Category: New Zealand NGOs

Source: Save The Children

RAMALLAH, 30 November 2023 – An eight-year-old boy shot dead in the street is one of the most recent casualties of violence in the occupied West Bank, with at least 101 Palestinian children reported killed in the West Bank this year, said Save the Children.

Since the attacks in Israel on 7 October, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 63 children in the West Bank, according to the UN, averaging more than one child a day—significantly more fatalities than in the first nine months of the already deadliest year. During this same period, the UN has reported that some 143 families, including 388 children, have been displaced from their homes in the West Bank due to settler violence and access restrictions.

The number of Palestinian children killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers this year is now three times the number killed in 2022 – itself previously the deadliest year on record since 2005 – when 36 children were killed. At least 39 Israeli children have been reportedly killed this year. 

Without a permanent end to the violence, Save the Children is gravely concerned that child and wider civilian casualties will continue to rise across the occupied Palestinian territory. The escalation of violence in Gaza has been mirrored by increased control measures and violence in the West Bank including East Jerusalem, with ongoing unrest keeping children out of school, and restricting their access to vital services, including healthcare.

Children trying to cross checkpoints across the West Bank have also reported having their phones seized and being detained in the military detention system based on their social-media activity, raising serious human rights concerns including around freedom of expression, privacy, and deprivation of liberty.

Jason Lee, oPt Country Director for Save the Children, said: 

“While all eyes have been on the conflict in Gaza, there has been no pause in the killing of children in the West Bank, where the situation continues to deteriorate.

The longer the killing of civilians in Gaza continues, the higher the likelihood that this will continue to spread into the West Bank where children are already seeing their rights eviscerated.

“Children must always be protected. Save the Children is calling for an immediate end to the excessive use of force against children by Israeli forces. At the same time, we are calling for an immediate, independent investigation into – and accountability for – the killing of all children. As long as a culture of impunity persists, cycles of violence are likely to continue.

“It is long past time to stop violations against children’s rights, and to provide long-lasting safety to children in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel. Anything else will fail to provide them with the future they deserve.”

Save the Children has been working with Palestinian children since the 1950s, with a permanent presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) since 1973. Our team works across the oPt, with over 30 partners, to ensure children survive, have a chance to learn, are protected from all types of abuse, and that all actors remain committed to fulfilling the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

ENDS

Notes to editors

[1] According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 36 Palestinian children were killed in the West Bank in 2022.  As of 29 November, OCHA’s public oPt casualties database reports 101 children killed in the West Bank in 2023, including 63 killed between 7 October and 29 November.

[2] Since 7 October, at least 143 Palestinian households comprising 1,014 people, including 388 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions.

[3] In the first nine months of 2023, the UN reported 6 Israeli children killed. Since 7 October, 33 Israeli children have been killed according to Israeli media.

For further enquiries please contact:

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

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Source: Save The Children

Isla Fisher speaks to Mary (mum) and meets children Roma and Dina at Home-Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire. Credit Anna Gordon/Save the Children

GLASGOW, 30^th November – Hollywood actor, children’s author and proud Save the Children ambassador Isla Fisher has returned to Scotland – just a few miles from where she grew up – to learn more about how the charity is supporting families across the country amid the cost-of-living crisis and helping children get the bright future they deserve.

Born to Scottish parents, Isla spent much of her childhood in Bathgate (west Lothian) until she was six before moving to Australia where her late father worked as a Save the Children executive. Returning to her childhood home as a mother of three, Isla witnessed first-hand how the charity works with local partners to provide an array of emotional and practical support for families facing hardship.

She said: “This visit is highly personal for me as Scotland is the home of my ancestral roots. I still have relatives dotted around the area and many fond memories of growing up here. It’s also the first time I’ve returned to Scotland since my father passed away. I know he’d be incredibly proud of my being here to support Save the Children’s vital work helping disadvantaged children and families who live so close to where he grew up.”

During the visit, Isla attended a mother and toddler group run by Home-Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire, a community organisation that helps young families to grow in confidence and resilience, building stronger relationships within themselves and the wider community.

Through Home-Start, Save the Children delivers immediate cash grants to families with young children who are facing financial difficulties, so that they can get food on the table, buy warm clothes and afford the essentials they need to survive.

Reflecting on her visit, Isla said: “Many here are living at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis. I heard of parents earning double incomes and still struggling to cover the basics, mothers skipping meals so that their children could eat.

“I feel incredibly touched that the women here chose to share their stories with me. Motherhood can be isolating at best. Throw in financial difficulties, soaring food prices, mental health struggles, and I know I’m talking to some real fighters.”

In Scotland today, more than one million people live under the poverty line. What’s more, research from Save the Children shows that more than one in three families with a baby under one are now living in poverty – that’s much higher than the national average. These financial pressures have pushed many families into food poverty, meaning they struggle to consistently afford healthy, balanced meals.

Director of UK Poverty at Save the Children, Dan Paskins, said:

“We know that nutritious food fuels play, boosts education and enables children to have the healthy, happy future they deserve. Yet currently, nearly 4 million children live in households that are food insecure in the UK. This is not good enough. No child in the UK should be going hungry. 

