Category: New Zealand NGOs

Source: Save The Children

Save the Children International CEO Inger Ashing:

“We are extremely concerned about the worsening situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. 

Save the Children condemns the killing of civilians – especially children – in the strongest possible terms. Children are always the most vulnerable in every conflict and must be protected. Children have the right to a life free from violence and to live in peace – no matter where they are born, or where they live. 

The number of casualties – far too many of them children – continues to rise. Kidnapping, killing and maiming. Destroying homes, hospitals and other infrastructure essential to the livelihood of children. These are all grave violations of children’s rights.

Enough is enough. We urgently call for the violence to stop. 

Emergency aid must be delivered, unimpeded. Children and their families must be allowed to seek safety. Humanitarian assistance must be scaled up to meet the demands of the crisis. Lifesaving aid must not be withheld from children.

Children must be protected. Stop the war on children.”

Source: Save The Children

AMMAN, 10 October – At least 17 children are reported to have been killed, and hundreds of others injured, in five days of violence across Syria[1], said Save the Children.

Schools across Northwest Syria have been closed indefinitely, with at least ten schools either partially or fully damaged in the fighting. An estimated 25,000 people have been newly displaced, with families and children once again being forced to flee their homes in fear.

In Northeast Syria, a series of at least 56 drone strikes over recent days has crippled water and electricity supplies for hundreds of thousands of people, and left children deeply afraid. Several parents told Save the Children staff their children were showing signs of deep emotional distress after the attacks.

Farida*, a 32-year-old mother of three children living in Tarbaspi city, Northeast Syria, told Save the Children; “My children are really scared. They can’t sleep at night and have started wetting the bed…My children are terrified at night, and today I didn’t send them to school. We’re scared that we might have to leave our home, especially with winter coming. I’m just a mum, trying my best to keep my children safe and warm.”

While hostilities have reportedly reduced over the last 24 hours, Save the Children is warning that continued conflict will only continue to risk children’s lives and wellbeing, with widespread school closures threatening the education and futures of thousands of children.

Rasha Muhrez, Save the Children’s Syria Response Director said:

“Children continue to pay the heaviest price in this conflict. Reports of children being killed and injured across Syria are unacceptable. To continue enduring violence and loss of loved ones, will have a lasting impact on their mental health and well-being. These children have been born and have grown up on the shadow of more than 12 years of conflict and crises, survived devastating earthquakes earlier this year and now, once again, live in fear. Their futures are again under threat.

Conflict is never a story with a happy ending. These hostilities need to end so that Syrian children can finally have the chance to live and thrive in peace.”

Save the Children has been providing assistance to the children in need in Syria since 2012. Save the Children programming combines emergency and life-saving interventions with early recovery activities that support the restoration of basic services and aims to reach every last child in need.

ENDS –

Notes

*Name changed to protect identity. Farida is a beneficiary of Save the Children’s nutrition program in Tarbaspi city.

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For further enquiries please contact:

• Randa Ghazy randa.ghazy@savethechildren.org
• We have Kathryn Achilles available as a spokesperson.

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

LONDON/GENEVA, 10 October 2023 – The number of girls at extreme risk of facing the double blow of climate change and child marriage is set to increase 33% to nearly 40 million by 2050, new estimates from Save the Children released on the eve of International Day of the Girl reveal.

A new report by Save the Children – “Girls at the centre of the storm: Her planet, her future, her solutions” – also shows that around two-thirds of child marriages happen in regions with higher-than-average climate risks.[1]

Currently an estimated 29.9 million adolescent girls live in the top 10 child-marriage-climate hotspot countries[i] , which are the nations that carry the highest risks that a girl will both married as a child and experience life-changing climate disasters.

This figure is projected to increase to 39.9 million by 2050[ii], with these hotspot countries having some of the youngest and fastest growing populations in the world.

The combination of the impact of the climate crisis and child marriage has created emergency hotspots for girls’ rights in Bangladesh and across sub-Saharan Africa, where all 10 of the top countries are located. Central African Republic, Chad and Guinea are the worst affected. These countries are not just disproportionately affected by increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather events, but in many cases conflict, high levels of poverty, gender inequality and hunger.

