Category: Children and Wellbeing

Source: Save The Children

Source: Save The Children

Hakim*, a paramedic who received psychological first aid and safeguarding training from Save the Children [Save the Children]. More content here.

CAIRO, 19 September 2024 –  Thousands of Palestinians, including newborn babies, evacuated from Gaza to Egypt with urgent medical needs are receiving critical support from Save the Children as part of a Community Jameel-funded initiative to support pregnant mothers and children.

With Community Jameel’s support, Save the Children has procured 20 incubators and other medical supplies and installed these in Ministry of Health neonatal intensive care units in Egypt, where medics are delivering urgent obstetric and paediatric care to mothers and neonates, including preterm babies, who have been evacuated from Gaza.

Since October 2023, around 5,000 people have been evacuated for treatment outside Gaza, with over 80% receiving care in Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and a further 10,000 patients currently in need of medical evacuation for specialised care. This includes newborn babies requiring intensive care whose families are trying to evacuate them following the bombing of specialist maternity units across Gaza.

The number of evacuations has decreased drastically since the closure of border crossings, with around 2,150 patients unable to leave Gaza since May due to the closure of the Rafah crossing. The health system in Gaza has all but collapsed, with the World Health Organization (WHO) warning that, as the war continues to drive critical medical needs, the number of patients requiring medical evacuation is expected to increase. Relentless bombardment and the ongoing siege have dismantled the healthcare infrastructure, with 19 out of 36 hospitals out of service. 

The WHO also said that there are more than 500,000 women of reproductive age in Gaza who now lack access to essential services including antenatal and postnatal care. Maternity services are only provided at eight out of 17 partially functioning hospitals, and at four field hospitals.

Since last October, Gaza’s Ministry of Health has estimated that 20,000 babies have been born in the Gaza Strip. Research shows that about 15% of women giving birth are likely to experience complications in pregnancy.

Matteo Caprotti, Country Director at Save the Children Egypt, said:

“Repeated so-called “evacuation” orders, access restrictions on medical supplies and fuel and attacks on hospitals and medical points in Gaza are destroying children’s chances to get life-saving treatment. Those who managed to be evacuated to Egypt are suffering from injuries and are haunted by the horrors they have experienced. We’re proud to partner with Community Jameel to provide Palestinian children with the support they have a right to and so critically need.”

George Richards, Director of at Community Jameel, said:

“Palestinian mothers in Gaza are giving birth in traumatic, unhygienic and undignified conditions without access to basic care. Some women are self-inducing labour to avoid giving birth on the move, while others are scared to seek vital prenatal care because of fears of bombing, and some have died due to a lack of access to doctors. With Community Jameel’s support, Save the Children is providing lifesaving treatment to pregnant mothers and newborn babies in need of urgent care who are evacuated from Gaza through the Rafah crossing to Egypt.”

With Community Jameel’s support, Save the Children is also providing equipment and specialist training to Egyptian ambulance paramedics, who receive and transport medical evacuees from Gaza, including training on child safeguarding and psychological first aid and self-care. Faced with a humanitarian emergency where patients, including children, have suffered deprivation of basic necessities, trauma and catastrophic injuries, paramedics require specialist skills to manage their mental health and wellbeing.

Hakim*, a paramedic who received psychological first aid and safeguarding training from Save the Children as part of the initiative, said:

“I learned that we must build a secure bridge between us and the children to make them feel safe and help them calm down. You start to examine the child’s condition afterwards because first you must establish trust with the child and help them feel secure. For children who have been subjected to a psychological trauma such as the war in Gaza, treatment will vary based on their age. Children who are younger than three will require special treatment because they cannot fully verbally express themselves, they can only cry. This makes identifying what they need more challenging.”

Following initial training of about 90 paramedics, the Egyptian ambulance authority has now requested Save the Children to scale up training to its full staff of 16,000 paramedics as they rotate from across Egypt into the North Sinai governorate to support the Gaza crisis response.

Save the Children in Egypt has been supporting Palestinian children and families who have fled the war in Gaza into Egypt with urgent assistance and support, providing mental health and psychosocial (MHPSS) sessions to children and adults, health services and cash assistance to thousands of stranded Palestinians to support them to meet their basic needs. Since the beginning of the crisis and up until the closure of the Rafah crossing, Save the Children has procured and delivered emergency humanitarian assistance to Gaza through the crossing, including water, medicine, food parcels, shelter kits, baby and dignity kits.

