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Sudan crisis: Severe acute malnutrition skyrocketing in Save the Children clinics as country now in worst phase of food insecurity

Source: Save The Children

PORT SUDAN, 1 August 2024 – The number of children in Sudan seeking treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) has surged to unprecedented levels with clinics overwhelmed and global experts on food security warning that parts of the country are in the worst possible phase of hunger, Save the Children said. 
A health and nutrition manager for Save the Children in the central southern state of South Kordofan said the number of under-fives admitted with SAM in June alone was 99% of the programme’s expected case load for the year [1] . 
In one clinic cases of SAM – the most extreme form of malnutrition – increased nearly fourfold between June 2023 and June this year, new data shows [2]. SAM shuts down children’s immune systems and makes otherwise non-life-threatening conditions like diarrhea potentially lethal.  
The aid group’s findings come as the latest report from the Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) – the leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises – flagged the increasing severity of the food crisis in the country [3].  
More than 15 months of conflict have killed and injured thousands of children, forced many into child labour, destroyed healthcare and education, upended food systems, and created the world’s worst child displacement crisis with 6.7 million children now forced from their homes [4].   
Displaced people are now overwhelming health facilities, turning up starving, sick and exhausted, according to Save the Children staff. They are seeing an increase in conditions such as acute respiratory infections (ARI), which can be caused and exacerbated by malnutrition [5]. 
Munir*, health and nutrition manager for Save the Children in South Kordofan, said: 
“IDPs (internally displaced people) have lost all basic needs due to conflict, they can only eat inadequate food, and most children show signs of exhaustion, fatigue, severe wasting and illness. Most ARI cases are linked with poor diet and malnutrition. 
Describing the conditions in Kordofan, Munir* said: “I saw schools, mosques, public institutions, villages, and some roads in cities full of displaced people sleeping in plastic sheets without mattresses or beds. Many of them complain of chronic diseases and high costs of medicine and food, and some of them depend for food on subsidies from charitable people or organizations, but the aid is not enough. The profession of begging has spread in the Kordofan areas.” 
Child labour is rampant as families are forced to take desperate measures to get their hands on whatever food they can to stay alive, Save the Children said, with children toiling in temperatures as high as 45 degrees C. 
In South Kordofan, children younger than 15 are doing manual labour such as carrying heavy jerry cans full of water, washing carts, unloading heavy goods from trucks, construction and even driving rickshaws. 
In Central Darfur, Save the Children staff have come across children who have been completely separated from their parents and are now working in a local market [6].  
Meanwhile, the number of people seeking treatment at Save the Children health facilities in Central Darfur nearly doubled in the year to June 2024 [7]. Staff in Darfur are also overwhelmed themselves, with some having lost family members including children, their homes and their belongings. 
Dr Arif Noor, Country Director of Save the Children in Sudan, said: “In Sudan, time is running out to keep children alive. And yet parties to the conflict and those with international influence have failed to put an end to the fighting over and over again.  
“Some children who are surviving are forced to work in unimaginable conditions, some separated from family members and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.  
“We have been saying it for 15 months and we will keep saying it until we no longer need to – it is time for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, and for a mammoth surge of support for the 14 million children in Sudan whose lives have been shattered.” 
Recent Save the Children analysis of IPC figures found that 16.4 million children, or three in every four children, faced “crisis”, “emergency” or “catastrophe” levels of hunger – almost double the figure of 8.3 million from last December [8]. 
The humanitarian response for Sudan is significantly underfunded, with donors contributing just 32.3% to a $2.7 billion UN response plan. 
Save the Children is calling for an immediate ceasefire and meaningful progress towards a lasting peace agreement. In the meantime, the child rights organisation is pushing for safe, unimpeded humanitarian access to civilians across border routes and fighting lines inside Sudan; the safeguarding of vital infrastructure essential for food systems, such as markets, agricultural land, and storage facilities; and immediate intervention from the international community to fully fund the Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan to save children’s lives.
Save the Children has worked in Sudan since 1983 and is currently supporting children and their families across Sudan providing health, nutrition, education, child protection and food security and livelihoods support. Save the Children is also supporting refugees from Sudan in Egypt and South Sudan. 
 *name has been changed to protect anonymity 
[1] In a clinic in South Kordofan state, the planned annual target for treating SAM in children under 5 was 1474 cases, and during June 2024 Save the Children staff admitted 1457 SAM cases in children under 5. Out of this total 626 SAM cases have been treated, cured, and discharged, and 831 SAM cases are still receiving treatment. 
[2] In one clinic, admissions for SAM in children was 395 in June and 1457 in June 2024. 
[3] FRC has determined that it is plausible that IPC Phase 5 (Famine) conditions, the worst form of hunger, are currently present and are likely to continue through the end of October 2024 in the Zamzam Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in North Darfur. Famine, the highest IPC Phase, is an IPC classification at the area level. Areas are classified in IPC Phase 5 (Famine) when at least one in five (or 20 percent) people or households have an extreme lack of food and face starvation and destitution, resulting in extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition and death. 
[4] Save the Children analysis of latest IOM data shows an estimated 6.7 million children are displaced either internally or across borders. DTM Sudan Mobility Update (04) | Displacement Tracking Matrix (iom.int) 
[5] The total number of ARI cases during January-June 2023 in Save the Children’s health facilities in South Kordofan was 28,279 cases, of which 19,775 (70%) were children. In 2024, cases increased to 32,989 cases, of which 23,070 (70%) were children. 
[6] Save the Children staff registered these children in case management and are now working to respond to their needs.  
[7] The number of people admitted in June 2023 was 6,817 and in June 2024 it was 11,665. 
[8] To make this calculation, Save the Children applied UN data on child share of population in Sudan (47.1%) to the IPC Partnership’s figures showing 25.6 million people are facing IPC Phase 3 and above. Save the Children estimates that this amounts to 16,355,605 children, up from 8,336,700 in December. 
For further enquiries please contact:  
Emily Wight, Global Media Manager, London: Emily.Wight@savethechildren.org; 
Delfhin Mugo, Regional Media Manager for East and Southern Africa, Nairobi: Delfhin.Mugo@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.

