Category: Children and Wellbeing

Source: Save The Children

RAMALLAH, 2 April 2024: Malnourished children in Gaza are not getting the food and medical care they need to survive with food being blocked at every turn and the health system obliterated, Save the Children has warned, as families report children are suffering from massive weight loss, weakness and cracked skin. 

Gaza’s 346,000 children under the age of five are at the greatest risk of malnutrition as the already catastrophic situation rapidly deteriorates across the enclave. In the north, it is estimated that one in three children under the age of two are now suffering from wasting, the most severe form of malnutrition, compared to one in six children in January, according to The Global Nutrition Cluster – a group of humanitarian organisations focused on nutrition.  

Yahya* is one of the 1.2 million displaced people now living in Rafah in southern Gaza, a city usually housing 280,000. Yahya’s* nephew died as a result of severe hunger; a consequence of restrictions on access to aid and commercial goods across Gaza since October 2023. He said: 

“He got sick due to lack of food and nutrition. He got anemia. He also had special needs. God bless his soul. We will all eventually die. But we should not die this way. It’s not fair to die of hunger.” 

Malnourished children urgently need nutritionally rich food which is easy to consume such as ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) and therapeutic milk for young children. They also need essential medicines such as antibiotics, health facilities, and trained health care workers who can detect and treat malnutrition. However, with more than 400 attacks on healthcare documented since October, 26 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals have been rendered completely non-functional, while entry of medical supplies into Gaza remains restricted. 

Once severe acute malnutrition takes hold, children often develop other conditions. The immune system of a severely malnourished child begins to shut down, making otherwise non-life-threatening conditions like diarrhoea, potentially lethal. Diarrhoea is currently rampant in Gaza due to mass displacement and unhygienic conditions exacerbated by the destruction of sanitation infrastructure, with even newborns to six month –old babies suffering from diarrhoea. 

Save the Children has spoken to Mostafa*, 48, a father of eight ranging in age from 3 to 20 years old. He’s from Rafah and still lives in Rafah, he said: 

“The children developed signs of malnutrition, especially in the first four months. They lost a lot of weight, did not have energy to play. Even their skin started to get yellowish due to lack of iron and sugar. My 10-year-old son started to develop cracks in his skin, especially around the eyes.” 

Early treatment is critical to treat malnutrition and to prevent children from facing life-long impact, including stunted physical growth and cognitive impairment affecting their memory and ability to learn at school. 

 Hamdi*, 30, Save the Children staff member in Gaza said: 

“This war has also impacted children’s appetite even in places where food was available. It is visible that children are losing 50-60% of weight and their basic interactions and understanding of things have been really affected.” 

Life-saving supplies which could be used to treat malnourished children are being delayed and denied entry by the Government of Israel. Essential food and medical items are obstructed from entering Gaza for days, weeks, or even months. Others are being denied entry altogether by the Israeli authorities, with reports of oxygen cylinders, ventilators and water purifiers being turned away at the border. Air drops cannot circumvent these restrictions, as the specialised assistance malnourished children need cannot be dropped, while consumption of the sudden and unsupervised types of food that can be dropped can be life-threatening. Air drops have killed dozens of people including children in Gaza in the last few weeks, either directly or through drowning and stampedes as children and families try to reach the lifesaving aid they need. 

Attacks on aid workers and food distributions make aid delivery unsafe, further restricting an already hamstrung humanitarian response. It is particularly difficult to reach children and families in the north of Gaza where famine is imminent according to recent data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). Israeli authorities continue to deny UNRWA – the organisation that can reach the most people with life-saving aid – access to northern Gaza to deliver emergency food assistance.  

Xavier Joubert, Save the Children Country Director in the occupied Palestinian territory, said:  

“We’re witnessing an annihilation of the physical and mental well-being of children in Gaza. The rate at which they’ve been pushed to – and beyond – the brink of death in the past six months is nothing short of staggering. It’s unconscionable that life-saving food, nutritional products and medical supplies are sitting at the border, just miles away from where children are needlessly and painfully dying from malnutrition. Starvation must never be used as a weapon of war. 27 children have already been killed by starvation and disease – if the world fails to act now countless more children will be added to that number.”  

All children in Gaza are facing food shortages, particularly nutritious items such as fruit and vegetables.  

 Marwan*, 49, a Save the Children staff member in Gaza said: 

“Nutrients like vitamins and iron that children get from fruits and vegetables have become scarce and families cannot access it anymore. They are not available in the local market. Families eat the same meals for days because they do not have alternatives. They cannot provide diverse nutrition for their children.” 