About Community Jameel:

Community Jameel advances science and learning for communities to thrive. An independent, global organisation, Community Jameel was launched in 2003 to continue the tradition of philanthropy and community service established by the Jameel family of Saudi Arabia in 1945. CommunityJameel supports scientists, humanitarians, technologists and creatives to understand and address pressing human challenges in areas such as climate change, health and education. 

The work enabled and supported by Community Jameel has led to significant breakthroughs and achievements, including the MIT Jameel Clinic’s discovery of the new antibiotics halicin and abaucin, critical modelling of the spread of COVID-19 conducted by the Jameel Institute at Imperial College London, and a Nobel Prize-winning experimental approach to alleviating global poverty championed by the co-founders of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT.

Community Jameel is separate and distinct from Community Jameel Saudi, the civil society organisation registered with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in Saudi Arabia.

Multimedia content available here.

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 Vlogs. 

Source: Save The Children

• 15 aid organisations demand international pressure for an immediate ceasefire, arms embargo, and end to Israel’s systematic aid obstruction

RAMALLAH, 16 SEPTEMBER 2024 – New data has revealed the scale of aid obstruction, and the consequential drastic fall in aid entering Gaza. This is driving a humanitarian disaster, with the entire population of Gaza facing hunger and disease, and almost half a million at risk of starvation. 

While Israeli military attacks on Gaza intensify, lifesaving food, medicine, medical supplies, fuel, and tents have been systematically blocked from entering for almost a year. 

Data analysis by organisations working in Gaza has found that as a consequence of the Israeli government’s obstruction of aid: 

• 83% of required food aid does not make it into Gaza, up from 34% in 2023. This reduction means people in Gaza have gone from having an average of two meals a day to just one meal every other day. An estimated 50,000 children aged between 6-59 months urgently require treatment for malnutrition by the end of the year.
• 65% of the insulin required and half of the required blood supply are not available in Gaza. 
• Availability of hygiene items has dropped to 15% of the amount available in September 2023. One million women are now going without the hygiene supplies they need. 
• Only around 1,500 hospital beds in Gaza remain operational, compared to around 3,500 beds in 2023 which was already well below sufficient to meet the needs of a population of more than 2 million people. By comparison, cities of similar size, such as Chicago and Paris average 5 to 8 times more beds than in Gaza. 
• 1.87 million people are in need of shelter with at least 60% of homes destroyed or damaged (January 2024). Yet tents for around just 25,000 people have entered Gaza since May 2024.

A record low average of 69 aid trucks per day entered Gaza in August 2024, compared to 500 per working day last year; which was already not enough to meet people’s needs. In August more than 1 million people did not receive any food rations in southern and central Gaza. 

Now, only 17 out of 36 hospitals remain partially functional. Critical infrastructure such as water networks, sanitation facilities and bread mills have been razed to the ground. 

While humanitarian needs are ever increasing, agencies have detailed six main ways their life-saving aid is systematically obstructed on a daily basis.

These include the denial of safety, with more than 40,000 Palestinians and nearly 300 aid workers killed since last October; the sharp tightening of a 17-year blockade to a full siege, which prevents aid from entering Gaza; delays and denials which restrict the movement of aid around Gaza; tightly restrictive and unpredictable control of imports; the destruction of public infrastructure such as schools and hospitals; and the displacement of civilians and humanitarian workers (witnessed again in recent displacement orders from the so-called “humanitarian zone” in Deir el-Balah.)

Ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York this week, aid agencies are calling on governments to demand Israel end aid obstruction and to:

• Secure an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza. 
• Implement an arms embargo and end the export of weapons and military equipment that risk being used in violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. 
• Demand compliance with the International Court of Justice’s findings and recommendations, an end to the Israeli government’s siege of Gaza, and heed the call of the ICJ in its advisory opinion to end the occupation of Palestinian territory. 

Jolien Veldwijik, CARE Country Director in the West Bank and Gaza, said: 

“The situation was intolerable long before last October’s escalation and is beyond catastrophic now. Over 11 months, we have reached shocking levels of conflict, displacement, disease and hunger. Yet, aid is still not getting in, and humanitarian workers are risking their lives to do their jobs while attacks and violations of international law intensify. Aid, which is urgently required for 2.2 million people at risk of dying in the coming weeks and months, should never be politicised. We demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire, and the free flow of humanitarian aid into and throughout Gaza.” 