Kpemeh*, in Sierra Leone, was aged 12 when a man expressed his interest in marrying her. As subsistence farmers impacted by the climate crisis, her parents felt financially pressured to agree to the marriage. Supported by Save the Children, Kpemeh was able to avoid the marriage and is now a strong advocate in her community for the rights of girls to finish their education:

“[Child marriage] happens because of poverty. If a man has money, for example if he harvests palm fruits, he can harvest, process and sell it and support the [girl’s] family by giving them some palm oil.

“A man expressed interest in marrying me, but I declined. Subsequently, he approached my parents, expressing his desire to marry me. I said I am going to school. Their response was that you have to get married. If the man said he will support you, won’t you agree to him?

“The climate has changed and our parents rely on farming. Rain does not fall when it is supposed to fall. It rains in both dry and rainy seasons, it rains when it’s not rainy season…and rains when it’s dry season.”

Early marriage has devastating consequences for a girl’s life. Girls married young are far less likely to stay in school, with lifelong economic impacts. They are often isolated, and they are at higher risk of physical and sexual violence. Child brides are also at greater risk of experiencing dangerous complications in pregnancy and childbirth.

Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said governments, NGOs, the UN and businesses must recognise the climate crisis, including the current hunger crisis, as an emergency for girls’ rights. She said:

“This research shows yet again the extent to which the climate crisis is jeopardising children’s rights – particularly the rights of girls.

“The risks to girls are real. It’s the risk of sexual harassment and abuse girls face in the chaotic aftermath of a disaster, where overcrowding and lack of safe services leave them exposed. It’s being forced to marry before they reach 18, as families, impoverished by years of droughts, are going hungry and having to make impossible decisions about whose mouths to feed.

“The global climate crisis is already changing girls’ lives and futures. Yet despite these unequal impacts on girls, less than 2% of national climate plans across the globe mention girls and give explicit and meaningful consideration to the needs and involvement of girls. Girls are demonstrating extraordinary resilience in the face of these challenges, yet their demands and solutions are rarely included in discussions about the planet they will inherit. This is unacceptable.

” Urgent and effective investment is key to adapting to climate change, and is particularly critical for children, especially girls who are highly susceptible to the short and long-term impacts. Current spending almost ignores children entirely – this needs to change.”

Girls in many of these countries are also now struggling with unprecedented levels of hunger.

Across the world, at least 49 million people, including girls and their families are on the brink of starvation, unable to learn and grow because longer-lasting droughts and the war in Ukraine have combined to create a hunger crisis the size and severity of which has not been seen before.v

You can read the report, Girls at the centre of the storm: Her planet, her future, her solutions, here

You can read our 2022 report, Generation Hope: 2.4 billion reasons to end the global climate and inequality crisis here.

You can read the 2021 report with the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Born into the Climate Crisis, here.

NOTES:
[1] On average 80% of children experience at least one extreme climate event (like for example wildfires, crop failures, droughts, floods, heatwaves and cyclones) each year.
[i]Chad, Central African Republic, Bangladesh, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, South Sudan
[ii] Based on UN population prospects

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For further enquiries please contact:

• Daphnee Cook Daphnee.cook@savethechildren.org
• We have global and national experts on girls rights available to speak to media on this report.

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

• Academic year starts with all schools closed due to impacts of the war, risking a generational catastrophe 

PORT SUDAN, 9 October 2023 –An estimated 19 million children in Sudan are out of school as the brutal conflict approaches the six-month mark next week.

Out of this total – or 1 in every 3 children in the country – some 6.5 million lost access to school due to increased violence and insecurity in their region, with at least 10,400 schools shuttered in conflict-affected areas. Meanwhile, over 5.5 million children who reside in areas less impacted by war are waiting for local authorities to confirm whether classrooms can be reopened.

Even before the conflict erupted in April, nearly 7 million children were already out of school in a country grappling with poverty and instability. If the war continues, no child in Sudan will be able to go back to school in the coming months, leaving them exposed to immediate and long-term dangers, including displacement, recruitment into armed groups and sexual violence.

“Sudan is on the brink of becoming home to the worst education crisis in the world,” said Mandeep O’Brien, UNICEF Country Representative in Sudan. “Children have been exposed to the horrors of war for nearly half a year. Now, forced away from their classrooms, teachers, and friends, they are at risk of falling into a void that will impact the dreams and future of an entire generation.”

Beyond reading, writing, and mathematics, children also learn social and emotional skills in school, which in a time of conflict can become a lifeline for coping with violence, loss, and trauma. Meanwhile, they can also access many other critical – and often life-saving – services, such as nutrition, healthcare, and psychosocial support.

