Category: New Zealand NGOs

Source: Save The Children

Simon*, 13, with his brother Samuel* in South Sudan. Save the Children helped reunited the brothers in August 2023. More content available here

Content available here

JUBA, 18 October 2023 – Save the Children and partners in South Sudan have reunited a record 7,000 children with their families, allowing them to restart their lives after being separated by conflict.

The child rights organisation and its partners have been reuniting children with families in the country for nine years, in a large part thanks to a cutting-edge open-source software platform known as the Child Protection Information Management System Plus (CPIMS+). Through use of this software, which includes both a mobile app and offline capabilities, Save the Children staff members recently managed to reunite Simon*, 13, with his adult brother Samuel[CD1] * after three months of separation from family members – bringing the total number of child reunifications the organisation has facilitated in South Sudan since 2017 to 7,000 .

Simon and his family are from Khartoum in neighbouring Sudan, where conflict broke out earlier this year. Simon was staying with his uncle when his neighbourhood was attacked, and when he returned home he found armed groups had taken over the area and neighbours had fled. Scared for his life, he ran away alone, and was identified at the South Sudan border by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which referred him to Save the Children. Meanwhile, Simon’s brother Samuel also made his own journey from Khartoum to safety in South Sudan.

Samuel told Save the Children: “When we heard that Simon had left our home in Khartoum and the message reached us people were worried.Anything bad could have happened. Maybe he was kidnapped or was shot or anything so for us as a family here, we were so very worried until when we got the news that he reached Renk and then he was received by some people and they were taking care of him. 

“We are very happy to see [our] brother who has been lost and in the beginning, people never knew where he was. Seeing him, we are so honoured and we want to thank all the organisations who are taking care of kids who just flee the war”.

Simon said: “Save the Children gave me hope, hospitality and honoured me, I thanked them (Save the Children) from the bottom of my heart”.

According to CPIMS+ database, nearly 20,000 unaccompanied, separated or missing children have been registered across South Sudan in the past nine years due to conflict within the country and from neighbouring Sudan. Separated and unaccompanied children are more susceptible to violence, abuse and exploitation, which makes returning them to their parents an urgent priority.

Jib Pornpun Rabiltossaporn, Save the Children Country Director in South Sudan, said: “Every time I hear a story like this my heart lifts. Every day we hear more stories of how conflict tears away at children’s lives – and tears them from their families. I could not be more proud of the work of our team in South Sudan, which has now reunited 7,000 children with their families after years of dedicated work.”

In Renk on the border with Sudan, Save the Children works to increase the protection of children and their families who are affected by the Sudan crisis through the provision of child protection services, reunification, referrals and community-based gender-sensitive preventive and responsive interventions.  

Save the Children also provides mental health and psychosocial support to children, women and men fleeing the conflict in Sudan. For Simon, Save the Children traced his family whereabouts, reunified him, advocated for his safety, and provided him with basic needs like ‘reintegration kits’ such as clothes, blankets, food, mosquito nets. 

About Save the Children in South Sudan

Save the Children has been working in South Sudan since independence in 2011. In 2022, Save the Children reached 2.2 million people in South Sudan including 1.5 million children through its various programmes focused on health, nutrition, education, hygiene, and child protection.

About Save the Children in Sudan

Since conflict broke out in Sudan in April this year, small-arms fire, heavy weaponry, artillery and airstrikes have put thousands of families and children in great danger and caused humanitarian needs across the country to skyrocket to 24.7 million just after the first month of fighting[i].

Save the Children has worked in Sudan since 1983. In 2022, Save the Children directly reached 2.1 million people, including 1.5 million children, with programming focused on child protection, access to quality education, health and nutrition support and responding to emergencies such as the ongoing fighting. 

About Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR)
Save the Children, UNICEF and partners work to prevent family separation amid chaos and conflict by informing people how to set up ad-hoc community systems keeping families together. When separation occur, missing children and parents are registered in a national database (CPIMS+) for family tracing which is done by a number of caseworkers across South Sudan. When there is a match, a verification exercise starts to ensure the parents and children are related. After, the actual reunification is initiated. The family also receives support in a transitional period, including food and clothes. The family will also receive follow-up by the caseworker in the months after the reunification to ensure everyone adjust well to the new situation.

