Category: Children and Wellbeing

Source: Save The Children

Students walking in a displacement camp in Yemen [Save the Children]

SANA’A, March 25, 2024 – After nine years of conflict in Yemen, two in five children, or 4.5 million, are out of school, with displaced children twice as likely to drop out than their peers, according to a new report by Save the Children.

The report, titled ‘Hanging in the Balance: Yemeni Children’s Struggle for Education’, found that one-third of families surveyed in Yemen have at least one child who has dropped out of school in the past two years despite the UN-brokered truce that took effect in 2022.

Although the truce officially expired in October 2022, parties have continued to adhere to its core elements and large-scale fighting has not reignited.  However, while casualty rates have dropped, three-quarters of students (76%) reported that their sense of safety has not increased, with 14% of families citing violence as a direct cause of school dropouts.

The ongoing violence and the collapsed economy in Yemen have pushed two-thirds of the population below the poverty line and displaced an estimated 4.5 million people or 14% of the population, most of whom have been displaced multiple times.

Save the Children’s analysis found that displaced children are twice as vulnerable to school dropouts, and while returning to the area of origin reduces the vulnerability of internally displaced children to school dropouts by 20%, ongoing insecurity prevents their ability to return home.

Monthly school fees and the cost of textbooks are putting education out of reach for many, with 20% of families reporting they are unaffordable. Over 44% of caregivers and children surveyed said that the need to support their family’s income generation was a primary reason behind school dropouts. Hani*, 48, is a teacher, who was compelled to withdraw two of his four daughters from school due to the high cost. “School expenses for each child can reach more than 25% of my salary. My salary is 76,300 Riyals (approximately US$46), and that is not even enough to cover the food we need.”

The minimum food basket – the amount needed to sustain a family of seven for a month – costs 85 USD on average in Yemen.

Rami*, a 12-year-old boy, said he had to drop out of school to support his family. Rami* said:

“How can I go to school when I know we can’t cover our expenses and my siblings need food? I must leave school and work.”  

Mohamed Mannaa, Save the Children Interim Country Director in Yemen said: 

“Nine years into this forgotten conflict, we are confronting an education emergency like never before. Our latest findings must be a wake-up call and we must act now to protect these children and their future.  

 “While the truce reduced some violence, it hasn’t ever brought the stability families desperately need to rebuild their lives. Above everything else, families in Yemen need an official ceasefire; without one, families are left in limbo.  

“We can’t let the children of Yemen, who yearn for nothing more than safety and the chance to learn, lose sight of a future filled with possibility. Every child in Yemen deserves to grow up with security, access to quality education, and a horizon filled with promise. The longer we wait, the harder it is to achieve long lasting impact.” 

The impact of the education crisis on Yemen’s children and their future is profound. Without immediate intervention, an entire generation risks being left behind, with long-term consequences for the country’s recovery and development. 

Save the Children calls on all stakeholders, including the Yemeni authorities, donor states, institutions, and humanitarian actors, to urgently address these challenges. This includes committing to a renewed peace process, ensuring the protection of schools and students, increasing funding for education, and scaling up integrated child protection interventions. 

For over 60 years, Save the Children has been dedicated to supporting Yemen’s children. We’re currently active across 11 governorates, focusing on food security, health, nutrition, child protection, education, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) initiatives. Our work includes health and nutrition programs, access to education through non-formal learning and teacher training, child protection efforts, and strengthening community resilience with cash assistance and livelihood opportunities. 

-ENDS 

Multimedia content available for this release:

Case studies (interviews, broll, photos) – School where students were injured in Lahj: www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2SOYSCTM

Videos (Interviews and broll) – Morad* and Hani*, school teachers in Lahj: www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2SOYS8UT

Notes to Editors: 

1. According to OCHA, of Yemen’s 10.7 million school-age children over 4.5 million are out of school. 
2. Research methodology: The report ‘Hanging in the Balance: Yemeni Children’s Struggle for Education’ combines a mixed-methodology approach, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative research methods across Yemen. This comprehensive study involved surveying 1,068 children and 528 caregivers to gather quantitative data. Qualitative insights were obtained through in-depth interviews with 15 children, caregivers, and teachers affected by the crisis. Focus Group Discussions were held with 30 children from various regions to hear directly about their fears, hopes, aspirations, and perspectives on their educational journey and prospects.