Winter is set to be an extremely difficult period for families as cost-of-living pressures continue to bite. That’s why Save the Children is urging the British public to come together and support children who are experiencing food poverty both here in the UK and around the world, by donating to the Feed Children’s Futures campaign.”

Isla has been an ambassador for Save the Children since 2012. The actress initially fronted the charity’s breastfeeding campaign, for which she visited the slums of Sao Paulo and met mothers who pumped their breastmilk so it could be donated to neonatal wards, giving babies who were suffering illness or born too early the best start in life.

Save the Children works with children, families and partners across Scotland to challenge poverty and lessen its impact on children and families. The organisation also works closely with schools and organisations to improve children’s learning and development in the early years.

To find out more about the Feed Children’s Futures campaign, please visit:

Global Food Crisis | End World Hunger | Save the Children UK

Notes to Editors 

About Save the Children: 

Save the Children exists to help every child reach their full potential. In more than 100 countries including the UK, we make sure children stay safe, healthy and learning, and change the future for good.  

We find new ways to reach children, no matter where they’re growing up. For a century, we’ve stood up for children’s rights and made sure their voices are heard. 

For more information visit www.savethechildren.org.uk  

About Home-Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire:

Home-Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire have long-term experience in family support and are established as one of the leading charities working in this field in the community. Our impact within the local communities we serve is far reaching, aiding reduction in isolation and loneliness, improving mental health of adults and children, improving educational attainment, building healthy relationships, supporting more nurturing environments and improving the wellbeing of parents with, or at risk of, mental ill health during the perinatal period (during pregnancy and until infant reaches three-year-old). With our focus on empowerment and resilience, we assist families to become self-reliant, confident, and connected.

Images and video available to download here: https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Share/4740h6cy62h53s477bc36vnk2624k374

For press enquiries please contact: 

Ruby Wright l Global Media Manager: Technology, Innovation & Partnerships

Email: ruby.wright@savethechildren.org

Phone/Whatsapp: (44) 7969983222

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

Source: Save The Children

ADDIS ABABA, 30 November 2023 – A new cholera outbreak in Ethiopia’s Somali region is exacerbating suffering for thousands of children and families recently displaced by floods, with 772[1] confirmed cases and 23 deaths from the deadly disease recorded in just two weeks, Save the Children said.

In the worst hit district of Kelafo in the Somali region, Save the Children teams are reporting a huge spike in cholera cases among children under five, who account for nearly 80% of the confirmed cases.

For the better part of this year, when the impacted region was engulfed by drought, cases of the waterborne disease were on the decline, with the Somali region reporting zero cases of cholera for 11 straight weeks until mid-September, when the rains started.  Now, a deadly combination of flooded water systems, a lack of basic sanitation services and damaged water treatment plants has driven the spike in the deadly illness.

At least 91 districts across Ethiopia are reporting cases of cholera, with the situation expected to worsen as rains continue to fall in the Gambella, Afar and Somali regions. Heavy downpours since October have led to flooding, landslides and massive displacement across the country, killing at least 43 people including at least eight children and displacing nearly 400,000 people from their homes[2].

Save the Children is warning the cholera outbreak in Ethiopia and across the Horn of Africa could spiral out of control if swift action isn’t taken by government and donors to provide clean drinking water and sanitation facilities for communities forced out of their homes by floodwaters.

Save the Children’s Country Director for Ethiopia, Xavier Joubert, said:

“Devastating floods have left sanitation and hygiene conditions in shambles, with toilets and latrines destroyed, forcing communities, especially recently displaced families, into open defecation. The cholera outbreak is alarming, compounded by the use of unsafe floodwaters contaminated by waste from ruined latrines.

“Just months ago, drought and lack of water claimed lives; now, flood waters are doing the same. This stresses the urgent need for climate change adaptation and resilience investments in Ethiopia. We urgently appeal for government and donor support to provide clean water and sanitation facilities, averting a potential cholera crisis in the Somali region, and Ethiopia at large.”

Save the Children is utilizing prepositioned items and humanitarian relief materials in Ethiopia and is providing cash assistance and distributing household items to displaced people including medical supplies, drugs and cholera kits. We are also working with the government, local partners, and communities, to implement pilot anticipatory and early action activities to reduce the negative impacts of flooding in the Shaballe zone of the Somali region. For hard-to-reach communities, our teams, with support from local communities, are using innovative ways including locally assembled floatation devices and boats to deliver nutrition commodities to flood affected areas.

Save the Children has been operating in Ethiopia for over 60 years and organisation’s work is heavily anchored on health and nutrition as well as life-saving water and sanitation assistance, protection services, education support, and cash and in-kind distributions to the most vulnerable children and their families. 

In 2022, Save the Children reached 7,574,882 people including 5,140,968 children through lifesaving food, water distribution, treatment for malnutrition among other services.