Amjad Al Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO), an umbrella organisation of 30 Palestinian NGOs and a partner of ActionAid, said:

“There is a shortage of all humanitarian items. We are overwhelmed with these needs and these urgent requirements.People are starving due to the shortage of aid. 100% of the population depend on humanitarian aid. It’s the worst situation that we witnessed during the Israel war in Gaza.”

Notes to editors

Signed on:

1. CARE International
2. Save the Children
3. ActionAid
4. Christian Aid
5. War Child
6. Islamic Relief
7. HelpAge International 
8. American Friends Service Committee
9. Oxfam
10. DanishChurchAid
11. Norwegian Church Aid
12. Mennonite Central Committee
13. Danish Refugee Council
14. Norwegian Refugee Council
15. KinderUSA

For further enquiries please contact: 

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

Source: Save The Children

• Public figures, including world-renowned actors Will Poulter, Forest Whitaker, and Gillian Anderson add their voices to open letter to world leaders
• One in two children globally – over 1bn minors – experience violence each year 
• Leading experts against child violence, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Denis Mukwege, stand alongside survivors in calling for urgent action, backed by the World Health Organisation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and UNICEF

London17 September 2024 – Survivors, experts and advocates from around the world are launching a global effort to tackle the shocking issue of violence against children. According to World Health Organization figures, one in two of all children globally – over 1 billion –  experience violence each year. ​​They have come together to launch an open letter calling for urgent government action ahead of the first-ever Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, taking place in Colombia this November.

Every year, one in two children across the globe are subjected to violence. From sexual abuse, to bullying, gang violence, child marriage, online harm, violent discipline, and child labour, acts of violence take many forms – all leaving scars that can last a lifetime. Violence against children erodes every investment made in their future, from education to physical and mental health, affecting societies on a global scale. This issue is cyclical, with each act of violence increasing vulnerability to further harm.

To put a human face to this devastating statistic, survivors of violence have come together with high-profile advocates and activists across the world, including artists, actors, creators and authors such as Calle & Poché, Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, Shudu Musida, Úrsula Corberó, and Will Poulter. They have also been joined by leading experts like trauma specialist Bessel van der Kolk; child rights activists Hina Jilani and Princess Mabel van Oranje; Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Dr Denis Mukwege and Kailash Satyarthi; and NGO leaders such as the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the Secretary General of World Organization of the Scout Movement.

By raising awareness and mobilising governments, the group seeks to inspire urgent action and drive change at both local and global levels. They are calling on world leaders to use the upcoming Ministerial Conference to focus on critical strategies: ensuring that parents and caregivers receive essential support, creating safe and empowering school environments, and making response and support services universally accessible to every child in need. This conference is a vital opportunity to address both the immediate needs and systemic changes required to protect current and future generations of children.

To amplify the urgency, the group has released a powerful open letter, released today, calling on world leaders to attend the Colombia conference and commit concrete, innovative pledges that match the scale of the challenge and the severity of the crisis:

“Our hands can shape the very fabric of a child’s life. They hold an extraordinary power to comfort, cradle and protect. To offer the most heartwarming hugs. And to show those little signs of support – a loving wave, a reassuring thumbs up or an embarrassingly loud round of applause.

They can also hold a sinister power. One where they abuse. They attack. And they incite fear. These hands type hateful messages online. They bruise fragile bodies. They invade the most intimate places. And withhold the love and care that every child needs […]

Childhood is in our hands. 

The power to act is now in yours.”

It calls on world leaders to “change the course of a billion childhoods and secure a safer, more just world for generations to come.” Supported by a worldwide social media campaign, this message will reach millions across the globe to galvanise public and political will to end violence against children. View the full letter HERE from 17th September. 

Evidence shows that with the right approaches, violence against children can be significantly reduced. Countries implementing evidence-based strategies can see reductions in violence by up to 50% in the short and medium term. 

World leaders have already committed to end violence against children in all its forms under the Sustainable Development Goals – a collection of 17 interlinked goals set by the United Nations in 2015, which aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all by 2030 – but progress has stalled. The Champions for Childhood coalition urges these leaders to attend the Colombia conference with bold, transformative commitments. The future of a billion children—and the future stability and prosperity of societies—depends on it.