Source: Save The Children

New York, 22 March 2023 – The more than one million children trapped in Gaza will continue to be exposed to bombs, guns and starvation following the UN Security Council’s failure once again to pass a ceasefire resolution, said Save the Children.  

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

“Once again, children in Gaza have been abandoned by the people whose responsibility it is to protect them. 

Once again, the international community has failed to perform its most basic duty. 

Children will continue to be killed, maimed, struck down by preventable diseases, and face starvation because of this failure today. 

It has been 157 days since the UN Security Council first failed to adopt a ceasefire resolution. In that time, at least 12,597 children have been killed in Gaza, with thousands more likely trapped under the rubble.  

How many thousands more need to die before the world acts?” 

For media spokespeople during GMT working hours please contact:

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

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

Source: Save The Children

MAHA’S* STORY

Maha*, 10, has lived with her family – including her 16-year-old sister Maya* – in Taiz, Yemen since being displaced from her village due to conflict.

In October 2022, the sisters’ lives were changed forever when they stepped on a landmine while collecting firewood for cooking. Even though Maha* was rushed to hospital for surgery, she lost her left eye and had her right hand amputated. In addition, Maha* injured her right leg and Maya* broke her left leg.

Maha* loves going to school, however, the incident has made doing so difficult. Maha* has been able to attend a workshop for injured children organised by Save the Children and, as she has recovered, has started going to school again alongside her sister using crutches.

Looking forward, Maha* wants to become a doctor so that she can help children who have been impacted by landmines too.

READ MORE: How children are overcoming climate change, conflict and other crises to continue learning

Source: Save The Children

More than twelve years of destructive conflict in Syria has hit those who are least responsible the hardest – the nation’s children. Half of Syria’s children have grown up knowing nothing but conflict and displacement, facing fear and uncertainty. 

The earthquakes that struck the Türkiye-Syria border, along the North West of the country in February this year, were yet another devastating blow for families.

Save the Children and our Syrian NGO partners have worked with children in North East and North West Syria to capture their environment and take photos that would allow them to show the rest of the world their reality and share their hopes and dreams for the future.

The images contrast neighbourhoods shattered by the earthquake in Idlib with those destroyed in the conflict in Raqqa. They highlight the devastated infrastructure surrounding children across Syria today. In both contexts, children’s hopes and dreams share a common thread – the possibility to imagine a life without destruction and a future with an opportunity beyond conflict.

Scroll to view the child-led photography exhibition.

This series was curated for the Brussels VII Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region.

_{Note: All text written in italics are direct quotes from children.}

_{*Names have been changed to protect identity.}

Source: Save The Children

Siblings Halima*, 6, Kamelah*, 18-months-old and Omfaruk*, 8, at their home in Kabul, Afghanistan. Jim Huylebroek / Save The Children.

More than half of the world’s people living in poverty are children. UNICEF and the World Bank estimate that 334 million of these children are extremely poor (living on less than US$2.15 per day) and approximately one billion are multidimensionally poor; missing out on adequate monetary resources, health, education, and living standards.

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Expanding child-centered social protection programmes is a proven way to reduce child poverty. Social protection is a set of public policies, programmes, and systems that help all people reach and sustain an adequate standard of living; improve their capacity to cope with risks and shocks throughout their life cycle; and claim their rights and enhance their social status. Save the Children promotes child-sensitive social protection, which focuses on the specific needs of children.

Monika, a grandmother from Kenya, is one of the millions of participants in social protection programmes. She receives a cash transfer for her grandson under the vulnerable child cash transfer programme, which the Kenyan Government is expanding. She spends most of the funds on food and housing but has also used them to start a weaving business which allows her to send her grandson to school.

 ‘My life was bad before I got this money… I used to carry my grandson with me to go and do domestic work. I had to come back quickly because his mother is deaf and has mental health issues… after I started getting the 2,000 shillings, things got much better…’

The impact of successful social protection programmes on reducing multidimensional child poverty is well documented across diverse contexts- from high- to low-income countries. In addition to addressing material deprivation, well-designed cash transfer social protection programmes can facilitate access to vital services and build resilience to shocks, which is increasingly important as vulnerable households confront climate change. Assessments of social protection expenditures have repeatedly shown that social benefits outweigh the costs of the programmes.