The UN Security Council has already demanded a temporary ceasefire – this needs to be implemented now and sustained definitively. The Government of Israel must also allow life-saving medical equipment, supplies, teams, and medicine to enter the Gaza Strip at the speed and scale required to prevent more children from being killed by malnutrition and disease. 

Save the Children has been providing essential services and support to Palestinian children impacted by the ongoing conflict since 1953. Save the Children’s team in the occupied Palestinian territory has been working around the clock, prepositioning vital supplies to support people in need, and working to find ways to get assistance into Gaza.       

*Names changed to protect identity 

 

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For further enquiries please contact:

Ruby Wright, Global Media Manager: ruby.wright@savethechildren.org

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 Vlogs.

Source: Save The Children

KINSHASA, 28 March 2024 – A spike of violence in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has forced 540 schools to close in the past year, creating chaos for children and putting them at risk of being recruited by armed forces, forced into work, Save the Children said.

Since the beginning of 2024, violence has forced about 190 schools to close their doors, according to Save the Children’s analysis of data from the education cluster – a coordination mechanism made up of education actors that assess needs and prioritise humanitarian responses.

Among the affected schools are 24 that have been seized by armed groups, 10 that have been directly attacked, and 29 that have been used as an emergency shelter for displaced families. Additionally, over the past year, there have been at least two reported cases of teachers being kidnapped, along with two incidents involving the abduction of students either at school or on their way to class. The closure of 7% of schools in the region has left about 270,000 children out of education, putting them at risk of being without the essential skills they will need to build a future. The neighbouring provinces of Ituri and South Kivu have also been impacted by violent attacks.

Attacks on schools leave deep emotional and psychological scars on children and can negatively impact their ability to develop, said Save the Children.

Read more: What’s happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

Bahati*, 12, who was at school when fighting broke out in his village in North Kivu last year, said:

“We played football at recess, then the bell rang, and we went into the classroom. Only a few minutes later, we saw the armed men coming out from the eucalyptus trees. They came to our school firing bullets. I heard explosions and other loud noises. We fled, without even thinking, everyone fled into another direction. 

“People walked for two days; people were separated from their families. Children without parents and parents without their children. As bullets kept on flying, we headed to Goma, which is how we arrived at the displacement camp in Goma.”

The current wave of violence follows a tumultuous year of heightened outbreaks of conflict in North Kivu in 2023, when intensified fighting in the east of the country displaced more than 1 million people, including at least 500,000 children. At least 250,000 people, including about 130,000 children, have been forced to flee their homes in North Kivu since February 2024 alone, with more than 2.6 million people–about 30% of the population in the region–displaced since 2022.

On 28 February, the United Nations started the gradual withdrawal of its peacekeeping mission in the DRC–known asMONUSCO– at the request of the government, despite concerns about increasing violence. The country is facing the second-largest displacement crisis in the world after Sudan, with close to 10 million people on the move, while poverty and hunger affect a quarter of the population, or 25.4 million people, according to the UN.

Although education is a top priority for children and parents in crisis, it is all too often the first service to be suspended and one of the last to resume. Prior to the escalation of violence, many children in North Kivu were already too scared to attend class and distressed by the presence of armed soldiers in and around their schools.

Greg Ramm, Save the Children Country Director in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said:

“A single attack cannot only cause devastating injuries to children, physically and emotionally, but also deprive hundreds of students of the chance to receive a good-quality education. Sometimes, a community’s only place of learning is destroyed.

“All children in North Kivu have had their learning interrupted by the latest wave of violence, even if they have not been displaced. And, even if schools eventually reopen, the children will struggle because of the extremely crowded learning environments, given the scale of the displacement.

“At the same time as the UN reduces the number of its peacekeeping troops in eastern DRC, the situation is worsening. All parties need to prioritise the protection of civilians and especially children over other considerations.”

Save the Children is calling on all parties to the conflict in DRC to cease attacks on—and threats against—schools, and refrain from any military-related use of educational facilities. The presence of military forces or other armed groups in schools, damages facilities, disrupts students’ education, and can provoke attacks from opposing forces.  Schools must be protected as safe spaces that provide shelter from harm and the opportunity to learn and play.

Save the Children has worked in the DRC since 1994 to meet humanitarian needs linked to the arrival of refugees and the displacement of populations due to armed conflict in eastern provinces. Save the Children has scaled up its humanitarian response to support existing care systems, training local leaders and communities to prevent and respond to exploitation and abuse and ensuring access to healthcare through mobile clinics.