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ABOUT 1,300 YAZIDI CHILDREN STILL MISSING 10 YEARS AFTER GENOCIDE

Source: Save The Children

[Emily Garthwaite/ Save the Children]

ERBIL, 01 August 2024 – The fate of about 1,300 of Iraq’s missing Yazidi children remains unknown 10 years on from the Islamic State genocide with thousands of others still homeless, living in tents or amid rubble in Sinjar, said Save the Children. 

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) killed, captured and displaced all 400,000 Yazidi people living in Sinjar on 3 August 2014 [1], in a genocide that disproportionately affected children. About 10,000 Yazidis were killed or abducted, half of all those executed were children [2], according to a report by multi-national researchers in the journal PLoS Medicine.

Nearly all (93%) of those who eventually died on Mount Sinjar from injuries or lack of food and water were also children [3]. Of the around 6,400 abducted Yazidis, it’s estimated about half were children, according to the Yazidi-led nonprofit Nadia’s Initiative [4]. Boys as young as seven were sent to ISIS training camps and girls as young as nine were subjected to rape and sexual enslavement [5], shows a Save the Children report.

Today, about 2,700 Yazidis remain missing, including around 1,300 who were children at the time of their abduction, according to estimates from Yazda, a Yazidi advocacy group in Iraq [6]. About 300 to 400 of those still missing are likely still under 18 [7]. So far, over 3,500 Yazidis have been rescued, including 2,000 children, according to Nadia’s Initiative [8].

*Behat was aged eight when ISIS attacked his community. [Emily Garthwaite/ Save the Children]

Behat*, 17, is still searching for his missing parents and siblings. 

“I held my brother’s hands tightly and I shouted at them (ISIS) not to take him from me. I even shed tears, nonetheless he was taken away. They took him and never brought him back. I didn’t see him again.

 “I haven’t found any information about my parents. What I want is to find out something about my mother and father…. for someone who hasn’t seen their parents for 10 or 11 years, it is so difficult to remember their faces.”

Ten years on, about 200,000 Yazidis remain displaced [9] from their communities in Iraq, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). Many are still homeless, living in tents in displacement camps with little access to adequate education or healthcare.

Viyan*, 15, fled Sinjar as a toddler. She’s been living in a tent in a displacement camp in Iraq for almost a decade.

“It is very difficult to live in tents in the heat. In winters, with heavy rain, the tent gets watery…Children have no place to play, they play in the streets, which are full of stray animals… Children get diseases from the dirt. Teenagers and little girls, even though they are around 10 years old, always say that they wish they were dead and didn’t have to live like this.

“This tragedy and massacre that has happened to the Yazidi people, it is not forgotten and even now when we go to Sinjar, the bones have not been collected.”

In Sinjar, homes and buildings remain destroyed, and streets are littered with rubble and explosive remnants of war, making it one of the most contaminated regions in Iraq with unexploded ordnance, according to aid organisation Humanity & Inclusion [10]. The conflict-damaged infrastructure severely limits access to water and electricity, and there is a shortage of schools and hospitals for returning residents.