But children still lack access to social protection. Despite this clear case for investment in child-sensitive social protection, most vulnerable children from the poorest countries do not have access to it. Data shows an incremental increase of children with access to child benefits from 20% in 2009 to 28% in 2023, with only 9% of children from low-income countries covered[vi]. This compares to 85% in high-income countries.

Ladan*, 10, with mum Casho*, 30, and her siblings at home in Puntland, Somalia. Mustafa Saeed / Save the Children

We work in close collaboration with governments to improve the child-focus, inclusivity, effectiveness, and accountability of their social protection systems. Our work also includes some direct implementation of social protection programmes in low-income countries and fragile states.

We typically support ‘cash-plus’ programmes that are more effective than just distributing cash. Cash plus programmes pair cash transfers with other interventions including training, capacity building, and linkages to services for caretakers on parenting, nutrition, health, and early childhood development. Our growing evidence shows a strong impact of these programmes on child wellbeing including reduced poverty, reduced violence against children, and improved health, nutrition, and early childhood development.

We also produce innovative research and evidence that we use to advocate for expansion of child-sensitive social protection. Together with UNICEF and the ILO, we launched the Child Benefits Tracker in February 2024.This interactive website includes data on child-sensitive social protection coverage, financing, policies, and programmes, country prospects, and good practices.

In a recent Save the Children-UNICEF-ILO event, Natalia Winder Rossi, UNICEF’s Director of Social Policy and Social Protection, said, ‘ending child poverty is a policy choice… and the investment case for investing in social protection is clear.’

Five recommendations for Governments to invest in social protection:

1. Create and expand inclusive child sensitive social protection systems which target the most vulnerable children including those extremely poor, with disabilities, from ethnic minority groups, girls, on the move, and who lack registration.
2. Increase, preserve, and prioritize investment in social protection programmes. Countries with low coverage can find creative ways to fund social protection such as Mongolia, which taxes its mining sector to provide universal coverage for children. Also, importantly, donors should support social protection systems and international financing entities such as the IMF need to safeguard them as many countries face increasingly unsustainable debt burdens.
3. Ensure social protection systems are shock responsive. This includes building systems and programmes that are flexible to continue during and after shocks, that can adapt to evolving needs of children, and that complement humanitarian responses.
4. Promote social protection programmes which are user friendly and accessible. Countries can now use technology to allow social protection participants to register via apps on phones and receive electronic payments. Many countries are also improving the management of data including beneficiary screening and data.
5. Support the expansion of social protection to all children through universal child benefits. This can close coverage gaps and build broad-based support for child-sensitive social protection programmes.

Found this blog interesting? Find out more about Child protection work

Source: Save The Children

MOGADISHU, 21 March, 2024 – At least 54 people have died from cholera in Somalia in recent months, said Save the Children, with nine people dying of the illness in the past week alone – the highest weekly death toll this year.

More than 59% of the 4,388 confirmed cases for 2024 – or 2,605 people – are children under five, according to the latest report from Somalia’s Ministry of Health and Human Services[1].

In the Southern States, the Banadir region has seen the highest increase in the number of reported cholera cases in the last two weeks, with 586 new cholera cases reported from 23 districts, including 331 children aged under five.

The current outbreak, which started in January 2024, is understood to be the results of the large-scale floodingthat took place in October and November 2023, according to Somalia’shealth authorities. The Banadir region was one of the worst impacted by the floods.

Save the Children is calling for urgent action by local governments and health agencies to stem the outbreak of the highly contagious disease, which spreads quickly through contaminated water. It can also spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage, flooded areas, and areas without safe drinking water – all issues that can be exacerbated by flooding.

Save the Children is rolling out an emergency response to prevent further spread of the disease, working with  the government, local partners, and communities to supports two cholera treatment centers. The aid agency is also providing hygiene kits and water treatment kits in and Beledweyn.

Save the Children’s Acting Country Director for Somalia, Mohamed Abdiladif said

“Somalia is at the front of the climate crisis. It was battered by rains and floods on the back of an horrendous drought. Children and families are extra vulnerable to illness.

“We are concerned that the cholera outbreak will spiral out of control when the rainy season starts in a month if urgent action is not  taken by government and donors to provide enough clean drinking water and sanitation facilities to  communities. These vulnerable communities have faced back to back tragedies having been forced out of their homes by flooding and conflict.