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For further enquiries please contact:

–          Samantha Halyk, Senior Global Media Manager (based in London) Samantha.halyk@savethechildren.org

–          Kunle Olawoyin, Regional Media Manager (based in Nigeria) Kunle.Olawoyin@savethechildren.org

–          Our media out of hours (GMT) 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

AMMAN, 27 March 2024 – Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah met on Wednesday with the CEO of Save the Children International Inger Ashing, who briefed her on the catastrophic conditions of children in Gaza, where civilians are mere weeks away from famine.  

During the meeting, held at Her Majesty’s offices in Amman, Ms. Ashing explained that the situation in Gaza is unlike anything Save the Children International has ever witnessed, and that children are dying from starvation and disease at the highest pace since records began.

The meeting, also attended by Save the Children’s Executive Strategic and Policy Adviser Anita Bay Bundegaard,  included a discussion on means to alleviate the destructive impact of the war on the lives of Gazan children. Her Majesty and Save the Children also underscored the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, as well as increased aid access by opening additional aid entry points into the Gaza Strip. 

Save the Children International, the world’s largest independent child rights organisation, is calling for an immediate, definitive ceasefire, and the resumption of the entry of commercial goods to Gaza. It also urges the effective implementation of the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice, which ordered Israel to allow the unfettered flow of aid into Gaza last January. 

Gaza’s Ministry of Health says that about 13,450 children have been killed and thousands more injured in Gaza since bombardment began on 7 October last year.

Latest data shows that 1.1 million people across Gaza – or at least half of the population – are facing catastrophic food insecurity and resorting to eating hay and animal food, with experts on food insecurity and malnutrition warning of famine between now and May.

“More than one million children in Gaza are being bombed, maimed and starved. Their lives depend on international action being taken now and on a definitive ceasefire and immediate access for the life-saving supplies so desperately needed. No child should face this horror,” said Ms. Ashing.

Save the Children has been providing essential services and support to Palestinian children impacted by the ongoing conflict since 1953. 

Source: Save The Children

RENK, South Sudan, 27 March 2024 – About 1,000 people a day are fleeing into South Sudan from Sudan after nearly one year of war, arriving in scorching heat and with children in dire need of support, Save the Children said.

More than 600,000 people – both refugees and returnees – have crossed the border since last April, arriving into a region already facing a severe hunger crisis, and the numbers continue to rise as the hostilities show no sign of abating. Most people arrive with nothing, having lost their homes and livelihoods. Some children have reported seeing loved ones, including their parents, killed on route.

The majority have arrived at the border crossing of Joda in Upper Nile State by foot or on donkey carts, from where up to 200 people at a time are crammed into trucks with standing room only. They are taken to two overcrowded transit centres in nearby Renk, a two-hour journey on dirt tracks in temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) as South Sudan battles its worst heatwave in four years.

They usually spend about two weeks in the centres – which houses over 15,000 people, even though they were built for no more than 3,000 – where food and water are scarce, healthcare is limited, and many sleep outside in makeshift shelters. From there 500 people at a time are packed onto barges for a two-day journey along the Nile to head to other destinations in South Sudan or packed into trucks for a 12 hour road trip to a refugee camp in Maban.

Most of these families have been displaced before. Many fled to Sudan from South Sudan in 2013 when widespread intercommunal violence erupted just two years after the country celebrated its independence as the world’s newest nation. Despite a peace deal in South Sudan in 2018, the country is still facing one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, plagued by continuing violence, repeated climate disasters, widespread hunger, mass displacement and now soaring prices. Even before the war in Sudan, about 9 million people – about 75% of the population ­– including nearly 5 million children were in need of humanitarian assistance.

Read more: What is happening in Sudan?

For people fleeing the conflict in Sudan, however, life in South Sudan is a better option. About 1.75 million people have left Sudan, according to latest UNHCR data, headed to South Sudan, Ethiopia, Chad, Central African Republic and Egypt.

Amira*, 37, a South Sudanese citizen, crossed the border into South Sudan with her husband and two young children in early March before being taken to one of the transit centres in Renk. She was working at a hospital in Khartoum  as a surgical nurse when the fighting started and was trapped in the basement for three days before she could get home.

“We have lost everything. We left everything behind,” she said. “My husband and I both had good jobs and my son was happy at school but that changed overnight. When the fighting began, we had no choice but to leave. Our lives in Khartoum were destroyed. So much has changed in a year, but now we both just want to get jobs and be settled again, so our children can go to school.”