“Since the conflict began, Sudan has emerged as the globe’s most extensive internal displacement crisis, with 4.4 million people newly displaced within Sudan, including around 2.5 million children. Additionally, 5 million school-age children find themselves trapped in areas of active conflict, placing them in the highest jeopardy of losing crucial access to education and essential protection services,” said Arif Noor, Save the Children Sudan Country Director.

Spending on social services has been on a steep decline, with teachers in almost all states missing their salaries since the armed conflict started nearly six months ago. Education supplies are lacking, and facilities have not been maintained. While efforts are under way in a few regions to ensure education systems in Sudan remain functional, there are significant constraints, and the needs are quickly outpacing the resources.

In addition to the immediate impact and risk of discontinuing education for nearly every Sudanese child, a recent UNICEF analysis shows that the earning loss, if not tackled urgently, will result in a net lifetime loss of US$ 26 billion for the war-impacted generation of children.  

UNICEF and Save the Children are working with partners to ensure millions of Sudanese children can access quality education and safely go back to school soon before their academic year is compromised.

UNICEF and Save the Children call upon the Sudanese authorities to reopen schools in safe areas, while supporting alternative learning modalities in communities where schools can no longer be open due to safety and security concerns.

UNICEF and Save the Children call on the international community to stand in solidarity with the Sudanese children whose education is at stake, and to provide the necessary resources and support to ensure millions of Sudanese children can go back to school and ensure conflict-affected children have the opportunity to access learning and psychosocial support in safe spaces.

##### 

For more information, please contact:

Save the Children:

Raghdan Orsud, Save the Children, Sudan, raghdan.orsud@savethechildren.org

Katharina Schroeder, Save the Children, Sudan, katharina.schroeder@savethechildren.org

Delfhin Mugo, Save the Children, Regional Office, delfhin.mugo@savethechildren.org

About Save the Children:

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we’ve been advocating for the rights of children worldwide. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming the future we share. Our results, financial statements and charity ratings reaffirm that Save the Children is a charity you can trust. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

UNICEF:

Ammar Ammar, UNICEF MENA, aammar@unicef.org, +962 791 837 388

Ricardo Pires, UNICEF New York, rpires@unicef.org, +1 917 631 1226

About UNICEF

UNICEF works in the world’s toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children and adolescents – and to protect the rights of every child, everywhere. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive and fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. And we never give up.

For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org

Follow UNICEF on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube

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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

ERBIL, 9 October 2023 – Yazidi children living with disabilities in Iraq face exclusion, bullying, and suicidal thoughts nine years after the Islamic State (IS) genocide, reveals a new report by Save the Children launched ahead of World Mental Health Day.

Children as young as eight years old shared their experiences of loneliness and unhappiness, stemming from being confined indoors for extended periods.

Many reported challenges in being able to access basic services like schools and medical care, with some considering travelling as far as India and Turkey for treatment.

The report, involving conversations with 57 caregivers and 20 children, some with multiple forms of disabilities, asked participants to share their experiences through many ways like drawing pictures.

Amani*, a 13-year-old girl living with vision disability in Mount Sinjar, said:

“I drew this picture because we went to an ophthalmologist in Mosul for an eye operation and my father did not have enough money for it. I drew the picture of a doctor because I dream of becoming a doctor when I grow up.” 

Samira*, a 12-year-old girl living with physical disability, said:

“I am unhappy when I cannot visit my friends and play with them, and I cannot go to school when the other kids go.”

Yazidis, an ethno-religious minority from the Kurdish region of Iraq, have been historically persecuted for their faith. The 2014 ISIS attack on Sinjar, recognized as genocide, had catastrophic impacts, particularly on children, who were forced to fight, convert, or were subjected to extreme violence and exploitation.

The impact on children’s mental health is immense, but rarely discussed. Caregivers in the study reported increased suicide risks among their children.

Farida*, the mother of a child with a disability, in Sinjar centre, said:

“Children are currently threatening their parents with suicide. My child’s condition worsened when we were confined to the mountain and until now, he has not become like before.”

Malik*, the father of a child living with disability, Sinjar centre, said:

“Sometimes they are thinking about suicide because they are not feeling mentally okay. Sometimes when he feels sick, he cries and says I will die.”

Save the Children calls for urgent action to strengthen disability-inclusive public services in Iraq. The lack of accessible community spaces, rampant bullying, and community stigma are major distress drivers among children with disabilities.