“We are doing all we can to provide humanitarian aid , including medical supplies, drugs, and cholera kits. However, more funds are  to provide  hygiene and sanitation items to prevent further spread of the cholera”

In 2023,  more than 18,300 cases of cholera were recorded in Somalia[2],  including 10,000 cases among children under 5[3].  Save the Children said the devastating El Nino flooding in November and December destroyed toilets and latrines, forcing communities, especially recently displaced families, into open defecation.

Save the Children has worked in Somalia for over 70 years and is a national and international leader in humanitarian and development programming in health, nutrition, water hygiene and sanitation, education, child protection and child rights governance. In 2023, Save the Children reached 4.7 million people in Somalia, including more than 2.47 million children.

Source: Save The Children

Source: Save The Children

• More than 8,700 people including 3,700 children from indigenous and rural communities affected. 
• Classrooms and health centers submerged under water, crop losses are exacerbating hunger, and lack of water has led to disease outbreaks. 

LIMA, 21 March 2024 – More than 8,700 people from indigenous and rural communities, including at least 3,700 children, have been impacted by severe floods in the Peruvian Amazon, said Save the Children, as rains continue to fall.  

Classrooms have been flooded, health centres submerged, and crops destroyed, with the brunt of the damage being felt by indigenous and rural communities in small villages in Ucayali, a border region of Peru. These communities already had limited access to services like health centres and schools and lived in low-grade housing, with an economy largely based on subsistence farming.  

Since late February, the Ucayali department has experienced intense rains which have caused major rivers to break their banks and flood small villages and farmland. As a result of the damage, the national government has declared parts of the region in a state of emergency. The affected population belongs to more than 60 communities, where people from more than 8 different ethnic groups live, including the Asháninka, Shipibo-Conibo, and Yaminahua. 

Schools would normally have opened for the year on 11 March, however the extensive damage to schools caused by the floods has led to a delay to some schools re-opening, potentially until May. At least 93 schools remain flooded. The damage to schools will worsen an already vulnerable education system in the region, which already wasn’t equipped to meet the needs of students, said Save the Children. 

Cases of acute respiratory and diarrheal diseases (ARDs) in children have quintupled since the rains began at the end of February, likely due to the damage to sewage and water systems, which has led to a severe lack of clean water. Health centres have also been damaged, making treatment for illness difficult. Communities in the area usually source water from underground wells, many of which have also been flooded and contaminated. 

Santa Rosa de Tamaya, a representative of the medical staff of the indigenous community, said:  

“I am providing care in the hallway of the house where I rent a room; only there do I try to provide as much as possible, because it also gets crowded, and it is not the optimal place for care; there are always possible risks because they can become infected.”  

The flooding has also caused extensive damage to crops including bananas, potato, corn, and yucca, which are the main economic activity for local families. Many of these products rotted before being harvested due to stagnant water. Most families use these crops for self-consumption, and those who rely on selling these foods are also suffering from hunger because they no longer have products to sell. 

William Campbell, Country Director of Save the Children in Peru said: 

“This emergency is particularly challenging given the difficult accessibility of the Peruvian Amazon. Children and their families here already face difficulties in the quality of education and health services. We are responding to prevent this crisis from exacerbating existing gaps”.   

With funding from Start Fund, Save the Children and its local partners are responding to the emergency with various actions: food distribution, provision of equipment for health personnel, rehabilitation of care spaces, delivery of kits for dengue prevention, safe water and hygiene kits for disease prevention. Additionally, coordination is underway to activate a working group to protect children exposed to situations of violence. 

Source: Save The Children

A group of Rohingya children play puzzles in a session carried out by the Geutanyoe Foundation, Save the Children’s local partner, in a camp in Aceh, Indonesia. March 07, 2024. Photo credit: Purba Wirastama / Save the Children.

JAKARTA, 21 March 2024 – About 250 unaccompanied Rohingya children[1], some as young as 11, arrived in Indonesia in the last three months of 2023, a 78 percent increase compared to arrivals throughout the rest of that year[2], said Save the Children.