– ENDS –

[1] According to Somali Regional State Health Bureau – Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) Directorate – 27^th November 2023

[2] According to data from regional governments in Gambella, Afar and Somali regions

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Source: Save The Children

DUBAI, 29 November – Children across the world are demanding better access to climate education, more funding for climate-resilient infrastructure and a seat at the table with their voices heard as their governments head to COP28 this week, Save the Children said. 

The requests were voiced during national ‘COP simulations’ organised by Save the Children and partners. Young people from 14 countries, including Rwanda, Guatemala, Nigeria and Madagascar, shared their views with key decision-makers ahead of the annual climate conference that is taking place this year in Dubai, UAE, from 30 November until 12 December. 

The world’s 2.4 billion children are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis – an emergency that is taking lives, eroding children’s rights and threatening their future.  

ACCESS TO EDUCATION  

In Rwanda, children said floods and mudslides had destroyed buildings and roads, preventing them from going to school or accessing health facilities.

“When there is heavy rain, children don’t manage to go to school…it causes mudslides. Then our parents start struggling to get school fees and this results in school dropouts,” they said. 

In Zambia, extreme weather events like drought, had also impacted their access to education. 

“When there is a drought, we children don’t go to school because we must search for water,” their joint letter read. 

Every year, extreme weather events interrupt learning for about 40 million children, a figure likely to rise as the intensity and frequency increase due to climate change [1]. 

CLIMATE FINANCE INVESTMENT  

Across the simulations, many children asked their governments to include climate education on national curriculum, so they are equipped with knowledge about climate change, its effects and how to address it. Many also requested better infrastructure to make school buildings and communities safer.  

Zambian children asked their delegation to protect their access to water services, by investing in practical solutions, like drilling boreholes and water harvesting. 

“We also want to see sustainable infrastructure that can survive floods and droughts,” they said. 

A group in Madagascar said: “Because of the cyclones, the water level is rising so we can’t go to school. We’re asking for a bridge so that we can cross over and get to school.”  

In Nigeria, children said money should go towards new facilities that have “flood-resistant materials, adequate drainage systems, and alternative energy sources”. 

Investment in infrastructure tailored to children’s needs is vital to help communities adapt to the climate crisis. But children’s rights are often overlooked when it comes to climate finance. A recent report by Save the Children and partners, found that just 2.4% of climate finance from four key global climate funds can be classified as sufficiently considering children, although some funders – like the Green Climate Fund – are actively working to bridge these gaps. [2] 

IMPACTS OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS ON HUNGER & HEALTH 

Many children highlighted the knock-on effects of climate change, explaining how it impacted their families’ crops, sources of income, food security and overall health. 

In Madagascar children said: “Our parents have difficulty finding enough to feed us. Not only are the crops destroyed, but we also don’t have enough money to keep going to school or to be treated when we fall ill.” 

Zambian children said this often-impacted adults’ mental health, adding: “Too many people are stressed when it doesn’t rain, or it rains too much because their crops and things get destroyed.” 

In Guatemala children asked authorities “to support the implementation of projects that generate agricultural production, as this helps to combat hunger and malnutrition, in addition to increasing food security”. 

Last year, Save the Children found that 83% of children in 15 countries reported witnessing climate change or inequality, or both, affecting the world around them. The report found 73% of children believe adults should be doing more to address these issues [3]. 

CHILD PARTICIPATION  

Across the board, children, ultimately, wanted their voices to be heard. Children’s calls for action pushed the climate emergency up the political agenda, but they said they were woefully neglected in climate discussions. 

“Our voice is important, listen to us. We want to ask the authorities to seriously think about the value we have as children, and the future we deserve,” the group in Guatemala said.  

Save the Children CEO Inger Ashing said:  

“The climate crisis is at its heart a child rights crisis. It’s taking lives, eroding children’s rights and threatening their future. Children’s calls for action pushed the climate emergency up the political agenda. Now, adults must step-up and support children to implement their ideas for a better future. Children want to be heard. We need to ensure a focus on children’s rights, based on children’s own views and recommendations, in climate negotiations, policies and financing at all levels.” 

Save the Children is urging world leaders at COP28, particularly those from high-income countries and historical emitters, to increase climate finance, directing support to children and families for adaptation to the climate crisis and addressing losses and damages. Governments must recognise children as key agents of change and work urgently to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. 

FOOTNOTES: 

[1] https://s3.amazonaws.com/theirworld-site-resources/Reports/Theirworld-Report-Safe-Schools-December-2018.pdf 

[2] https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/falling-short-addressing-the-climate-finance-gap-for-children/?_ga=2.65571566.1345478294.1701191423-630413054.1694098843&_gl=1*b2pnrd*_ga*NjMwNDEzMDU0LjE2OTQwOTg4NDM.*_ga_646SWQJ0VB*MTcwMTE5MTQyMy45Ny4wLjE3MDExOTE0MjMuNjAuMC4w*_ga_GRKVSTV36C*MTcwMTE5MTQyMy45My4wLjE3MDExOTE0MjMuNjAuMC4w 

[3] https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/generation-hope-2-4-billion-reasons-to-end-the-global-climate-and-inequality-crisis/ 

CONTENT AVAILABLE: www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2S3PH5V1 

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For further enquiries please contact:

–                      Soraya Ali at COP28 in Dubai – soraya.ali@savethechildren.org

We have spokespeople, including child spokespeople, available to speak to media at COP28.