*name has been changed to protect anonymity

Content available here

For more information please contact:

Emily Wight (based in London), Emily.Wight@savethechildren.org;

Delfhin Mugo (based in Nairobi), Delfhin.Mugo@savethechildren.org;

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

Source: Save The Children

RAMALLAH, 17 Oct 2023 – More than 1,000 children have reportedly been killed in 11 days of airstrikes on Gaza – one child every 15 minutes^[1] – with children making up a third of total fatalities in Gaza, Save the Children said on Tuesday, calling for an immediate ceasefire.   

At least 2,800 people have been killed in airstrikes on Gaza, and at least 1,300 people have also been killed in Israel, from where reports of child fatalities have not been confirmed by official sources but children have been gravely impacted. Reports suggest that children are among the 199 people abducted and taken into Gaza as hostages^[2].  

 As the ‘total siege’ of Gaza continues, the already dire humanitarian situation continues to get worse, giving rise to soaring needs. With no way in for aid supplies and basic goods, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency warned yesterday that clean water is running out and people – particularly young children – will soon start dying of severe dehydration.  

 While reports suggest the Israeli government resumed water supply to southern Gaza on 15 October, power-dependent water pumps are not working after four days with no electricity in the Gaza Strip.

This morning, the UN warned that all hospitals in Gaza are believed to only have about 48 hours of fuel left to operate backup generators, putting thousands of patients, including children, at immediate risk.  

“Water is running out and time is running out for the children of Gaza,” said Save the Children’s Country Director Jason Lee. “With the UN Security Council expected to reconvene today, a ceasefire must be agreed to save children’s lives. Without an end to fighting – without a ceasefire – thousands of children’s lives hang in the balance.” 

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

 In Egypt, Save the Children is partnering with the Egyptian Red Crescent to send supplies to the Gaza strip as soon as a safe passage for aid across the border is established.  

-ENDS  –

^[1] https://www.dci-palestine.org/one_palestinian_child_in_gaza_killed_every_15_minutes_by_israeli_forces 

^[2] https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-history-watching-warns-un-relief-chief-saying-aid-access-key-priority

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For further enquiries please contact:

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

Source: Save The Children

Nine days into the escalation of violence in Gaza and Israel, at least 724 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza, and three in the West Bank, and another 2,450 have been injured. While the number of Israeli children killed and injured has not been confirmed, they have also faced horrific violence, with reports of children abducted and taken hostage.

“It is with a heavy heart that I write this message from Gaza, under the relentless bombardment that has overwhelmed our lives and made the simplest right to life a struggle. As I write this, I hold onto whatever courage I can muster, although I do not know whether this message will be my last. 

Throughout my professional career, I have been heavily involved in planning and leading emergency responses to large-scale conflicts. However, what we are experiencing now in Gaza is unlike anything I have seen before.  

We are rationing water bottles. Food is running out. The wounded and sick cannot be treated. At night, children sit in the dark, in the black-out, wondering if they will live to see the morning. 

This situation is unique. I must admit that the humanitarian needs on the ground, the impact on families like my own, and the sheer number of the affected population are beyond understanding. No one can fully grasp the extent of the suffering. I have no answers for my three young children about what is to come.  

For the first time in my life, I find myself feeling a sense of hopelessness and helplessness, which does not represent who I am. 

Like everyone in Gaza, my greatest wish is to wake up each day with my family members and loved ones safe. The fear that we may not see another day together is a constant burden on our hearts.  

I have often felt overwhelmed in the past, questioning why I did not make the choice to leave this besieged strip, even if it meant going against my own beliefs. I have questioned why I did not prioritize my family’s future and why I did not have the courage to make this difficult decision. My 10-year-old daughter has already witnessed three large-scale hostilities.

However, I have always answered myself that my deep connection to the land where I was born, raised, and have countless memories – my roots, and the sense of identity as a proud Palestinian, have kept me here. 

Today, those questions no longer haunt me. There is no way out of Gaza. There is no safe place in Gaza. 

My dream is a simple one – to wake up in the morning with my children in my arms, alive and well, and for this violence to come to an end. 

Let us pray for better days ahead.”

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• For further enquiries please contact 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

Children try to keep warm while looking at the ruins of a building that collapsed in an earthquake in Herat, Afghanistan. Photo by Atabak Khadim/Save the Children. More content available here

Content available here

KABUL, 16 October 2023 – Families in western Afghanistan are reeling after a fourth earthquake in just over a week hit Herat Province, crumbling buildings and forcing people to flee once again, with thousands now living in tents exposed to fierce winds and dust storms.

The latest 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit a region 30 km (about 19 miles) outside of the city of Herat, in Herat Province on Sunday, shattering communities still reeling from the series of shallow and strong (6m+) earthquakes and aftershocks.