Izaat*, the guardian of a child living with disability in Mount Sinjar, said:

“We call on humanitarian organisations to help people with disabilities, register their cases, and decide to help them according to their needs because government’s support for people with disabilities exists only in name.”

Humanitarian organisations and the global community must advocate for and support Yazidi children and their families, ensuring their inclusion, well-being, and access to essential services. The ongoing struggles and mental health crises faced by these children underscore the importance of sustained and inclusive support.

Operational in Iraq since 1991, Save the Children is among the largest international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) responding to multi-sectorial humanitarian, recovery, and development needs of children, youth, and their families – including Iraqis displaced by conflict, Syrian refugees, host communities and returnees. Save the Children is operational in six governorates across Federal Iraq (FI) and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

ENDS

Notes to Editors

*indicates that names have been changed

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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

Please also check our Twitter account @Save_GlobalNews for news alerts, quotes, statements and location Vlogs.

Source: Save The Children

Children are facing unimaginable risks to their safety, with dire long-term consequences for their mental health including depression, nightmares, bed-wetting and self-harm, Save the Children warned today.

As the escalation in Israel and Gaza intensifies, the number of children caught up in the violence is soaring. At least 700 Israelis and 413 Palestinians have been killed so far, including at least 78 children in Gaza. The number of children killed in Israel is so far unconfirmed. As the violence continues, official sources struggle to keep pace with casualties, which are expected to keep rising as military operations continue.

In Gaza, airstrikes have levelled homes for children and families, while at least three schools and one hospital have also been damaged. A medical centre in Israel has reportedly also been hit by rocket fire. All schools across Israel and Gaza are closed, disrupting children’s access to critical education – a common casualty of repeated escalations, particularly in Gaza. 

Reports of Palestinian children being killed and injured in airstrikes and Israeli children being kidnapped and held hostage have exacerbated fears of an unprecedented psychological toll. 

Save the Children condemns the violence, saying the scale of the attacks in Israel and Gaza is causing damage that would endure long after the immediate crisis.

Jason Lee, Save the Children’s Country Director for the occupied Palestinian territory, said children’s sense of safety had been “ripped away”.

“Our teams and their families are terrified; they feel like sitting targets. Children across the region are in constant fear,” he said. “This violence must stop, otherwise children will continue to pay the price.”

Save the Children call for an immediate ceasefire to avoid any further escalation that puts children at risk. All parties must do their utmost to protect children and abide by international humanitarian law.

Save the Children is one of the largest non-governmental organisations working in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) of Gaza and the West Bank, addressing the immediate humanitarian and long-term development needs of children and families. 

The agency currently implements programmes in the areas of education, child protection, livelihoods and economic opportunities, and mental health. We also provide water and sanitation services and health and nutrition services to women and children. 

Notes to editor:

We have spokespeople available.

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

Source: Save The Children

Kabul, 8 October 2023- Thousands of children are without homes after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake devastated large parts of Herat province in western Afghanistan. More than 2,000 people have been killed or injured and over 9,000 families have been severely affected.  

Save the Children is deploying emergency humanitarian assistance to support them. The agency is coordinating its response with partners, which will include cash distributions for families, baby hygiene and children’s wellbeing kits, and mental health support for children. 

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

“The scale of the damage is horrific. The numbers affected by this tragedy are truly disturbing – and those numbers will rise as people are still trapped in the rubble of their homes in Herat. Our thoughts and condolences are with all those who have lost loved ones.  

“Thousands of children and families are now without homes, without shelter. They have lost everything. The terror of aftershocks and buildings collapsing has forced families out into the open in Herat.  

“This is a crisis on top of a crisis. Even before this disaster, children were suffering from a devastating lack of food. 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 is co-ordinating with partners to get emergency assistance to the most impacted areas in Herat. We are working to provide 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.  The agency is also conducting further assessments to determine children’s needs. 

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 livelihoods support. 

ENDS  

 

We have spokespeople available. For further enquiries please contact: 

Rachel Thompson, Asia Regional Media Manager (BST +6) rachel.thompson@savethechildren.org 

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

Source: Save The Children

AMMAN, 6 October – At least six children died in an attack on a military academy in Homs yesterday, which killed more than 100 people, as violence escalates across Syria, said Save the Children.

