections worldwide, and our mission to bring books and children together, we raise our strong voice for an immediate de-escalation, and talks for peace. As EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stated on 23 September: “Everybody has to put all their capacity to stop this”.

The International Board on Books for Young People
Executive Committee