For children in Renk’s transit centres, Save the Children has opened Child Friendly Spaces, where they can play, paint, dance, learn and receive psychosocial support.

Margret, 25, hails from South Sudan and is one of Save the Children’s team working with children in the centres. She fled to Sudan during South Sudan’s conflict and was forced to flee again when armed clashes broke out in Khartoum last April. It took Margret five days to reach Renk. She was robbed of the few possessions she’d managed to take with her.

“They took my laptop and my phone. Life is very difficult there. They killed my friend,” she said. “I feel better here. I get to play with the children – they make me smile again.”

Since the escalation of violence in Sudan, Save the Children has expanded its operations in Renk to assist families. Staff members are on location from the border to the boats to keep children and families safe, help them on and off the trucks, see to their immediate needs and emotional welfare, as well as reunite unaccompanied children with their families.

Pornpun Rabiltossaporn, Save the Children’s Country Director in South Sudan, said the needs were so much greater than the support currently available. She said:

“We want to ensure that the children arriving here are protected, get the psychosocial support they need, and that unaccompanied girls and boys are reunited with their families as quickly as possible. But so much more needs to be done.”

Save the Children’s CEO Inger Ashing visited Renk this month to draw attention to the escalating crisis and call for urgent funding with needs overwhelming. A UN funding appeal for US$1.8 billion for South Sudan is only 18% funded so far. She said:

“This is one of the world’s most overlooked crises and it is getting worse by the day. I heard so many heartbreaking stories from children. Some saw their parents killed. Others were separated from their families. Many told me they just wanted some normalcy and to go back to school.

“It is devastating to think that this journey is not the end of their ordeal but just the start with many not knowing where they are going and with no resources at all. Most displaced people on average spend seven years on the move. That is half a child’s time in education.

“No child should wake up fearing for their safety, worried about when they will next eat, and not knowing where they will sleep that night. No child should be without an education. The international community needs to step up to commit the funding and resources needed before it’s too late.”

Save the Children has worked in South Sudan since 1991. The child rights organisation provides children with access to education, healthcare and nutritional support, and families with food security and livelihoods assistance. In 2023, the organisation’s programmes reached over  1.9 million people including 1.1  million children and this year Save the Children hopes to reach 1.4 million people in South Sudan.

* Name anonymised to protect identity

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For further enquiries please contact:

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

Source: Save The Children

A pile of livestock carcasses along the road in Sukhbaatar province, Eastern Mongolia. 04 March, 2024. Photo credit: Khash-Erdene Bayarsaikhan / Save the Children

ULAANBATAR, 27 March 2024 – Mongolia’s extreme winter conditions, or Dzud, shows no sign of abating and the country, which is at the frontlines of the global climate crisis, is paying for it dearly having lost 5.2 million livestock[1], or about 8 % of its total livestock, said Save the Children.

Many children in the worst affected areas of the country, where around a third[2] of the population is nomadic, are also missing out on school because of road closures brought on by thick snow and ice, as well as families who have been forced to tend to their herd fulltime.

About 5.2 million livestock have been confirmed dead so far this winter out of 64.7 million livestock that were recorded alive at the end of 2023.[3]

The livestock sector is an integral part of Mongolia’s economy, accounting for an average of 13 % of the country’s GDP. It also accounts for about a quarter of all jobs and has been a part of traditional livelihoods for centuries.

Major dzuds used to take place about every decade in Mongolia but the frequency has increased in recent years due to climate change leading to pasture depletion.  This is the second consecutive severe dzud to hit Mongolia in the past decade and dzuds are expected to take place every other year going forward.[4]

The cold weather conditions brought on by Dzud – a natural phenomenon when drought is followed by a harsh winter that kills crops and freezes livestock to death – is also taking a toll on children and families.

In Uvs province, Western Mongolia, Nansalmaa, 25, who is a mother to five children, including a one-month-old baby, said the family lost 10 horses and 3 cows to Dzud this winter. Her husband, Togtokhbayar, sold most of the family’s sheep and goats in the autumn and had culled their herd to try to make it through the winter with minimal losses.

Nansalmaa plans to move to Ulaangom city, the province’s center, so that her eldest can attend school.

Elsewhere in Uvs province, where over 400,000 livestock[5] perished last year because of the Dzud, Sumiya,3, and Batsettseg, 4, were taken out of kindergarten. With all their family members busy taking care of animals in the countryside, the two girls had no one to look after them near the school and have remained with their parents and grandparents at their home located near an ice-covered and treacherously winding road.