Dr. Etienne Krug, Director of the Department of Social Determinants of Health at the World Health Organization, said: 

“Half of all children are subject to cruel acts of violence every year, yet the issue does not receive the attention, funding, or political prioritisation it deserves and so desperately needs. Evidence from around the world demonstrates that violence against children can be prevented – and the health sector has an important role to play in that. Governments worldwide must now seize this crucial opportunity to make that change a reality for the 1 billion children on this planet who experience harm every year.”  

As a survivor of child violence, Dr Daniela Ligiero, member of the Global Survivor Council, shared their personal experience:

“I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I decided to go public with my story about 13 years ago when I was working at the US Department of State on issues of gender-based violence for foreign assistance. I came forward because I felt like the silence around the issue of sexual violence was deafening and there were no survivors at the table–at least not that were survivors who were public about it.

If we work together, centering survivor voices, we can tell a powerful story that can help create real change.”

-ENDS-

For further information please contact Chris Bull at Goodness PR on cbull@goodnesspr.co.uk / 07760 273 160   

Notes to editors 

Letter Signatories

Survivors of child violence and abuse, high profile advocates, and leading experts have come together as signatories of an open letter to call on world leaders to step up their commitments to children. The full list of signatories is as follows:

Survivors

The following individuals are part of the Global Survivor Council, which brings together people from survivor-led networks across the globe who can speak to all forms of violence against children.

• Benjamin Holman, USA
• Dr Bukola Ogunkua, Nigeria-USA
• Dr. Daniela Ligiero, Brazil-USA 
• Dr. Denise Buchanan, Jamaica-USA
• Loveness Mudzuru, Zimbabwe 
• Lydia Matioli, Kenya
• Michelle Duffy, UK
• Mié Kohiyama, France 
• Professor S. Caroline Taylor,  Australia 
• Sebastián Cuattromo, Argentina
• Sophia Luu, UK 
• Dr. Stellah Bosire, Uganda 

Advocates and Allies

• Ahmad Alhendawi, Jordan, is the Secretary General of World Organization of the Scout Movement. Prior to leading the World Scout Bureau, he was the first-ever United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth.
• Andrew Morley, UK, is the President of World Vision International, leading the organisation’s work across 100 countries. 

• Angela Rosales, Colombia, is the acting CEO of SOS Children’s Villages International. She led SOS Children’s Villages in Colombia for more than 12 years.

• Bessel van der Kolk MD, Netherlands, is a psychiatrist and best-selling trauma research author. Much of his research has focused on the impact of trauma at different stages of development.
• Calle & Poché, Colombia, are award-winning creators and authors who share content with a community of over 7 million followers. 

• Debbie Simpson, USA, is the interim Chief Executive Officer at Plan International

• Dr Denis Mukwege, DRC, is a world-renowned gynaecologist, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate from east Congo. He has become the world’s leading specialist in the treatment of wartime sexual violence and a global campaigner against the use of rape as a weapon of war.
• Forest Whitaker, USA, is an artist, social activist and CEO/Founder of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative. He is also a UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation and a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocacy Group.
• Gillian Anderson, USA, is an award-winning actor, writer and activist. She is an Ambassador for War Child.
• Hina Jilani, Pakistan, is a pioneering lawyer and pro-democracy campaigner; a leading activist in Pakistan’s women’s movement and international champion of human rights. She is a member of The Elders.

• Inger Ashing, Sweden, is the Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children International. A respected child rights activist, she set up her own youth organisation at the age of 12, working against racism and violence at county level. 

• Kailash Satyarthi, India, is a leading children’s rights activist. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “focusing attention on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain”. 

• Kate Forbes, USA, is the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). She is a humanitarian leader with more than 40 years of experience with the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

• Meg Gardiner, USA, is the Secretary General of ChildFund Alliance. As an international, not-for-profit advocate, Meg has specialised in issues affecting women and children.

• Princess Mabel van Oranje, Netherlands, is a serial entrepreneur for social change working globally to advance equality, freedom and justice. During the last decade, she played a catalytic role in the global movement to end child marriage.
• Shudu Musida, South Africa, is an author, philanthropist and Miss South Africa 2020. As a UNFPA Regional Champion, she promotes the rights of women, girls and youth, and contributes to Africa’s Agenda 2063.
• Úrsula Corberó, Actress and Save the Children Ambassador.

• Valérie Ceccherini, is the Secretary General of Terre des Hommes International Federation. She has extensive experience in international children’s rights and humanitarian organisations.

• Will Poulter, UK, is a critically-acclaimed actor. He has used his platform to advocate for children’s rights, including raising awareness of bullying and mental health. 