Nearly 20,000 people have now been affected across six districts, with at least 1,300 people killed and 1,800 injured, most of whom are women and children who were in their homes when the quakes hit. Many people are sleeping in the open after their homes were destroyed, with many others terrified to go home due to fears of further shocks.

Massive dust storms also hit the region last week, hampering the aid response by damaging tents used as emergency shelters, and destroying mobile health and nutrition facilities.

Save the Children is working with partners in Herat to get emergency assistance to the most impacted areas. This includes providing families with emergency cash grants to help them buy materials to rebuild their homes and other urgent supplies, such as food and clean water, and to pay for medical care. 

Arshad Malik, Country Director for Save the Children in Afghanistan, said:  

“Our teams are reporting the bleakest of scenes. Hundreds of tents have been set up on open plains to shelter families who have lost everything, which themselves are exposed to brutal winds and dust storms. Former villages are just rubble, rock. What precious little belongings families once had are completely buried.

“Most of the deaths and injuries have been women and children, who were at home when the earthquakes hit. Many survivors are terrified to go home. Four earthquakes have hit in a week.It’s impossible to get out of fight mode when the ground is constantly moving. 

 “This is a crisis on top of a crisis. Even before this disaster, children were suffering from a devastating lack of food. At the same time, the harsh winter is approaching fast while the children and families have no shelter or warm clothes to protect themselves.

“Donors must provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance. This new emergency requires new funding. Without an urgent injection of money, existing humanitarian programmes will be impacted as already overstretched funding is strained further. The international community cannot turn its backs on children in Herat who need urgent help.”

Save the Children has been supporting communities and protecting children’s rights across Afghanistan since 1976, including during periods of conflict and natural disasters. We have programmes in nine provinces and work with partners in an additional seven provinces. 

Since August 2021, we’ve been scaling up our response to support the increasing number of children in need. We are delivering health, nutrition, education, child protection, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene, and food security and livelihood support. 

ENDS  

Content available here

For more information please contact:

Emily Wight, Emily.Wight@savethechildren.org (based in London)

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

Source: Save The Children

Hunger eats childhood.

When a child can’t eat, hunger starts eating their world.

It drains their energy and silences play.

It consumes their curiosity and crushes learning.

It grinds down their joy and turns their dreams to dust.

But together we can help children bite back.

All they need is support to defeat hunger. Our experience and their resilience.

Save the Children equips children and families with what they need to fight hunger.

You can help children fight for their childhood and feed their futures. Together we can ensure hunger is beaten for good.

Hunger is not a lost cause. Last year, Save the Children supported over 35 million children who suffered from hunger worldwide. We believe that this year, with your support, we can feed the futures of even more children. With our expertise and children’s resilience, we can help children defeat hunger. 

Read the stories of children impacted by the global hunger crisis and find out how we can support them.

Source: Save The Children

Jamilah*, 25 feeding her daughter Leila*, 20 months, treatment for severe acute malnutrition in Kelafo Stabilization Center, Ethiopia. Save the Children

According to the report published by the World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO), almost half of the world’s vulnerable population including women, children, and adolescents did not have access to essential and quality health services at the point of 2021. THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2023 estimates that 287,000 women died from pregnancy-related causes in 2020 and 5 million children under five lost their lives in 2021 worldwide. Majority of these deaths are due to preventable causes. Halting preventable deaths among children and other vulnerable groups requires increasing investment in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH-N) services. It is critical that we build equitable, resilient, and inclusive health systems and health financing systems that can deliver quality health services for all.

SUSTAINABLE APPROACHES TO STRENGTHEN EXISITING HEALTH SYSTEMS

At a time of growing fragmentation, limited fiscal space, and greater demand for health care, governments must be supported to improve self-sufficiency, and unleash more resources beyond the dollar value committed by donors.

The Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) is one step ahead in delivering on this promise. The GFF, founded in 2015, has been a key financing mechanism that addresses health inequities and improve access to healthcare for women, children, and adolescents by strengthening health systems. The GFF aims to prevent 3.8 million maternal deaths, 101 million child deaths, and 21 million stillbirths in high-burden countries by 2030. The GFF works with countries to build systems capacity, align funding behind a national health plan, and unlock policies, systems and financing that improve health. The GFF’s country-driven partnership approach brings together stakeholders behind government priorities including development partners, civil society organizations and the private sector. Importantly, the GFF’s country-driven model supports governments in maximizing the impact of the investments by using domestic and external resources effectively and efficiently.