As a result, many Yazidis suffer from mental health problems, with children reporting loneliness and suicidal thoughts, according to a report by Save the Children [11].

Athaab*, pictured with her daughter, was aged 16 when she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by ISIS. [Emily Garthwaite/ Save the Children]

Athaab*, 26, returned to Sinjar and lives in a partially destroyed home with her children. Most of her family remains missing.

“I was also one of those who were captured with my whole family. They oppressed and tormented us. I couldn’t find my family when I escaped from them and got back home. I have no one now.

“After I returned home, I had so many difficulties here as well. We have a shortage of many things here in Sinjar. The schools and hospitals here are…insufficient. There is one hospital in Sinjar, but it is not available in the villages around. The crucial thing is to rebuild the houses. People cannot come back…if they don’t have a roof over their heads.

Ajwan*, 39, is searching for her missing family:

“I was captured and lost my family… They took me with my husband, son and daughters…they separated my three children from me…It is very difficult.

“We have many needs, but no services are provided to us in Sinjar. My two daughters cross the main street to go to school…the school is very far and because the streets have no pavement, their lives are in danger.

“Today I am mentally exhausted, I am suffering from body pain. I am sick now…I need to see a doctor and a psychiatrist. I need to go somewhere to forget my suffering, but I don’t have such a place. Although we were saved from ISIS, our spirit is still disturbed.”

Buildings in Sinjar remain destroyed, streets are littered with rubble and explosive remnants of war. [Emily Garthwaite/ Save the Children]

Sarra Ghazi, Save the Children’s Country Director for Iraq, said: 

“Ten years later and over 1,000 children are still missing. Families are still broken. Children have been living in tents for over a decade, with insufficient access to basic services and no means to return in a voluntary and dignified manner. Yazidi children, like all children, deserve the right to safety, security and access to education.”

Save the Children is calling on international and local authorities to prioritise providing comprehensive support for Yazidi children’s mental health and reintegration into society. We advocate for increased investment in education, healthcare, and safe living conditions for displaced and returned Yazidi families. Our goal is to ensure that Yazidi children, like all children, have the right to safety, security, stability and a hopeful future.

Save the Children has been working in Iraq since 1991 and is among the largest international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) supporting children, youth, and their families. Save the Children supports Yazidi families in the Duhok and Ninewa governorates with youth protection networks and activities that support children’s mental health and education services.

ENDS

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

*Names have been changed to protect the identities of case studies. 

*The Yazidis are an ethnic and religion minority group, the majority of whom live in northern Iraq. Historically, the Yazidi community has been widely misunderstood, and has repeatedly experienced extreme violence and persecution.

*In May 2021, the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) concluded that “there is clear and convincing evidence that the crimes against the Yazidi people clearly constituted genocide”. A number of national governments and parliaments, including the U.S. government and the European Parliament, have recognised the treatment of the Yazidi as genocide

[1] “The 400,000-strong community had all been displaced, captured, or killed.”  https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A_HRC_32_CRP.2_en.pdf

[2 &3] An estimated 9,900 Yazidis were killed or kidnapped.   https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002297

[4] 6,417 Yazidis were abducted: 2,869 males and 3,548 females. It is reasonable to estimate half of these were children, according to NGO Nadia’s Initiative. 

[5] Well-being of Yazidi Children in the Aftermath of the 2014 Genocide

https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/well-being-of-yazidi-children-in-the-aftermath-of-the-2014-genocide/?_ga=2.63628649.716901417.1720694295-630413054.1694098843&_gl=1*1k2bhq8*_ga*NjMwNDEzMDU0LjE2OTQwOTg4NDM.*_ga_646SWQJ0VB*MTcyMDY5NDI5NS4yNDkuMS4xNzIwNjk0NDgzLjYwLjAuMA..*_ga_GRKVSTV36C*MTcyMDY5NDI5NS4yMzYuMS4xNzIwNjk0NDgzLjYwLjAuMA

[6] 2,644 (1,244 women and 1,402 men) remain missing, half of these (1,300) are children, according to NGO Yazda. https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/iraq/. 

[7] Around 300 to 400 children are still alive in captivity, according to Nadia’s Initiative.

[8] A total of 3,562 Yazidis have been rescued, including 1,059 female children and 957 male children, according to Nadia’s Initiative.

