Category: Children and Wellbeing

Source: Save The Children

Save the Children staff walking with a girl in a school used as a shelther, South Lebanon [Imad Achkar / Save the Children]

BEIRUT, 26 September 2024 – About 140,000 children have been forced from their homes in southern Lebanon in the past four days, with many arriving at shelters showing signs of severe distress, according to Save the Children staff. 

Over 400,000 people have been displaced since the start of Israeli airstrikes on Sunday in the latest escalation in cross-border violence, with numbers expected to increase in the coming days. 

This brings the total number forced from their homes in Lebanon in nearly a year of cross-border violence to 500,000, or nearly 10% of the population, including 175,000 children. According to media reports, about 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes in northern Israel. 

Latest figures from Lebanon’s Ministry of Health report nearly 600 people have been killed in Lebanon this week, including 50 children, while nearly 1,800 have been injured. 

Save the Children has this week distributed mattresses, blankets, pillows, water and other essential items to nearly 5,000 people in 30 shelters across the country, including in the north, the south, the Bekaa area and Mount Lebanon. 

Save the Children staff have reported growing concern over the psychological impact on children, many of whom are showing signs of severe distress due to the displacement and constant shelling.  

Mahmoud, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Promotion Technician described the chaotic scenes he witnessed at one of the shelters supported by Save the Children in Beirut. He said: 

“I’ve seen many in tears, completely devastated.  One woman was carrying her child along with several bags. Another woman’s child fell from her arms. The situation was tragic, and simply heartbreaking. People are still arriving, there are families sitting on the floor, waiting to be organised between different rooms. 

There was also an incredible mobilisation by the community, with volunteers showing up to support, bringing pillows, bags, anything they could to help others.” 

All schools in Lebanon have been closed, impacting all of the country’s 1.5 million children, with Lebanon’s already critical mental health crisis worsening as the hostilities continue to escalate.  

Jennifer Moorehead, Save the Children’s Country Director in Lebanon said: 

“Children are telling us that it feels like danger is everywhere, and they can never be safe. Every loud sound makes them jump now. Many children’s lives, rights and futures have already been turned upside down and now their capacity to cope with this escalating crisis has been eroded.   

“It is still possible to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, but we must act now. We urge all parties to immediately de-escalate tensions and for international actors to pressure all parties to comply with international humanitarian law. This must happen now to prevent further suffering for children and their families.” 

Save the Children has been working in Lebanon since 1953. Since October 2023, in response to the escalating cross-border situation, we’ve been scaling up our response in southern Lebanon, supporting children and families displaced by the violence. This includes displaced Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian children and families. Since October 2023, we’ve supported 60,000 people, including 25,000 children with cash, blankets, mattresses and pillows, food parcels, water bottles and kits containing essential hygiene items. 

Note to Editors:

• At least 500,000 people have fled their homes as a result of the increasing insecurities in recent months, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For the week of September 23, around 400,000 people were displaced in a matter of days, including an estimated 140,000 children.   

For further enquiries please contact: 

Randa Ghazy, Regional Media Manager for North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe: Randa.Ghazy@savethechildren.org; 

Our media out of hours (BST) contact is media@savethechildren.org.uk / +44(0)7831 650409 

Please also check our Twitter account @Save_GlobalNews for news alerts, quotes, statements, and location Vlog

Source: Save The Children

PORT-AU-PRINCE, 26 September 2024 – Haiti’s ongoing violence is set to force thousands of children into overcrowded classrooms when schools reopen next week, with some classes expected to double to 80 students while hundreds of schools remain closed, Save the Children said.

The Haitian government delayed the start of the academic year until 1 October due to the ongoing threat from armed groups, which has displaced about 600,000 people this year – or about 5% of the population. Over the past school year, more than 900 schools temporarily closed, affecting about 200,000 children’s access to education. Many of these schools will likely remain closed next week as they are being used as shelters for displaced families.

In Haiti’s South Department, an influx of displaced families fleeing violence in Port-au-Prince has severely strained an already fragile education system. Save the Children’s local partners in Les Cayes report that internally displaced children will push class sizes to upwards of 80 students—more than double the recommended class size.

Maria Rosette, a school director supported by Save the Children’s local partner ProDev, highlighted the challenges of providing quality education in such overcrowded conditions. 

She also noted the psychological impact on displaced students, due to their distressing experiences. Parents and teachers have reported an increase in aggression, withdrawal, and emotional distress among students due to prolonged exposure to armed violence, hunger, and uncertainty. 