Save the Children carried out an independent assessment of the GFF to review its processes, successes, and challenges, using Ethiopia as a case study. The report Sustainable Approaches to Strengthen Existing Health Systems: The Global Financing Facility’s Contribution to Improving Health Financing and Health Outcomes in Ethiopia discusses successes and what can be done to further strengthen health systems and progress towards achieving universal health coverage – by the GFF, donor governments, and other Global Health Initiatives.

GFF investments in Ethiopia are channeled into a pooled fund, managed by the Federal Government of Ethiopia. Working within the country’s system is important for sustaining progress and results. In addition, through smart partnerships, such as with the World Bank’s International Development Association[i], the GFF has leveraged an additional 10 dollars for every dollar it provided in health services like reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health. Efforts beyond just the financing provided are also critical in furthering efficiency and equity gains, such as the technical support that the GFF provides to the government to inform resource allocation decisions and improve national planning and budgeting processes.

Our research found that the GFF’s country driven model promotes efficiency and effectiveness in domestic and external resource use which reduces fragmentation, duplication of efforts and maximises value for money from aid spending.

In addition to reducing preventable deaths of women, newborns, children, and adolescents, strengthening health systems, particularly primary health care (PHC) systems, GFF also improves countries’ capacity to prepare for and respond to future health emergencies.

INSIGHTS FROM THE GFF FOR IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND AID EFFECTIVENESS

The GFF holds tremendous potential to continue making significant strides in improving RMNCAH-N outcomes worldwide. As well as building on successes in GFF programming to achieve UHC, an opportunity presents itself at a time when critical questions are being raised on the effectiveness of the current global health architecture, for sharing learning and good practice with others. Highlighted below, our research into the GFF model has provided valuable insights that could support others to improve aid effectiveness in practice:

The GFF’s current Deliver the Future campaign seeks to secure at least US$800 million by the end of 2023. This essential funding will enable the GFF to mobilise an additional US$20.5 billion to enhance its impact. With this increased financial support, the GFF intends to provide second-round financing to 27 existing partner countries and extend its assistance to an additional seven countries. This is also a timely opportunity for the GFF to hone its scope, expand its scale, capitalize on gains made, reflect on lessons learnt and provide examples of best practice and models for other global health initiatives.

Interested in reading the full report? Download it here

Source: Save The Children

Nine days into the escalation of violence in Gaza and Israel, at least 724 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza, and three in the West Bank, and another 2,450 have been injured. While the number of Israeli children killed and injured has not been confirmed, they have also faced horrific violence, with reports of children abducted and taken hostage.

“It is with a heavy heart that I write this message from Gaza, under the relentless bombardment that has overwhelmed our lives and made the simplest right to life a struggle. As I write this, I hold onto whatever courage I can muster, although I do not know whether this message will be my last. 

Throughout my professional career, I have been heavily involved in planning and leading emergency responses to large-scale conflicts. However, what we are experiencing now in Gaza is unlike anything I have seen before.  

We are rationing water bottles. Food is running out. The wounded and sick cannot be treated. At night, children sit in the dark, in the black-out, wondering if they will live to see the morning. 

This situation is unique. I must admit that the humanitarian needs on the ground, the impact on families like my own, and the sheer number of the affected population are beyond understanding. No one can fully grasp the extent of the suffering. I have no answers for my three young children about what is to come.  

For the first time in my life, I find myself feeling a sense of hopelessness and helplessness, which does not represent who I am. 

Like everyone in Gaza, my greatest wish is to wake up each day with my family members and loved ones safe. The fear that we may not see another day together is a constant burden on our hearts.  

I have often felt overwhelmed in the past, questioning why I did not make the choice to leave this besieged strip, even if it meant going against my own beliefs. I have questioned why I did not prioritize my family’s future and why I did not have the courage to make this difficult decision. My 10-year-old daughter has already witnessed three large-scale hostilities.

However, I have always answered myself that my deep connection to the land where I was born, raised, and have countless memories – my roots, and the sense of identity as a proud Palestinian, have kept me here. 

Today, those questions no longer haunt me. There is no way out of Gaza. There is no safe place in Gaza. 

My dream is a simple one – to wake up in the morning with my children in my arms, alive and well, and for this violence to come to an end. 

Let us pray for better days ahead.”

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• For further enquiries please contact 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

Quote from a long-standing Save the Children staff member in Gaza who is on the move with three children all aged under 10. 