The children’s rights organization analyzed figures from two quarterly reports from the UNHCR which showed a worrying increase in the number of children taking the perilous journey on their own. Last year, some 4,500 Rohingya[3] refugees, the majority from Bangladesh, embarked on sea journeys in search of better opportunities and safety, which marked a 22 % increase from 2022.  Among the new arrivals last year, 37 %, or about 1,670, were children including the 250 unaccompanied children who often face elevated risks including from abduction, trafficking, exploitation, and physical and sexual violence.[4]

Rashid*, 11, brought just a few biscuits and some drinking water in a small bag for his 5,000-kilometer (3,000 miles) sea journey from Bangladesh to Indonesia. He made it to Aceh, Indonesia, in November after 12 days at sea but misses the family he left behind including a mother and two siblings.

“The only thing I want to meet is my family,” he said.

“I remember some messages my father and mother told me through my mobile: take care of yourself, live in a quiet place … attend school, and eat on time.”

Increasingly desperate Rohingya families living in camps in Bangladesh are also being driven to high-risk sea journeys due to violence and security incidents[5]. Some, like 30-year-old mother of three Fatima* say a lack of job opportunities and education, as well growing concerns over safety in the camps, pushed them to escape Bangladesh in search of safety and a better future for their children.

“I want to be resettled to a country where my children can learn and live safely,” she said.

Because they are stateless, there is no legal pathway that allows Rohingya refugees to move around freely. Those looking for a better life are often forced to take perilous boat journeys offered by smugglers.[6] More than 60 % of new arrivals last year landed in Indonesia, while others disembarked elsewhere in Southeast Asia or were intercepted.

Syifa*, 11, is one of those who made the journey this year along with her parents and three siblings. The family were at sea for one and a half weeks before they reached the shores of Indonesia.

“I was so scared, I could only see the sea,” said Syifa, her voice trembling. “But when I saw an island, I was so happy,” she said.

Bangladesh and Indonesia are not signatories to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees but have been known for providing a haven to Rohingya refugees even when other countries in the region turned them away.

In recent months, however, Rohingya children and their families have become the target of both physical and online violence in Indonesia, driven by a campaign of misinformation and hate.[7]

Dessy Kurwiany Ukar, interim CEO of Save the Children Indonesia, said:

“The presence of unaccompanied children in Aceh is alarming and suggests that Rohingya families are desperate enough to send their children away in search of a better life. Indonesia’s government should continue to allow boats to disembark and provide ongoing support to Rohingya refugees but other countries across the region should also share the responsibility of protecting and assisting the Rohingya, including unaccompanied children.”

Save the Children is also calling on governments to provide Rohingya refugees with safe and legal pathways to seek asylum and access opportunities to improve their lives, including exploring options for large-scale third country resettlement, and for Bangladesh and regional governments to expand formal employment and educational opportunities for Rohingya refugees, in support of medium and long-term solutions for Rohingya communities.

Cox’s Bazar is home to the largest refugee settlement in the world, with almost 1 million Rohingya refugees. Save the Children is one of the leading international NGOs working in the Cox’s Bazar camps in Bangladesh. It has reached about 600,000 Rohingya refugees, including more than 320,000 children, since the response began in 2017.

In collaboration with local partner Geutanyo Foundation, Save the Children Indonesia has been responding to this humanitarian crisis since November 2023 by providing aid in two camps in Aceh, reaching a total of 937 people, of whom 346 are children.

Save the Children has set up child-friendly spaces in Aceh where children can play, learn, and recover. To ensure their hygiene needs are met, we have also distributed about 400 hygiene kits to children and families in two camps. Working with local authorities and the Geutanyo Foundation, Save the Children has also conducted activities to help foster acceptance of Rohingya arrivals from the local community. 

ENDS

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

[1] UNHCR REGIONAL BUREAU FOR ASIA AND PACIFIC (RBAP)

ROHINGYA REFUGEES FLEEING OVER LAND AND SEA – QUARTERLY UPDATE

as of 31 December 2023

[2] https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/103909

[3] https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/myanmar#powerbi

[4] https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/tools-web-2017-0322.pdf/

[5] https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/bangladesh-rising-violence-insecurity-and-protection-concerns-coxs-bazar-refugee-camps.

[6] https://www.unhcr.org/id/en/54315-14-facts-on-rohingya-refugees.html

[7] Drone Emprit: https://pers.droneemprit.id/tren-dan-volume/

*Name changed to protect anonymity.

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