Youth Mobilisers

The following individuals are young leaders collaborating with the NGO Restless Development to take action on ending violence against children.

• Bryanna Mariñas, Philippines
• Nikole Vizcarra, Peru
• Nobukhosi Phiri, Zimbabwe
• Isabelle Santos, Brazil
• Johnkeen Ochieng, Kenya
• Kisha German, Malawi
• Aminata Savane, Côte d’Ivoire
• Marie Mokuba, DRC -USA

About Project Everyone

The Champions for Childhood coalition has been convened by Project Everyone, a United Nations Global Partner for SDG Advocacy. 

As a not-for-profit communications agency, Project Everyone seeks to put the power of communications behind the Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals – 17 interconnected goals that aim to create a better world for people and planet by 2030. The team of  campaigners and communicators make campaign materials, unique installations, ground-breaking documentaries, one of a kind events and as much impact as possible – in order to create a world where extreme poverty is eradicated, climate change is properly addressed, and injustice and inequality are unacceptable. 

About the Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children

The Governments of Colombia and Sweden, in partnership with WHO, UNICEF and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on ending violence against children, will host the first-ever Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, in Bogota, Colombia, from 7 to 8 November 2024. 

The conference should help secure a step-change in support for proven prevention solutions and reset collective ambitions to realise the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development target for every child to live free from violence. 

Possible outcomes will include:

• Revitalising country commitments for ending violence against children (building on the existing efforts through INSPIRE and ‘Pathfinding’)
• Announcing a new/renewed collective country-led initiative to end violence against children
• Launching a first-ever child/youth-led, movement dedicated to preventing child violence 
• Adopting an inter-governmentally negotiated Political Declaration
• Hosting additional inclusive convenings on pressing issues relating to ending violence against children

About the Global Survivor Council

Ahead of the Global Ministerial Conference, individuals from survivor-led networks across the globe who can speak to all forms of violence against children, have come together to form a brand new Global Survivor Council (GSC).

The GSC will play a crucial role in ensuring continuous survivor engagement in the design and delivery of the conference and the final political declaration. 

Source: Save The Children

Destruction following a raid by Israeli forces in Tulkarem Camp, occupied West Bank, oPT. [East Jerusalem YMCA/ Save the Children]

 RAMALLAH, 17 September 2024 – The number of children killed or injured by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank has more than doubled since last October, with 158 killed, at least 1 ,400 injured, and concerns of further casualties with a significant escalation of violence in the past six weeks, Save the Children said.  

The latest data showed that 115 children were fatally shot between 7 October and 14 August – treble the amount from the preceding 10 months. Others have been killed in airstrikes and drone attacks.

With total child casualties of 1,558, this means on average five children have been killed or injured per day since October. Save the Children is calling on the international community to take decisive actions to ensure accountability for violations against children and demanding an immediate end to excessive force against civilians—especially children—in the West Bank. 

The latest call for action comes after a surge in violence in the West Bank since October 2023 further escalated in August with the increased use of airstrikes, and the launch of “Operation Summer Camps” across towns and cities which the Israeli military said aimed to dismantle Palestinian resistance groups. 

An estimated 70 people, including 10 children, have been killed since the start of August, according to the Ministry of Health, with more than half of those killed since the start of the military operation on 28 August. 

Child deaths in September according to the UN have included a widely reported incident on 5 September when Israeli forces shot and injured a 16-year-old boy in Tubas in the northern West Bank who was then refused medical treatment and shot again fatally before his body was dragged away by a bulldozer. 

Save the Children said the increase in violence was obstructing aid delivery, by hindering movement of humanitarian staff, cutting communication channels and electricity supplies, and blocking access to families in areas under attack. This included Tulkarem refugee camp with Save the Children forced to cancel planned operations on 11 September due to a second Israeli military incursion. 

This escalation, condemned by The UN Human Rights Office, highlights a sustained and alarming level of force and war-like tactics in an area which, under international humanitarian law, is not an armed conflict. Permissible use of force is severely restricted in non-conflict settings.   

Dalia*, 12, from Tulkarem refugee camp, described the impact of the raids:  

“On the second day of the raid, I felt a lot of fear because of the airstrikes and shootings. By the third day, I was even more scared because the Israeli forces raided our home. They barged in, screaming, and my mum tried to speak to them, but they swarmed the house and searched every room. We were so afraid of them. 

 “There is no safety for us. At any moment they might come back and at any moment they go – we don’t know.” 