[9] 200,000 Yazidi’s remain displaced in Iraq https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/refugees-international-condemns-renewed-hate-speech-and-targeting-yazidi-community-sinjar-northern-iraq

[10] https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/no-safe-recovery-impact-explosive-ordnance-contamination-affected-populations-iraq

[11] A Childhood of Fear: The impact of genocide on Yazidi Children in Sinjar

https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/a-childhood-of-fear-the-impact-of-genocide-on-yazidi-children-in-sinjar-2/#:~:text=Children%20were%20disproportionately%20affected%20by,to%20escape%20captivity%20than%20adults.

https://www.savethechildren.net/news/yazidi-children-disabilities-face-bullying-loneliness-nine-years-after-genocide-report

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Child Account: “MY SOUL HURTS” – YAZIDI CHILD 10 YEARS AFTER GENOCIDE

Source: Save The Children

[Emily Garthwaite/ Save the Children]

I want to go back to Sinjar, but I can’t.

It’s not safe there anymore. I feel happy when I go there, but there’s insecurity. The tragedy, this massacre that happened to the Yazidi people, it’s not forgotten.

The bones have not been collected. When I go there and see the bones lying on the ground, my body trembles.

The world should allow Yazidi children to migrate to other countries and live there. As long as we are safe – because neither the camp nor Sinjar is safe.

Viyan* lives inside a tent in an IDP camp in Iraq with her family [Emily Garthwaite/ Save the Children]

Every day, I try to stay inside my tent because it’s the only place I feel comfortable. The streets outside are dirty and polluted, and no one cleans them. I only come out to go to school or attend my English class. When I leave my tent, my soul hurts.

Outside, I see children fighting and cursing at each other, and it makes me sad. I wish we lived somewhere better than here. Sometimes I wonder, why do parents bring children into this world?

If we are going to stay in the camps, they should build houses for us and improve these conditions. Children have no place to play; they play in the streets, which are full of stray animals. Children get diseases from the dirt. There is no family here without at least three sick children. I’m sick, and my brother is sick.

Now most people, even teenagers and little girls, even though they are around 10, they always say that they wish they were dead and didn’t have to live like this.

It is very difficult to live in tents in the heat. In the winter, with heavy rain, the tent gets watery. Children are dying here. The children here are always sick. That’s why I want to be a doctor when I grow up. I used to want to become an engineer, but I decided to become a doctor so I can help people. So that I can heal children and patients.

I think about what I can do for children. How to save them from this situation. I am now in a school where the teacher is very concerned about the students. The level of education here is very low. First, second and third grade students cannot read and write. 

[Emily Garthwaite/ Save the Children]

This is the dress of the Yazidis – when we wear it, we show we are Yazidis. It is a holy dress. We, who fled from insecurity in Sinjar are not under international support. They should at least make the lives of the camp children better. If people return to Sinjar, at least make Sinjar safe for them.

Based on an interview with Viyan* collected by Soraya Ali. 

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Save the Children and Fedi Announce First-of-its-Kind Collaboration Aimed at Revolutionising Cash Assistance Through Bitcoin

Source: Save The Children

FAIRFIELD, 30 July 2024 – Global humanitarian organisation Save the Children and Fedi, Inc., a developer of global bitcoin adoption technology, announced today a groundbreaking collaboration aimed at revolutionising cash and voucher assistance (CVA) delivery to communities most impacted by inequality.  

This joint initiative with Fedi will launch in the Philippines and provide select communities with bitcoin as part of community cash assistance via the Fedi mobile app. With the benefits of bitcoin—including speed, lower transaction costs, and decentralised distribution of digital funds—communities will be empowered to determine for themselves the best use of their funds for immediate and long-term needs.  

Through the programme, members of the community will learn more the basics of bitcoin and how to use the Fedi mobile app to transact in bitcoin and exchange it for local currency when necessary. Central to the pilot is the ability for programme participants to make peer-to-peer bitcoin transfers optimised for faster, low-fee transactions. The pilot will also explore the potential of community-secured wallets to promote financial inclusion, digital literacy, and economic empowerment through self-custody. Save the Children and the communities it works with will be able to take ownership of bitcoin and hold it or share it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.   

Ettore Rossetti, Head Advisor, Emerging Technology, Marketing, and Innovation Partnerships at Save the Children, said:

“Around the world, children’s futures are at risk. Save the Children believes that bitcoin and the blockchain can be a force for good and for economic inclusion. We are tremendously excited about this collaboration with Fedi, and the potential to reinvent the way in which children and families with limited resources can increase their digital and financial literacy, lift themselves out of poverty and ultimately shape their own futures.”    

Cash assistance is one of the best evidenced tools to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, allowing families to determine how best to respond to shocks and crisis. Providing cash for basic needs supports local markets, increases access to education, health, and protection services, while having been demonstrated to reduce reliance on child labour, increase dietary diversity, strengthen local livelihoods, and improve family wellbeing.