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

Fardowsa, 12, smiles outside her family’s home in the Somali Region. Save the Children

In December 2023, leaders from across the globe will gather for the 2nd Global Refugee Forum, it is a landmark opportunity to deliver decisive action for refugee children. Earlier this year, Save the Children published a new report – The Price of Hope – detailing the progress made on refugee education since 2019. This blog series is counting down to the start of the GRF with a deeper dive into some of the top refugee hosting countries, this week we are taking a closer look at Ethiopia.

“My favourite thing to do in my free time is studying, I am interested to go abroad so I enjoy learning English.” – Fardowsa*, 12-years-old, in seventh grade at a primary school which is supported by Save the Children. Since 2019, there have been five failed rainy seasons across the Horn of Africa leaving up to 20 million people in Ethiopia experiencing food insecurity. Girls are often bearing the brunt of the consequences of this hardship, facing increased rates of gender-based violence and being forced to drop out of school or into child marriage.

WHAT IS THE SITUATION IN ETHIOPIA?

Ethiopia is the third largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, home to 867,799 refugees, of this 432,316 are school-age refugee children – most of whom live in 24 refugee camps and primarily come from Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, and Somalia. Ethiopia maintains an ‘open door’ policy to refugees and asylum-seekers. The conflict in Sudan that erupted in April 2023 forced over 1 million people to seek safety elsewhere, this year 17,801 refugee families arrived from Sudan to Ethiopia because of the conflict. Ethiopia has had a long-standing history welcoming refugees from Somalia and the recent conflict in Somalia’s Sool region has produced close to 100,000 refugees hoping to escape violence.

The dawn of conflict in Northern Ethiopia in November 2020 resulted in the relocation of thousands of Eritrean refugees to Addis Ababa, growing urban refugee numbers to over 71,000 in April 2022, and forced some 34,000 refugees to abandon Berhale camp in Afar. Long-term challenges continue to have worsening effects across the country, but especially on the refugee population, the latest statistical abstract indicates that refugee access to education has been negatively impacted by both the Covid pandemic and the conflict in Tigray.,

BARRIERS TO EDUCATION FOR REFUGEE CHILDREN

In principle refugees are included in the national education system, as demonstrated by the current Education Sector Development Programme, which builds on Ethiopia’s commitment as a signatory of the Djibouti Declaration on Refugee Education to include refugees in the national education system.

Despite Ethiopia’s admirable efforts, several barriers to refugees’ inclusion in the national system persist. Enrolment rates are significantly below the national average of 95%, with rates as low as 24% for refugee girls in middle school. The main challenge is the lack of safe and inclusive learning environments. At early childhood currently most provision is actually by national and international NGOs, with little state provision. From primary onwards where schools do exist they are usually inaccessible to those with disabilities, and may lack basic facilities.

Refugees also face significant language barriers as there is limited support for mother-tongue education or acquisition of local languages. Girls face additional socio-cultural barriers and risks of gender-based violence at or on the way to and from schools, leading to the much lower enrolment rates of refugee girls, particularly at higher levels of education. Currently there is limited availability of accelerated education for those who have missed significant periods of education, although ESDP VI does plan for an expansion of accelerated education.

A HIGH RISK OF DEBT DISTRESS THREATENING EDUCATION

About 20 percent of the government of Ethiopia’s budget is covered through domestic and external borrowing, resulting in Ethiopia’s public debt, at the end of September 2022, reaching 50.1% of GDP. Ethiopia’s external debt presents a greater risk. External debt servicing was 1.8% of the GDP in 2020, and its ratio to export reached 22% in 2022, standing above the recommended IMF ceiling of 15 percent, positioning Ethiopia at high risk of debt distress. Greater budget allocation to debt servicing is only expected to increase with a ‘widening fiscal deficit caused by increased expenditure for defence and emergency response/humanitarian assistance for populations affected by conflict, drought, and other shocks.‘ External debt servicing is tightening the fiscal space for education spending with only 5.6% of the GDP spent on education. Ethiopia’s challenging economic situation proves more detrimental to the lives of refugees, with refugees tending to have lower incomes than host community households with every two out of three refugees living in poverty.

These challenges are denying refugee children access to the life-saving and protective impacts of a quality education in a safe school environment. The international community must mobilise at the upcoming GRF to deliver bold action that ensures an education for every last refugee child, including the large refugee populations in countries like Ethiopia.

FIVE THINGS SAVE THE CHILDREN WANTS TO SEE AT THE 2023 GLOBAL REFUGEE FORUM

1. Make the promise of the Global Compact on Refugees a reality. The Global Compact provide blueprints to ensure that refugees, as well as host communities, get the support they require to meet their education needs. We must not waste this opportunity.
2. Put refugee children at the heart of the Global Refugee Forum. They are experts on the challenges they face, their safe and meaningful participation must be prioritised.
3. Prioritise matched pledges to advance responsibility sharing. Educating refugee children is a global public good and must be a shared global responsibility.
4. Pledges must be meaningful, accountable and actionable. It is imperative that all pledges include timelines for completion and measurable targets and indicators so that progress can be properly tracked.
5. Focus on the money needed to ensure all refugees have access to quality education. Opening education to all refugee children and including them in national education systems can be achieved at an estimated annual cost of US$4.85 billion globally.