Tulkarem refugee camp was raided a second time the day after Dalia* was interviewed. 

Dalia’s mother Hind* added that during the raid, the family were cut off from all food supplies, water, bread, and electricity. She said: 

“They [Israeli forces] gathered at night, began the raid, and stayed a long time here and raided our home, terrorising the kids, separating them, frightening them.   

“They blew up the door. My little girl couldn’t control herself and wet herself. Dalia* was standing, shaking in the corner. They pointed their guns at me and instructed me to go downstairs without taking anything. 

“The children are constantly afraid, deprived of the simplest things. Their mental health is deteriorating. These children deserve better. They deserve to be children, not to live in constant fear of raids and shootings.” 

As well as the escalation in violence in the West Bank, since last October there has been an increase in the arbitrary arrest, detention and abuse of children in the Israeli military detention system, more forced displacement of families, demolition of homes, and a sharp rise in violent attacks by Israeli settlers.   

Jeremy Stoner, Save the Children’s Middle East Regional Director, said: 

“These actions are not isolated incidents; they are part of a trend of increasing Israeli military operations and use of force that are systematically eroding the safety, security, and fundamental rights of Palestinian children, who are paying the highest price in this escalating violence. Every day, children are killed, injured, or left severely distressed, and their families are left grieving unimaginable losses. This environment deprives children of essential services and even the basic security of their homes, ripping away their sense of safety when they need it most. 

We must not allow violence against children to become normalized or accepted as inevitable. We need urgent and decisive action to protect children across the West Bank and to stop this becoming their increasing reality.” 

The Israeli military operation came six weeks after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the UN’s highest court – declared that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful.   

Save the Children has been providing essential services and support to Palestinian children across the occupied Palestinian territory since 1953. In the areas in the north of the West Bank affected by the latest escalation in violence, we provide cash assistance for families, education support to children, teachers and caregivers, and work with partners, including the YMCA, to provide mental health and psychosocial support to children and caregivers. We are continuously monitoring the situation and remain ready to provide immediate humanitarian assistance. 

Notes to Editor: 

• According to OCHA, between October 7^th and August 14^th, the number of Palestinian children killed by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces has nearly tripled compared with the preceding 10 months, rising to 115 from 39.⁴⁵ The number of children injured by Israeli live ammunition has more than doubled, with 1,411 injured compared to 615 in the preceding 10 months.⁴⁶ The total of child casualties to Israeli live ammunition is 1,526 within a ten months period, averaging at 5.08 casualty a day. 
• Between 7 October 2023 and 2 September 2024, the UN recorded about 1,300 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. In the same period, Israeli authorities destroyed, demolished, confiscated, or forced the demolition of 1,478 Palestinian structures across the West Bank, displacing more than 3,477 Palestinians, including about 1,485 children. This is more than double the displacement recorded during the equivalent period before 7 October.
• Since October 2023, Israeli airstrikes killed 136 Palestinians and left 41 injured. By comparison, between 2020 and October 2023, only six Palestinians were killed in airstrikes, all in 2023.

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

DARFUR, 13 SEPTEMBER 2024 – Dr. Bashir Kamal Eldin Hamid, Save the Children’s Health and Nutrition Director, said:

“Heavy downpours and widespread flooding in Sudan is compounding the suffering for families and children especially those displaced by more than 16 months of fighting, with contamination of water and decimation of health facilities causing a major outbreak of cholera.

“Five days ago, raging floodwaters destroyed the only bridge connecting Central and West Darfur states, creating a bottleneck on the West Darfur side of the river, with critical humanitarian aid unable to reach over 880,000 internally displaced people sheltering in Central Darfur.

“Unless a new route is found or we are able to airlift humanitarian aid, we are concerned that children are likely to go for days or even weeks without food and medicine, putting them at increased risk of malnutrition and other diseases.

“As the floodwaters swept part of the bridge, Save the Children teams saw people take very dangerous and desperate moves by attempting to cross from one side of the river to the other using a wooden raft, putting their lives at risk. A video clip seen by Save the Children shows a raft made of wood and metallic barrels capsize throwing people into the river. Young men can also be seen diving into the river to save people from being swept away.

“Since the start of the rains in June, flooding has added another layer of difficulty to delivering humanitarian aid to people in dire need. Save the Children is calling for the international community to step up and release the necessary funding and resources to rebuild the bridge and restore this vital connection between the two states so as to ensure displaced families and children in Central Darfur have unhindered access to food, medicine and other humanitarian services.”