Waves of attacks across Northeast and Northwest Syria this week led to the reported deaths of at least 13 civilians, and damages to critical civilian infrastructure including a school supported by Save the Children.

Rasha Muhrez, Save the Children’s Syria Response Director said:

“There is no safe place for children in Syria, and the little remaining hope for peace is diminishing. This violence must stop now. All parties must de-escalate and cease hostilities without delay. To continue to escalate violence risks killing or injuring children, forcing them to leave their homes, or leaving them without access to food and water and disrupting their education. This jeopardizes the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance and any efforts towards meeting basic needs amidst limited resources.

“All parties to the conflict must make every effort to protect children and their families from further harm.

“After more than 12 years of conflict, Syria’s children deserve the chance at a safer, brighter, future. All parties must refrain from further violence and commit to a genuine, meaningful political process to bring an end to this conflict and guarantee children’s futures.”

Save the Children has been working in Syria since 2012, reaching over five million people, including more than three million children across the country. Save the Children’s programming combines emergency & life-saving interventions with early recovery activities that support the restoration of basic services, including child protection, education, emergency response, food security and livelihoods, water sanitation and hygiene as well as health and nutrition.  

-ENDS-

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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

Please also check our Twitter account @Save_GlobalNews for news alerts, quotes, statements and location Vlogs.

Source: Save The Children

Olesia poses for a photo in the middle of her classroom at a damaged school in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Oleksandr Khomenko / Save the Children

Background: Since the war in Ukraine escalated in February 2022, children’s access to learning has been severely impaired. Around 3,800 education institution have been damaged in shelling and air strikes, and 380 schools have been destroyed. According to Save the Children estimates, 1.7 million children in Ukraine are forced to study online due to the continuous missile threats.

Olesia Zabrodska is a primary school teacher from Mykolaiv, a frontline city in Southern Ukraine. Since the war started, schools in the area have only been allowed to provide online classes. Olesia is a teacher for an inclusive class, where children with special education needs study alongside everyone else. While their school remains closed, Olesia and her students attend Save the Children’s Digital Learning Centre in Mykolaiv to spend time together and to keep up with crucial learning. This is Olesia’s account of what it is like to be a teacher in Ukraine today.

OLESIA’S STORY:
 

“On February 24, 2022, I woke up as normal. My home is in the suburbs, so I did not hear any explosions. I was halfway to the school where I work when messages from parents and other teachers started coming in: the war had started, and our city was being shelled.

I could not believe it.

For the next few weeks, my students and I were in limbo. Some of the children and their families stayed in Mykolaiv, but most fled to safer parts of Ukraine or even abroad. We were only able to restart classes in late March, and even then they were just online. We had gotten used to online learning during the COVID lockdown, but this time everything was different.

Now, many of my students are depressed, anxious, and terrified. On most nights they are woken up by sirens and explosions and are forced to take shelter. This has a huge impact on them both mentally and physically. Parents are also afraid, which of course impacts the children. How are children meant to have the capacity to learn, when families are focused on surviving?

Often, sirens and explosions go off during online classes. In the beginning there were very few underground bunkers in the city, so we were not able to take shelter like we do now. Instead, we followed the “behind two walls and away from windows” instruction and resumed the lesson. During these moments, my students would ask me to not leave them alone. To distract them from the atrocities taking place outside, we would read books out loud or just chat about different things.

We made a big effort so the students were able to communicate with me every day, even if it was just online. Later, when we got a bit more used to the situation, we began to meet in person as well. Coming together is so important for the children who remain in Mykolaiv, and of course has a positive effect on their studies.

Many students struggle with online learning as the family might only have one laptop or phone for several children to share, or the parents might need the devices for their own work. Online learning also makes the children feel exhausted. We try to do physical exercises and different activities, but sometimes this creates more issues; if a child is wearing headphones and suddenly gets up, the headphones may fall, the phone disconnects – it’s terrible.

One of my students, Khrystyna*, is a very talented girl and had excellent grades while at school. However, she struggles with online classes as she’s often home by herself while her mother is at work. When we meet in person, she works hard to catch up.

Khrystyna*, 9, poses for the portrait in the Digital Learning Center for teachers in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Oleksandr Khomenko / Save the Children

Having Save the Children’s digital learning centre with all the electronic devices is very helpful for us. My students attend it three times a week to study and to just meet with friends. Even children who have left the city and are enrolled in other schools outside of Mykolaiv or Ukraine join us online. It is an important way to keep in touch with home. They miss their classmates and their school.