The girls’ grandfather Davaa, 56, said: “I haven’t seen a winter this hard since I became a herder, some 33 years ago.”

During a visit to affected areas in Mongolia this month, Save the Children also observed emotional distress displayed by children who had lost livestock, including beloved family animals, and from a lack of attention from parents who are busy trying to keep their livestock alive.

In Sukhbaatar province in eastern Mongolia, the sight of animal carcasses piled along the roadside is a stark reminder of the Dzud’s devastation. Herders that Save the Children spoke to this month became tearful when recounting the loss of their herd. For many, livestock are their pride and represent the result of their hard work.

Bayan-Altai Luvsandorj, Country Manager and Representative, Save the Children Japan, Mongolia office, said:  

“We’re seeing widespread devastation and impact on children and families in Mongolia because of Dzud. Some children in the worst-affected soums, or regions, are missing out on school because roads have been completely cut off. Other children who do manage to go to school lack essential items including hygiene products and winter shoes because herder families are focused on trying to keep their livestock alive.

Herding and livestock have traditionally been a big part of Mongolia’s culture and traditional way of living but the loss of so many animals could push more families to move to cities which will affect their children and plunge some families into poverty and unemployment.”

Save the Children is actively working in five of Mongolia’s 21 province in response to the current Dzud and is providing psychological first aid to children living in school dormitories whose families have been affected by dzud.[6]  by training dormitory teachers on how to provide psychological first aid to children.

Save the Children has worked in Mongolia since 1994 running programmes focused on education, child protection, health, and addressing child poverty and child rights governance as well as providing humanitarian assistance to herder households affected by dzuds, floods and sandstorms. 

 

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[1]https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiODIxNzExMzYtNWNjZi00NzUzLTk5MzktZDM2ZTRkOGRkZDllIiwidCI6IjBmOWUzNWRiLTU0NGYtNGY2MC1iZGNjLTVlYTQxNmU2ZGM3MCIsImMiOjh9

[2] Of the 983485 households in Mongolia (2023), 189,280 were herders (nomads) according to the National Statistics Office, which is 19 percent of total households.

[3]https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiODIxNzExMzYtNWNjZi00NzUzLTk5MzktZDM2ZTRkOGRkZDllIiwidCI6IjBmOWUzNWRiLTU0NGYtNGY2MC1iZGNjLTVlYTQxNmU2ZGM3MCIsImMiOjh9

[4] https://www.asianstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/mongolian-dzud-threats-to-and-protection-of-mongolias-herding-communities.pdf

[5] UVs province governor data.

[6]https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiODIxNzExMzYtNWNjZi00NzUzLTk5MzktZDM2ZTRkOGRkZDllIiwidCI6IjBmOWUzNWRiLTU0NGYtNGY2MC1iZGNjLTVlYTQxNmU2ZGM3MCIsImMiOjh9

Source: Save The Children

PORT-AU-PRINCE, 26 March 2024 – About five million people in Haiti, including one in two children, are now facing acute levels of food insecurity, with 20% of families in the capital alone one step away from famine, Save the Children said.

Soaring gang violence and dwindling aid in Haiti are fuelling an unprecedented hunger crisis in the country. According to an analysis of data from the Integrated Food Security Classification or IPC scale, a monitoring system for assessing hunger emergencies, more than 1.6 million people in Haiti are on the verge of famine and more than 600,000 of them are children. The situation in the country has deteriorated significantly over the last few years, going from 3.7 million food insecure and hungry Haitians in 2019 to nearly five million in 2024 – almost half of the country’s population.

Armed violence in Haiti has turned urban areas into battlefields, resulting in the displacement of more than 360,000 people. Gang violence and roadblocks have also hindered the flow of essential goods, leading to spikes in food prices and restricting aid organisations from distributing lifesaving food.

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

“The crisis unfolding in Haiti is rapidly deteriorating, with gangs tightening their grip on approximately 90% of Port-au-Prince. Families are losing their source of livelihoods and being denied access to essential food and medical services. Shockingly, one in five families in the Port-au-Prince metro area is now one step away from famine, with armed violence and roadblocks obstructing humanitarian efforts. Aid organisations are scrambling to provide aid any way they can.