“What the children should be receiving in terms of quality education they won’t get  because there are too many students. Children at the back of the class always tend to suffer the most; they get distracted easily. 

“Also, one of the first things I noticed [towards the end of the last academic year] was the mental health and psychosocial support issues that need to be addressed among displaced students. Displaced children witnessed so much when they were in Port-au-Prince, they now suffer from stress and anguish. They are extremely aggressive; they fight and throw rocks at each other – the new arrivals and local children. Many children are not motivated at school. Still, hopefully, as time goes on, they will be more receptive to continuing their education and be able to address and cope with the issues they face.” 

As schools begin to reopen, families still face significant challenges in sending their children back into classrooms. Ongoing violence and soaring inflation have impacted families’ ability to afford basic school supplies for their children. Also, some schools that have been used as shelters require extensive cleanup and repairs before they can fully resume educational activities. 

For children living in areas with active fighting in Port-au-Prince, starting the new school year next week may not be possible, even if schools reopen. The journey to school in armed group-controlled areas poses significant risks, including being caught in the crossfire and the threat of recruitment into these groups.

Chantal Sylvie Imbeault, Save the Children’s Country Director in Haiti, said: 

“The crisis in Haiti is, above all, a children’s crisis. Hundreds of thousands of children have been displaced, robbed of their education, and deeply affected by the violence unfolding before their eyes. 

“In Port-au-Prince, access to education is severely limited due to school closure in areas controlled by armed groups, attacks on schools, displacement, and widespread violence. Many children can’t safely get to school because of the violence surrounding their communities. This means they likely won’t be returning at all to school next week if armed groups continue to wreak havoc across the city.

“A lack of education, overcrowded classrooms, and a growing mental health emergency is threatening to devastate an entire generation—a generation who has already lived through deadly earthquakes, hurricanes, and waves of relentless violence. For many children in Haiti, education is their only hope in an increasingly uncertain world. But that hope is slipping away.”

Save the Children is providing cash assistance for displaced families in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince living in schools-turned-shelters to find more dignified housing solutions while helping to free up schools to resume educational activities. The child rights organisation is also working through local partners in Haiti’s West, Grand’Anse and South departments, including in Les Cayes, to provide access to quality education, and psychosocial support to students who need it, while calling for more funding to provide mental health support for children who have been exposed to violence.

Save the Children is calling on the international community to support the government of Haiti in prioritising the reopening of schools while ensuring displaced families currently sheltering in classrooms can afford safe, alternative shelter, and teachers are paid on time.

Save the Children has been working in Haiti since 1978 in both urban and rural communities. It provides cash assistance so families can meet their most urgent needs, delivers health and nutrition support, and supports children´s access to quality education.

ENDS

*******************************************************************************************************************

For further enquiries please contact:

• Samantha Halyk, Senior Global Media Manager, samantha.halyk@savethechildren.org 

Our media out of hours (BST) contact is media@savethechildren.org.uk / +44(0)7831 650409

Please also check our Twitter account @Save_GlobalNews for news alerts, quotes, statements and location Vlogs.

Source: Save The Children

•  States to hold perpetrators of crimes against children in conflict to account and ensure adherence to international humanitarian and human rights law.  
• At the upcoming Ministerial Conference to Ending Violence against Children, states should  make concrete, ambitious and funded commitments to protect children and end all forms of violence against them 
• Children’s rights and views to be prioritised in climate policy and financing, including climate loss and damage and adaptation, 
• Leaders to put children’s rights and the Sustainable Development Goals at the centre of policy and financing decisions to create a safer, greener and more sustainable world.  

Source: Save The Children

SYDNEY, 25 Sept 2024 – Over six in 10 children with access to the internet interact with “unknown others” daily despite concerns about online grooming, according to new research released by Save the Children and Western Sydney University that highlighted children’s demands for better online protection.  

The research team held in-depth consultations with about 600 children and young people aged 8 to 18 from Australia, Finland, the Philippines, Cambodia, Colombia, Kenya, and South Africa, who shared their views and experiences of facing inappropriate requests online for personal information or images. 

The report, ‘Protecting Children from Online Grooming’, was written by the Young & Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University, and funded by the global child online safety investment vehicle Safe Online as part of the Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, incidents of online grooming and child sexual and financial exploitation have reached an all-time high [1], with an 82% rise in online grooming crimes against children reported in that period [2]. Online grooming practices have also transformed, with the fastest growing form of online grooming targeting young men for financial extortion [3]. 