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Source: Save The Children

LONDON 28 NOVEMBER — More than 27 million children were driven into hunger and malnutrition by extreme weather events in countries heavily impacted by the climate crisis in 2022, which was a 135% jump from the previous year, according to a new data analysis by Save the Children ahead of COP28.

Save the Children found that children made up nearly half of the 57 million people pushed into crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse across 12 countries because of extreme weather events in 2022. This was based on data from the Integrated Food Security Classification or IPC scale, a monitoring system for assessing hunger emergencies in 58 countries.

The IPC has estimated that the number of people facing hunger in countries where extreme weather events were the main driver of food crises has nearly doubled in five years – soaring to 57 million in 2022 from about 29 million people in 2018. 

The majority of countries where weather extremes were the main driver of hunger last year were concentrated in the Horn of Africa, with Ethiopia and Somalia accounting for about half of the 27 million children.

The 12 countries where weather extremes were the primary driver of hunger in 2022, according to the IPC, were Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Pakistan, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Somalia has been repeatedly at the frontlines of the climate crisis, suffering five failed consecutive rainy seasons. Now, the country stands once again at the precipice, with extreme weather events such as mass flooding set to exacerbate hunger this year.  

Heavy rains and floods in recent weeks have displaced about 650,000 people – about half are children – cutting families off from accessing food and medical care. The current flooding could be just as devastating for the country as the years of drought that left millions of children hungry and malnourished. 

Sadia*, 38, and her eight children, have weathered the storm of climate-induced displacement in Somalia twice over – initially due to drought and now again due to severe flooding.

“We left due to droughts, and now we face displacement again because of floods. [Before the drought] life was good. We were farmers and took care of animals. We had enough food from our crops and milk from our animals to live comfortably. But the droughts came and destroyed everything we had,” saidSadia who eventually started a small business in the displacement camp selling fruits and other items to support her children.

“But recently, heavy rains and floods have made everything worse. The markets are flooded, and my stall is underwater. I can’t earn any money, and it’s tough to feed my children.” 

Pakistan was one of the countries where extreme weather events were the primary driver of hunger last year after devastating flooding submerged one third of the country, affecting 33 million people, half of whom were children. One year on, more than 2 million flood-affected children are acutely malnourished, with almost 600,000 children suffering from the deadliest form of malnutrition. 

Dr Muhammad Hanif, who works at a healthcare unit run by Save the Children in Sindh Province—a region severely affected by the floods—explained that he had never seen anything like it in his lifetime.  

“I am a doctor, so my weapon is medicine. It’s what we rely on to treat and save lives. But during the floods, I felt like a solider in the battlefield without a weapon; nothing to save the life of children or pregnant mothers,” he explained. “By the end of last year, I treated about 1,000 children for hunger-related illnesses, and about 30,000 other patients for various diseases that were inflamed by climate change.” 

Annually, conflicts and economic shocks push even more children into hunger than weather extremes. Conflict was the primary driver of hunger for 117 million people in 19 countries last year. IPC data also revealed an eight-fold increase in the number of people facing hunger because of economic shocks in five years, jumping to about 84 million people in 2022 from 10 million in 2018.  

Globally, an estimated 774 million children – or one third of the world’s child population – are living with the dual impacts of poverty and high climate risk, according to Save the Children’s report Born into the Climate Crisis.  

Inger Ashing, Save the Children’s Chief Executive Officer, said: 

“In a world where wildfires, floods, droughts and hurricanes are becoming the frightening new normal, children today not only face a climate emergency but a landscape of heightened inequalities, where hunger is an unwelcome guest at an already crowded table.  

“As climate-related weather events become more frequent and severe, we will see more drastic consequences on children’s lives. In 2022, 135% more children were pushed into hunger due to extreme weather events than the year before.  

“In my recent trip to Pakistan, I met a young boy named Jaffar who shared that his home and school were destroyed in the 2022 floods. His family had to sell their livestock and were struggling to cope with the limited resources in their community.  While he was able to attend our temporary learning centre there were no plans to rebuild his school. These are all losses and damages that violate children’s rights. 

“Prioritising investment in children’s health, nutrition, education, protection and safety nets must be at the forefront of global efforts. To truly protect children now and in the future, robust support for the new Loss and Damage Fund is non-negotiable.  At COP28, World Leaders must listen to the demands of children and invite them to be part of proposing solutions. Without tackling the climate crisis, the global hunger crisis will only deteriorate further, pushing millions more to the brink.”  

Last year, Save the Children found that 83% of children in 15 countries reported witnessing climate change or inequality, or both, affecting the world around them. Yet, children’s rights are neglected in climate finance. Currently 2.4% of climate finance from four key global climate funds can be classified as sufficiently considering children, although some funders like the Green Climate Fund are actively working to bridge these gaps. 