“Newly released data underscores the gravity of the situation, revealing that an additional 200,000 children will plunge into acute hunger between March and June. That will bring the total number of children confronting acute food insecurity to nearly two million. If gang violence deteriorates further in Haiti, the threat of famine will only loom larger and take lives.”

All parties must do their utmost to protect children and abide by international humanitarian law. Save the Children is also calling on the international community to urgently increase humanitarian funding for the crisis in Haiti.

Save the Children is working around the clock to support children who are trapped in a deadly cycle of violence, poverty and hunger. The child right’s organisation is providing cash so families can buy food and other essentials, and delivering health and nutrition support, including treating children for malnutrition and providing nutrition counselling to caregivers. Save the Children is also supporting children to access water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, to continue learning and ensuring they are protected from harm, exploitation and abuse. Save the Children has been working in Haiti since 1978, in both urban and rural communities.   

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Notes to Editor:

• According to newly released IPC data, 4.97 million people of the 91% of the population analysed in Haiti are expected to face acute food insecurity, IPC Phase 3+, between March and June 2024 – a 532,000 increase compared to the last IPC report in August 2023. Of the 4.97 million people facing IPC Phase 3+, 38% are estimated to be children, about 1.9 million.  Between March and June, 1.64 million people are expected to be in IPC Phase 4– emergency levels of hunger – just one step away from IPC 5, the worst phase, classified as ‘famine’ where extreme lack of food and other basic needs where starvation, death, and destitution are evident.  In Port-au-Prince, about 20% or 191,000 households the IPC analysed, are expected to face IPC Phase 4.   IPC_Haiti_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Projection_Update_Mar_Jun2024_Snapshot_English.pdf (ipcinfo.org)
• Migration Data and Resources | IOM Haiti, UN Migration | IOM Haiti 

Source: Save The Children

New York, 25 March 2023 – The more than one million children trapped in Gaza have been granted the hope of a brief respite today following the UN Security Council’s vote to pass a temporary ceasefire resolution, said Save the Children. However, while today’s ceasefire resolution is a vital step, it needs to be implemented immediately and sustained definitively to protect children and prevent atrocity crimes.  

Xavier Joubert, Save the Children Country Director in the occupied Palestinian territory, said: 

“Today’s UN Security Council decision has the potential to become a lifeline for the children of Gaza, who are being bombed, maimed and starved. This resolution calls for an immediate temporary ceasefire. It must deliver immediately and be extended definitively; children’s lives hang in the balance.  

The world is watching to see if Member States fulfill their obligations and turn these words into action.Swift and meaningful steps must be taken by the international community – the UN Security Council, General Assembly, and all its Member States – to immediately implement today’s determination and do all within their power to secure its definitive extension. Children’s lives depend on it. Anything less will mark yet another failure, with devastating consequences for children.” 

 

For media spokespeople during GMT working hours please contact:

Ruby Wright, Global Media Manager, ruby.wright@savethechildren.org, +44 (0)7969983222

Randa Ghazy, randa.ghazy@savethechildren.org, Regional Media Manager- North Africa, Middle East & Eastern Europe

For out of hours media requests please contact media@savethechildren.org.uk / +44(0)7831 650409

 

Source: Save The Children

RAMALLAH, 25 March 2024 – The decision on 24 March by Israeli authorities to reject United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) food convoys into northern Gaza will accelerate the risk of famine and send already starving children more quickly to their graves, says aid agency Save the Children.

Xavier Joubert, Save the Children Country Director in the occupied Palestinian territory, said: 

“We heard just last week from the authoritative body on hunger crises – the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification System – that children and families in northern Gaza face the imminent risk of famine, as early as this month. Children are already dying from starvation and disease at the highest pace the world has ever seen, since records began.

“Further restricting already drip-fed aid into northern Gaza is tantamount to tightening the noose. This announcement shows how funding cuts to the UN agency on which Palestinians and we as humanitarian organisations depend have further emboldened the weaponization of aid. This must be overturned with robust and immediate diplomacy from the international community, as is their legal obligation. International action cannot take longer to deliver than the mere days children have. Their lives depend on it.”

According to UN data, the daily average number of aid trucks entering Gaza dropped by more than a third in the weeks following provisional measures from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which ordered the Government of Israel to allow safe, unfettered humanitarian aid access.[1] Any denial of humanitarian assistance is a Grave Violation against children, according to the UN Security Council’s 1999 Resolution on Children in Armed Conflict. It is also tantamount to collective punishment and illegal under international humanitarian law. Any use of starvation as a method of warfare is strictly prohibited as a war crime under international law.