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Delfhin Mugo, Regional Media Manager for East and Southern Africa: Delfhin.Mugo@savethechildren.org;
Emily Wight, Global Media Manager: Emily.Wight@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

MAIDUGURI, 13 SEPTEMBER 2024 – Heavy rains in Borno state, Northeast Nigeria have led to the worst flooding in 30 years, affecting at least 239,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands of children without shelter, clean water, food, healthcare and education, at heightened risk of water-and vector-borne diseases.

Chachu Tadicha, Deputy Director, Programme Operations/Humanitarian at Save the Children in Nigeria, is currently in flood-affected areas in Maiduguri.

He said: “The situation here is terrible. Children and families are still trapped in their houses and efforts are being made to rescue them. Half of the town has been submerged and the roads are not passable.

“Two main hospitals are flooded and stabilisation centres have been forced to suspend operations, just as the immense damage to water and sanitation services is driving up the risk of cholera and other water- and vector-borne diseases. Schools have been suspended for two weeks – just as children were going back into learning after the holiday.

“We are working hard to deliver food assistance and other critical supplies to camps where people are sheltering but the needs here are absolutely huge and children and families here desperately need donors and the government to urgently ramp up support so that we can co-ordinate a proper response that meets the needs of children and families who have lost everything.”

ENDS

Save the Children is currently conducting a needs assessment in the flood-affected area and plans to respond with cash assistance, health and nutrition outreach services, rehabilitation of sanitation facilities, and conduct hygiene promotion and community awareness raising, as well as child protection and mental health support to children and caregivers.

Chachu Tadicha is available for interviews. For more information or to arrange interviews please contact:

Emily Wight, Global Media Manager: Emily.Wight@savethechildren.org;

Kunle Olawoyin, Regional Media Manager for West and Central Africa: Kunle.Olawoyin@savethechildren.org

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

A flooded classroom of a school supported by Save the Children. Photo by Bureau of Education and Training, Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province

HANOI, 12 September 2024: At least 27 children from one village in Vietnam have lost their lives in a flash flood triggered by a massive storm that killed nearly 200 people and damaged or destroyed more than 188,000 homes, said Save the Children.

In Northern Vietnam, Lang Nu village – home to 158 people – was swept away by a devastating torrent of water and mud that surged down from nearby hills. The district authorities said 41 people were killed, including at least 27 children, with 54 still missing in the mud and debris.

Survivors described how the flash flood came at 5 am on 10 September when most people were asleep and ‘flattened’ the entire village. Save the Children has been working in partnership with authorities in the district since 2021, providing education and childhood development programmes.

More than 560 schools and 188,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged in Vietnam by Typhoon Yagi [1]. About 239,000 children have seen their homes damaged or flooded, with many now staying with relatives or in government shelters. Water levels have risen in rivers, leading to more people moving to safer areas and adding to the over 52,000 who have already been evacuated [2].

Nearly 200 people have been killed, and at least 800 injured according to the government, after torrential rain wiped out farmland and cut power lines and roads during the worst storm in decades.

Le Thi Thanh Huong, Country Director, Save the Children in Vietnam said:

“Children have lost homes, schools and everything that is familiar. Many will also have lost loved ones. Typhoon Yagi swept through villages and washed away crops and livelihoods. Places where children lived, learned and played are now covered in mud and debris.

With some parts of Northern Vietnam still cut off by landslides and floods – and people still missing – the true numbers of people affected by this massive storm are likely to be even higher. Families in some of the most remote areas of Vietnam need urgent help and long term support – we must ensure that children are safe, protected and able to get back to school as soon as possible.”

Save the Children started working in Vietnam in 1990 and now operates in 22 provinces in partnership with government agencies, civil society organisations, the private sector and academic institutions to deliver programmes in the areas of education, health and nutrition, child protection, child rights governance, child poverty, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

Notes to editors:
[1] National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control https://phongchongthientai.mard.gov.vn/Pages/bao-cao-nhanh-cong-tac-truc-ban-pctt-ngay-119-2024.aspx

[2] https://reliefweb.int/report/viet-nam/vietnam-china-philippines-tropical-cyclone-yagi-update-gdacs-un-ocha-aha-centre-ndrrmc-noaa-east-asia-echo-daily-flash-11-september-2024

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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

Source: Save The Children