Save the Children is calling on world leaders at COP28, particularly those from high-income countries and historical emitters, to take action on the climate crisis by recognising children as key agents of change. Climate finance must be increased, providing funding for losses and damages and climate adaptation. Governments must work to urgently limit warming temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.  

The child rights organisation is also calling on leaders to address the root causes of acute food and nutrition insecurity such as conflict, inequality, and a lack of resilient health, nutrition and social protection systems.

ENDS 

Notes to Editor: 

• According to data from the Integrated Food Security Classification or IPC scale, a monitoring system for assessing hunger emergencies in 58 countries, 56.8 million people in 12 countries were facing IPC/CH Phase 3 – crisis levels of acute food insecurity – or above due to weather extremes, which were the primary driver of hunger in those countries. Using UN population prospects to calculate the share of children in each of the 12 countries, Save the Children found that children made up nearly 50% of the 56.8 million people, at about 27 million.  This is a 135% increase in the number of children in IPC3+ in 2022 due to extreme weather compared to 2021.  In 2021, 23.5 million people, including 11.4 million children, in eight countries were facing hunger by extreme weather. 
• The 12 countries where weather extremes were the primary driver of hunger in 2022, according to the IPC, include: Pakistan, Iraq, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Angola, Madagascar, Tanazia, Burundi, Kenya, Somalia, and Malawi  
• The eight countries where weather extremes were the primary driver of hunger in 2021 include: Madagascar, Somalia, Sudan, Burundi, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, and Eswatini  
•  According to recent IPC data, more than 2 million flood-affected children in Pakistan are acutely malnourished with almost 600,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

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 For further enquiries please contact:

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

–          Soraya Ali, Global Media Manager, soraya.ali@savethechildren.org (based in Amman)

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

28 November, RAMALLAH – The international community’s failure to agree on a ceasefire is costing thousands of lives, says Save the Children, as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) prepares to meet tomorrow to discuss the escalation of violence in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel.

Since 1945, the UNSC have been unable to reach consensus on the protection of civilians in Israel and Palestine 36 times, through 36 draft resolutions. More than four weeks ago, following four previous failures, the UN passed a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce between warring parties, and demanding aid access. Meanwhile, children and families in Gaza have been left without protection and have been denied what they need to survive.

At least 6,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the start of the escalation, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. With challenges in collecting and verifying casualty figures since 11 November due to the collapse of communications and services in hospitals in Gaza, the reality is likely higher. A further 4,400 children are reported missing likely buried under the rubble. 58 children have been killed in the West Bank and 33 in Israel, with at least 36 children estimated to be among the hostages held in Gaza, according to Israeli media.

While the current pause in fighting has allowed agencies to bring some aid and fuel into the south of Gaza, not enough aid is reaching the north, with civilians remaining cut off from electricity, food and water supplies, whilst all hospitals are out of service. This short pause is due to end on Wednesday, and without a ceasefire, Gaza’s children are left to live through a nightmare once again.

While Member States have continued to prioritise politics over people, four out of five people in Gaza have been made homeless, over 60% of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged, health facilities have become battlegrounds, children have continued to wake up as hostages, and water and food supplies have been all but entirely cut. No child in Gaza has gone to school since 7 October and no one knows what the future holds.

“If the UNSC cannot uphold its mandate to promote peace, security and respect for human rights and international law, then the system is failing. With or without a resolution, children have the right to humanitarian access and protection. When the UNSC calls for these rights to be respected, and still nothing happens, then the global rules-based order is failing those children” says Save the Children Country Director in the occupied Palestinian territory, Jason Lee.

“How many lives have to be lost – from children, civilians, humanitarian staff – before the international community steps up and fulfils its legal, diplomatic and moral obligations to keep civilians safe from the clutches of conflict? The international community must stop standing by while children’s rights continue to be egregiously violated. The cost of inaction is the destruction of children’s lives and robbing them of their futures.”

Save the Children is calling for an immediate and lasting ceasefire and the protection of children and civilians. All parties to the conflict and the international community must meet their obligations under international humanitarian law.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editor:

• Save the Children is an independent, impartial organisation. With the ongoing complete siege of Gaza, journalists and international organisations are not able to get access to Gaza to verify independently and provide updated data on the impact of ongoing bombardment on the civilian population. Save the Children, in line with OCHA updates, is relying on data from the Israeli Ministry of Health for casualties in Israel, from the Gaza Ministry of Health for casualties inside Gaza, and currently from the Gaza Media Office who assumed the Ministry of Health’s role after they stopped updating casualty figures. Due to the current situation, information and numbers provided by cannot be verified independently.  

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Source: Save The Children

KHARTOUM, 28 November 2023 –About 7,600[1] children are fleeing their homes daily in Sudan, according to new analysis by Save the Children, with seven months of conflict causing havoc and horror across much of the country and one eighth of children now displaced.

