Children's stories feature imaginative places with fantastical characters. While these worlds of wonder can bring delight to young audiences, there are some stories never meant for children.

That’s the message in the animated series “Unfairy Tales,” which chronicles the true stories of three of the eight million children whose lives are in ruins because of the Syrian conflict.

“Unfairy Tales” juxtaposes stunning animations with terrifying narrations of events. The series highlights tragedies that are beyond what any human should experience, much less a child.

The animations start sweetly with enchanting music and youthful narrations. Yet quickly, the stories become engulfed by tragic events like bombings, starvation, and dangerous voyages across the sea.

The animated stories hit a nerve with global audiences, particularly in European and Middle Eastern countries most affected by the Syrian crisis.

The films were discussed on CNN International which is broadcast in over 200 countries. The work was covered by media outlets across 50 countries including broadcasts on TV and radio in France, Germany, Hungary, Greece, and others.

Public relations and external news sources drove 73% of the viewers to the YouTube page. 88% of video plays came from the video embedded in press coverage. Collectively the films have a half billion of views.

Ultimately, the films are compelling the targeted regional audiences and global citizens at large to empathize with innocent children and combat xenophobia.

To engage migrant communities, as well as larger host communities, “Malak and the Boat” shows the realities of being a child refugee in an unsuspecting way through impressive animation visualizations.

These films highlight the human stories and experiences of the young refugees, migrants, and those welcoming them, ultimately garnering a sense of solidarity both amongst refugee and migrant communities as well as larger host communities.

The series promoted UNICEF's involvement in the Supporting Syria & The Region conference in London co-hosted by the world leaders of the UK, Germany, Kuwait, Norway, and the United Nations. More than 70 countries, international organisations, NGOs, civil society, and the private sector attended. Additionally "Unfairy Tales" introduced their global initiative #actofhumanity to fight xenophobia.

UNICEF leveraged public relations efforts to place the videos amongst coverage of the world news within key markets affected by the refugee crisis.

Now in its fifth year, the Syrian crisis has caused 2.4 million Syrian children to be displaced, and has left a total of eight million children in need of aid.

As the world’s leader in humanitarian aid for children, UNICEF has been working tirelessly to secure the protection and rights of these Syrian children.

The campaign objective is to help destigmatize refugees in neighboring countries and reinforce UNICEF’s global “children are children” strategy that profiles what the refugee crisis means for children.