“Looking into the eyes of my children every minute, I can see the questions they have – they are looking for answers, for reassurance that everything will be okay, and for a glimpse of a hope and brighter future. I, like any parent, feel a deep responsibility to provide them with that sense of security and hope. Yet, the reality of our current circumstances is heartbreaking.

“For the first time, I find myself desiring to be a rock, empty of senses and resistant to pain. I wish I had super powers, like the birds, to escape this strip with my family in search of refuge. I wish I could be a superhero, carrying my children away to live in peace.”

 

 

Source: Save The Children

We are alarmed by Israel’s call for over a million Palestinians to leave northern Gaza in less than 24 hours. Israel must rescind this order immediately. Demands for the population in its entirety to relocate in such an immediate manner put at risk the lives of those forced to flee. The Government of Israel has not provided any assurances for their safety while in transit or for the safety of civilians remaining in the Gaza Strip as fighting continues.

Humanitarian agencies operating in Gaza are reporting an unfolding humanitarian crisis on an unprecedented scale. There are not adequate facilities to safely accommodate residents from northern Gaza, and their safety remains jeopardized as Israeli airstrikes persistently target central and southern Gaza.

A forced relocation without any guarantees of safety or return and without providing for the needs of the protected population, risks amounting to forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of international humanitarian law and codified as a war crime. Israel is bound by international law to ensure the protection of all persons there from harm, and ensure that they are adequately supplied, including by agreeing and facilitating, relief schemes.

The horrendous violence that has engulfed Gaza and Israel over the last week has already created unprecedented humanitarian need.  As of 13 October 2023, 11:00 AM EST, more than 1799 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, more than 1,300 people in Israel, including foreign nationals, and 45 Palestinians in the West Bank. Hundreds of children have been killed. Hundreds of thousands of children and families in Gaza have already been displaced. Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed and turned to rubble.

Yet recent developments indicate that the worst may still be to come. We, the undersigned leaders of some of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations call for the international community to unequivocally uphold international law and prioritize the protection of civilians to avert further suffering and loss of human life.

World leaders must:

• Demand that the Government of Israel immediately rescind its order;
• Demand that all parties agree to an immediate cessation of hostilities;
• Demand to stop the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in addition to the targeting of civilians, of inviolable UN premises, schools and hospitals where civilians shelter;
• Facilitate the provision of essential and life-saving relief assistance, including food, water, and medical supplies and care and access of humanitarian personnel into Gaza;
• Immediately facilitate medical evacuations for children and families who require it in either Egypt, the West Bank or Israel;
• Ensure the immediate, unconditional release of all persons deprived of liberty, most urgently children, pregnant women and mothers with infants and young children, the wounded and sick held captive by armed groups in Gaza; and
• Guarantee safe passage for families who need and want to seek safety to any place they feel safe. Families need adequate access to information on options and to be given adequate time to do so safely. The Israeli government has an obligation under international humanitarian law to provide safe shelter and humanitarian assistance for civilians displaced by their offensive and this should be carefully prepared in advance of any offensive.  Anyone who seeks safety outside of the Gaza Strip must be immediately allowed to return as soon as hostilities end, in line with their right to repatriate or return to their habitual places or residence. This must be internationally guaranteed.

Families who are unable or unwilling to leave their homes remain protected under international humanitarian law. There are many reasons why people cannot heed these warnings to leave areas, including ongoing hostilities, impassable roads, health needs, disabilities, and fear of permanent displacement.  Many will have nowhere else to go.

We urge UN Secretary-General António Guterres and senior UN leadership to make an emergency visit to the oPt and Israel in an attempt to ensure respect for international law and demonstrate solidarity with affected persons and humanitarians.

We plead with world leaders and actors on the ground to prioritize the preservation of human life above all else. Anything less will forever be a stain on our collective conscience.  

Signatories:

Olivier Longue Chief Executive Officer, Action Against Hunger – Spain	Mattias Brunander Secretary General, Diakonia	Manuel Patrouillard Global Managing Director, Handicap International / Humanity & Inclusion
Joël Weiler Chief Executive Officer, Médecins du Monde- France	Nicolás Dotta Chief Executive Officer, Médecins du Monde- Spain	Morgane Rousseau Chief Executive Officer, Médecins du Monde- Swiss
Tjada D’Oyen McKenna Chief Executive Officer, Mercy Corps	Jan Egeland Secretary General, Norwegian Refugee Council	Amitabh Behar Executive Director Oxfam International
Stephen Omollo, Chief Executive Officer, Plan International	Inger Ashing Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children International	Rob Williams Chief Executive Officer War Child UK