Dozens of displaced children have sought urgent care as the result of horrific sexual violence, life-changing injuries, and severe psychological distress from Save the Children medical and child protection staff.

Sudan is now the world’s largest child displacement crisis, with 3 million children – from a population of about 23 million children –  having fled violence since mid-April 2023 to seek  shelter in camps, schools, displacement centres, or in crowded homes with relatives.

More than 5 million people have been displaced within Sudan since the conflict began, with an additional 1.3 million people seeking safety and protection in neighbouring countries. 

The most recent data showed that an estimated 350,000 children were displaced between the start of October and 15 November. This included some children who had already been displaced but were forced to seek safety for a second or a third time.

The third week of October saw the most displacements during this period, with about 150,000 children forced from their homes.

Violent attacks on villages and towns are forcing parents to flee to protect their children from sexual violence, kidnapping, recruitment, maiming, and death.

Displacement centres are also being targeted with a reported 1,300 people killed, including children, in an attack on one camp for displaced people in Darfur.  UNICEF has received allegations of over 3,100 severe violations, including the killing and maiming of children, although it is understood this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Dr Arif Noor, Save the Children’s Country Director in Sudan, said:

“We are seeing abhorrent levels of violence in Sudan. The human rights violations are severe, widespread, and ongoing – and yet the crisis is being entirely ignored. There is a prevailing climate of impunity. Children are being forced to flee, sometimes in the middle of the night to arrive to crowded gathering sites, where infectious diseases can spread easily.  

“Despite the magnitude of the needs, the necessary political and financial attention is not there. The Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) remains to be one third funded. This is despite Sudan having nearly 25 million people in desperate need of the basics – food, shelter, protection.

“Sudan is a monumental emergency, and it needs a monumental response by global players. We need urgent and increased resources to protect children and families now – while they are displaced – but we also need structures in place to protect them on the move, and when they arrive at the saturated gathering sites.”

Save the Children has worked in Sudan since 1983 and is providing life-saving aid and children protection services together with national and international partners. Since the conflict broke out, Save the Children has reached 220,000 people, including 120,000 children and is operating medical and nutrition centres to provide food and other items for displaced families.

EDITORS NOTES

[1] Based on the latest IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix for Sudan snapshot dated 21 November, which shows that the number of IDPs because of the current conflict increased from 4.4 million to 5.1 million between 30 September and 15 November. The share of children is based on the latest monthly displacement overview from IOM which found that 53% of IDPs in Sudan were children. This figure was then divided by the number of days in the period (46) to come to the average of about 7,600 per day. 

—ENDS–

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Source: Save The Children

GAZA: Extension of humanitarian pause another step in the right direction but still falls far short of providing safety and supplies desperately needed by children

Ramallah, 27 November – The agreed extension of the four-day pause in fighting by two days is welcome news but children in Gaza won’t be safe until a lasting ceasefire is agreed. Children held hostage must also be released, says Save the Children.

The fragile pause has enabled the release of 58 hostages from Gaza and 117 Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons, including 87 minors.

During the pause, violence in the West Bank and Gaza continued, with seven Palestinians including four children killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, according to the UN, and Israeli forces opening fire and throwing teargas canisters at people attempting to use the pause to return to their homes in the north of Gaza, killing one person and injuring dozens.

Any limited pause falls short of the lasting ceasefire necessary to provide desperately needed supplies. People in Gaza are still living in a dire situation, lacking access to food, water, medicines and healthcare facilities. The flow of humanitarian aid to the north of Gaza where over a million people have been displaced has been restricted and intermittent even during the temporary pause.

Jason Lee, Country Director for Save the Children in the occupied Palestinian territory said:

“This two-day extension of the pause in fighting will come as a huge relief to people in Gaza. But the scale and scope of the crisis is so unprecedented that two days is not enough. People who have survived 50 days of relentless bombardment in Gaza are surrounded by destruction and left with nothing. Children are hungry, thirsty and at risk of disease. There are extremely long lines to get cooking gas, food and water. A few more days without fighting is not long enough for families to get what they need to survive. And when the fighting resumes, they will again face the violence that has led to those needs in the first place. Only a lasting ceasefire can deliver the scale of humanitarian aid required and stop the devastating increase in needs. Children in Gaza have a right to safety, a right to live.

We’re also concerned that at the same time that 117 Palestinian children and women have been released from Israeli military detention, at least 112 more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been newly detained, according to Palestinian authorities.

It is long past time to stop violations against children’s rights committed since and before 7 October, to release all hostages and to provide long-lasting safety to children in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. Anything else will fail to provide them with the future they deserve.”

ENDS

Source: Save The Children

ULAANBAATAR, 27 November 2023 – Mongolian children are abandoning nomadic herding in rising numbers due to climate change for life in the world’s coldest capital city where they face suffocating pollution and employment uncertainty, Save the Children said.

More than 30% of the Mongolia’s 3.4 million population still live a traditional nomadic life, dependent on livestock, including cattle, camels, goats, sheep, yaks and horses but they are under threat, with Mongolia one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change.