During the COVID pandemic, I saw how first graders were affected by the deprivation of face-to-face communication. They were acting out and could not communicate with each other. That is why I also take next autumn’s first grade class to the centre for pre-school activities – we can help children build their social skills before school even starts.

At the moment it is too dangerous in Mykolaiv to re-open schools in any capacity, but I really hope that we can return to in-person learning sooner rather than later. Our school has a reliable bomb shelter 6.5 metres underground. When the building was hit by missiles last August, the families who were in the basement thankfully remained unharmed.

The missile strike destroyed the entire fourth floor and the school needs costly repairs. I believe it is our common goal now – of parents, school staff, local and state authorities – to find ways to refurbish it. It is an investment in the future of our children, and without our children we have no future. Without their education, we have no future.”

*names changed to protect identity

———————————-

NOTES:

• In Ukraine, Save the Children helps to rehabilitate damaged schools, kindergartens, and shelters. The aid organisation also trains teachers to maintain children’s and their own wellbeing, develops offline applications so children can enjoy reading at any time, and distributes Education Kits which contain pens, colouring pencils, notepads, and educational materials.  
• In frontline Mykolaiv region, Save the Children established a Digital Learning Centre for teachers so they have access to electronic devices whenever they need to hold online classes, and can host in-person lessons with some of their students. The aid organisation also runs mobile learning groups to bring education to children in remote communities severely affected by war. The aid organisation has established 80 Digital Learning Centres (DLC) across Ukraine for children to have safe and supportive environment that provides access to electronic devices and learning software.
• As of 29 September 2023, 363 education institutions in Ukraine have been destroyed, and 3,417 have been damaged.
• As per Save the Children estimates, more than 40% of children in Ukraine have not been able to go back to school fulltime this Autumn, and have to rely on online or hybrid learning due to a lack of bomb shelters in schools and threat of air strikes.
• As the second academic year in wartime started, the number of children set to attend in-person education is expected to increase to 2.3 million from 1.3 million last school year. But an estimated 1.7 million children – or 42% – still have limited access to in-person teaching, according to assessments by Ukraine’s Ministry of Education. This includes about one million students who will rely solely on remote learning.

For more information please contact:

Please also check our Twitter account @Save_GlobalNews for news alerts, quotes, statements and location Vlogs.

Source: Save The Children

Homes have been lost and families impacted in fire-affected regions of New South Wales and Victoria, as flooding threat now looms for some communities.

MELBOURNE, 04 October 2023: Australian authorities have reported that homes in fire-affected communities in the states of NSW and Victoria have been lost, after families had to flee their homes, as bushfires burn across the two states.

Three years since the Black Summer bushfires, which burnt more than 10 million hectares across mostly southeast Australia, children and their families in the states of Victoria, NSW and Tasmania have had to once again face down early season blazes.

While the bushfire threat in Victoria’s Gippsland region has been downgraded, communities are now bracing for flash flooding, after authorities issued a flash flood warning in the eastern parts of the state, as well as inland NSW.

“Families living in bushfire-affected and flood-threatened areas have had to uproot their lives and flee their homes. We should not underestimate the immediate and lasting impact experiencing a disaster can have on a child,” said Aram Hosie, Executive Director of Strategy and Public Affairs at Save the Children Australia.

“Disasters and extreme weather events are becoming more intense and more frequent, and increasingly occurring outside of the normal highest risk time periods. This is a clear indicator that Australia is already beginning to experience the consequences of the unfolding climate emergency experts have been warning us about.”

With children especially vulnerable in times of crisis, Save the Children said it was important that their unique needs are met.

“The concurrent threat of multiple disasters like bushfires and flooding will test the limits of children’s resilience,” Mr Hosie said.

“Children experience a crisis differently to adults, so we encourage caregivers to help them through these challenges in a way that is best suited to them, and to provide them with extra support.

“We must ensure children’s voices and experiences are considered in disaster preparedness and response. We also call on governments to prioritise building the adaptability and resilience of children and their communities in the face of growing climate-driven disasters.”

Save the Children and its Australian delivery arm, 54 reasons, have a history of responding to emergencies across the country, including by establishing Child Friendly Spaces in evacuation centres during the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires and the 2022 East Coast floods.

ENDS

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For further enquiries please contact:

Mala Darmadi on 0425562113 or media.team@savethechildren.org.au

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.