The report revealed children were more inclined to connect with strangers – or “unknown others” – online as they matured and became more social, motivated by a desire for friendship, fun and play, followed by a wish to stay informed about trends and events, and to connect over shared interests.  

The findings also showed that while children across all cultures and age groups were more suspicious of people they didn’t know online than people they knew in person, most (66%) of the study participants still interacted with “unknown others” daily online.  

Children in high-income settings were twice as likely to use privacy settings to protect themselves from unwanted contacts, compared to children from some low-income settings, but the potential to derive financial benefits was an incentive for children in middle-income countries to connect with strangers online, potentially compromising their safety.  

While children have come up with numerous ways to protect themselves, they are calling for widespread, accessible and targeted online safety education for themselves and their caregivers. In the discussions the children also made concrete suggestions about how technology platforms and governments can implement changes that will keep them safer online.  

Sonisay*, a girl aged 11-12 from rural Cambodia, said: 

“Adults should know that children interact with strangers, monitor them, and read their chats.”  

Angel* aged 15-17 from a city in the Philippines said: 

“Adults need to know about the children of today who are highly computer-savvy… To be able to support and protect the children, adults need to understand that children are comfortable with using the internet which pushes to interact with strangers.” 

Charlie* aged 14 from Australia emphasised the need to start online safety education earlier: 

 “Having young children educated about the safety of technology and the dangers … adults only start this education for older kids on social media when the problem can be on video games played by young kids.” 

Children reported that it was very difficult to ascertain the intentions of strangers online. Children were also particularly worried about being asked for personal information or nude pictures, being drawn into inappropriate sexually-oriented exchanges, or exposure to criminal activities. 

The report found that children want and need better online protection, with children primarily using intuition and background checks rather than seeking help from trusted adults to manage their online interactions with people they don’t know.  

The data also showed that children distinguish people they know well both online and in person from those they only know online, with 86% approaching the latter with caution. Yet despite this wariness, children were still three times more likely to ignore or decline an inappropriate or unwanted request than they are to report or block it. 

Steve Miller, Save the Children’s Global Director of Child Protection, said: 

“Children deserve to thrive in a safe and nurturing environment – both online and offline. As the digital landscape evolves, so do the challenges and threats, including the threat of online grooming and exploitation. We need to foster a digital environment that is not only safe but also enriching, allowing children to explore, learn, and grow without fear. Policymakers need to listen to the voices and experiences of children when developing policies that protect them.” 

Professor Amanda Third, Co-Director of the Young and Resilient Research Centre, Western Sydney University, said:  

“Keeping children safe from online grooming requires a whole-of-community approach. Governments, NGOs, technology platforms, teachers, parents, caregivers, and children themselves all have an important role to play. However, to most effectively address this issue it is crucial that we listen to the views and experiences of children and young people and engage them as active partners in the research and policy design process. Children and young people are finding their own ways to tackle this issue and devise solutions but they are also calling on us to help equip them and their caregivers with the skills and knowledge needed to be able to safely navigate these rapidly evolving digital environments.” 

Save the Children has launched a major global effort to support digital inclusion and empower the next generation of resilient digital citizens. Save the Children’s Safe Digital Childhood initiative is includes partnering with schools, communities and tech leaders to break down barriers to digital inclusion by making sure the children with the fewest resources can access devices and connectivity; offering targeted digital literacy and citizenship programs; helping technology industry partners embed child-centric safeguards into their platforms; and empowering children to advocate for their rights in the digital world. 

The Young & Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University is an Australian-based, international research centre that unites young people with researchers, practitioners, innovators, and policymakers to explore the role of technology in children’s and young people’s lives and how it can be used to improve individual and community resilience across generations.  

Safe Online is the only global investment vehicle dedicated to keeping children safe in the digital world. Through investing in innovation and bringing key actors together, Safe Online helps shape a digital world that is safe and empowering for all children and young people, everywhere. The Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund, which funded the research, is a groundbreaking collaboration fuelling actionable research and bringing together the tech industry with academia and civil society in a bold alliance to end online child sexual exploitation and abuse. 

*Names have been changed to protect identities 

[1] WeProtect Global Threat Assessment Data 2023 

[2] NSPCC. (2023, August 15). 82% rise in online grooming crimes against children in the last 5 years.

[3] WeProtect’s Global Threat Assessment Data 2023