Rising temperatures and more frequent dzuds – a natural phenomenon when a hot summer is followed by a harsh winter that kills crops and freezes livestock to death – is accelerating the rate at which families and children are forced off the land. 

Dzuds used to happen once a decade but have occurred for the past three consecutive years. Meanwhile temperatures have risen by about 2.25 degrees Celsius over the past 80 years, which is 2.5 times higher than the global average, with rising temperatures a key focus of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai this month.

In Mongolia’s Uvurkhangai province alone, there have been over 78 extreme weather events this year, including dzuds, sandstorms, and snow storms, that have led to land degradation and desertification reducing the amount of pasture land.   

Urgakhnar, 37, is from Uvurkhangai province and has three children (aged 13, 11 and 6). She comes from generations of nomadic herders and left school at 15 to herd full time herself, never considering any other livelihood.

She married a fellow herder when she was 24 but they have found life harder and harder in recent years due to climate change.

They lost about 40 livestock in the most recent dzud leaving them with about 100 but with debts to pay for fodder, one of many herding families taking loans to feed their animals ending up in a cycle of debt that can spiral into poverty.

“Since I was young, we are now getting less rain and more droughts and more severe weather. This is limiting grazing land. It is getting worse and worse every year,” she said, sitting in her ger (circular tent or yurt) offering bowls of mare’s milk, handmade cheeses, and traditionally cooked mutton.

“Life as a herder has become very hard. We have to move further and further to find better pasture and now we have to travel for up to 400 kms when before it was 40-50 kms.

“We leave our children for two to three months with their grandparents. It is very difficult for them and for us but what else can we do to make sure our livestock survive?”

While the climate crisis is impacting the livelihood and nomadic herding culture that is core to Mongolia, Urgakhnar said herding is not a future she wants for her children.

“I don’t want my children to be herders. I want them to go to school and university and have a better life. With climate change like this I am afraid that young people will not want to become herders, and it is sad to see traditions ending.”

Her 13-year-old daughter Suvd-Erdene was adamant that she would not become a herder with an ambition to train as a teacher.

The dzud of 2022-2023, hit the livelihoods of 200,000 people and left thousands, including 80,000 children, in need of humanitarian aid. During the past two dzuds 25 to 33% of the national herd were lost.

Many herders who have lost their livestock migrate to Ulaanbaatar, where they live in gers on the outskirts of the city, burning wood and coal to keep warm as winter temperatures plummet to -40 Celsius (-40 Fahrenheit).

Pollution levels in Ulaanbaatar are 27 times higher than global guidelines, according to the World Health Organization, making it one of the most polluted capital cities in the world with children the most vulnerable to related health issues.

This shift to cities has created new challenges for the younger generation with demand for kindergartens and schools outstripping supply and children needing an education level and practical skills which were unknown to their parents so they can build a better future.

Batbaatar, 43, is a former herder who migrated to Ulaanbaatar from western Mongolia in 2010 after a dzud wiped out his herd of about 300 livestock.

He now lives in a ger in the city with his wife and four children, working as a forklift truck driver. In August this year, their ger was flooded after mass flooding across the city. Save the Children provided them a new ger and school uniforms and supplies for their children.

“I miss my livestock and I miss being a herder. City life is busy and having children in this polluted air is very difficult,” he said.

“I never thought I would settle in Ulaanbaatar city. I thought I would find a job, work, then buy livestock again and go back to herding. But I was also hesitant about another dzud and losing my livestock again

“Now I have debts with loan after loan, and the children are at school here. Living in the countryside is much better… but I want the children to have a good education and get jobs in a good company, not become herders. I never want my children to be like me.”

His 17-year-old daughter, Altantsetseg, said that it is difficult for young people in Ulaanbaatar, so she wants to study and live overseas in Korea, to increase her chances of employment after she finishes high school.

“Deep in my heart, I want to contribute and develop my country, but in Korea, it is better, so that’s why I want to leave,” she explained.  

Bayan-Altai Luvsandorj, Country Manager and Representative of Save the Children Japan’s Mongolia Programme, said:

“Children in Mongolia are living at the front lines of the climate crisis, whether they are being pushed out the country side or surrounded by smog pollution in Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia faces rates of warming far higher than the global average.

“The intensity of extreme climate-driven hazards including heatwaves, droughts and river flooding is expected to increase putting a greater number of Mongolia’s children’s lives at risk and forcing them to seek their futures elsewhere.

“The international community must step up and support Mongolia’s climate ambitions, also working to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.” 

Mongolia has ratified the Paris Agreement and set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 22.7% by 2030 if carbon capture and waste-to-energy technology is implemented. The country has committed to spend 1% of its GDP annually to mitigate the effects of climate change and desertification including a promise to plant one billion trees.

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.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• Save the Children’s humanitarian response to the 2021 Sandstorm was implemented with funding from the Japan Platform, and to the 2022-2023 dzud with funding from the START Fund of the UK, the Humanitarian Fund of Save the Children International, Save the Children Japan and the Swiss Cooperation Office of the Embassy of Switzerland in Mongolia.

 We have multimedia content for this release here: www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2S3MXE2F

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