In 2022, $7.9 billion dollars was transferred as cash or vouchers to crisis-affected people – a 41 % increase from the year before – which amounted to 21% of international assistance, up from 7% in 2017, according to The State of the World’s Cash report by the CALP Network. 

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent children’s organisation in cash transfers. The organisation has delivered over $600 million directly into the hands of families and communities since 2018, in the most complex humanitarian crises in the world.

The programme will also explore ways to increase transparency and accountability in the donation process by direct tracking from donor to programme participant. This innovative approach could transform the way humanitarian assistance is received and delivered, eventually leading to greater impact and resilience for impoverished and disenfranchised populations around the world. 

Fedi cofounder and CEO Obi Nwosu, said:

“Fedi aims to bring freedom technologies, financial inclusion, and digital empowerment to people throughout the Global South. Save the Children has been serving those same communities for a century, and in recent years have had the vision to see how bitcoin and other freedom technologies can help them reach even more people. We are grateful they chose us to be partnering with them on this innovative project and we are eager to show the world how we can empower these communities together.” 

This project will allow Save the Children to test digital and mobile money solutions with the intention of incorporating bitcoin into Save the Children’s global cash transfer programmes.  As the first international NGO to accept a bitcoin donation in 2013 in response to Typhoon Haiyan, which struck Southeast Asia and devastated the Philippines, Save the Children is a 105-year-old organisation committed to pioneering innovative approaches that will equip our next generation with the tools, technology, and education required to thrive in an increasingly interconnected, digital, and inequitable world.  

Save the Children has been working in the Philippines since 1981 with programmes in humanitarian response, health and nutrition, education, and children’s rights and protection. 

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. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. To support Save the Children’s mission with bitcoin, please donate at www.savethechildren.org/bitcoin.  

About Fedi, Inc. 

Fedi Inc. leverages Freedom Technology, such as bitcoin, to empower communities, particularly in the Global South. Fedi offers a solution that seamlessly integrates humans and technology, making it fast, affordable, and accessible through a network of trusted individuals worldwide. The Fedi Superapp combines chat, money, and more into a single Community Superapp, run by and for communities and their members. We connect the most fundamental human technology — community — with freedom technologies to elevate humanity. Follow us at X and Nostr. Learn more about Fedi at fedi.xyz. 

Media Contacts: 

Media spokespeople available, please contact Ruby Wright, Global Media Manager, ruby.wright@savethechildren.org.

For outside of working hours (BST) requests please contact: media@savethechildren.org.uk or +44(0)7831 650409.   

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GAZA: Nearly 300 days into the war, attacks on ‘humanitarian zones’, never-ending relocation orders and aid worker fatalities cripple aid delivery

Source: Save The Children

Displaced families on the move in Al Mawasi [Bisan/Save the Children]

RAMALLAH, 30 July 2024 – Intensified Israeli airstrikes in areas of Gaza where aid organisations are providing services, including Israeli designated “humanitarian zones”,  as well as closed and dysfunctional borders have drastically impeded the ability to  deliver life-saving supplies, warn 20 aid agencies in a  report on humanitarian access published today.

Nearly 300 days  into the war in Gaza, civilians are constantly under relocation orders from areas previously deemed safe  with  insufficient time to evacuate. Recent intensified aerial bombardment in the middle area of Gaza, where civilians previously sheltering in Rafah were told to flee, has been particularly deadly.

More than 190,000 Palestinians have been displaced in four days in Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis, the site of the latest Israeli offensive, while the casualty toll in Khan Younis rose to 73 fatalities and 270 injuries as of 23 July, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The UN said that over 80% of Gaza has been placed under evacuation orders or designated as “no-go zones” by Israeli forces, confining 1.9 million internally displaced people to about 17% of the strip.

All the while closed and dysfunctional border crossings and attacks on aid agencies continue to hamper humanitarian efforts. Two Palestinian staff of War Child’s NGO partner were killed on 13 July, while another staff member was injured and all four of his children were killed in an airstrike in Nuseirat. One of ActionAid’s partner staff member’s homes was also bombed, killing his four daughters, while the staff member remains in critical condition.

Many organisations have supplies approved and waiting to enter, but the unloading zone at the Kerem Shalom/Karam Abu Salem border crossing on the Gaza side has been full for weeks due to high insecurity, Israeli military operations and risk of looting given soaring needs facing families.

Save the Children managed to get four trucks (80 pallets) of medical supplies into Gaza on a convoy after waiting at the Kerem Shalom crossing in the heat for over a month, following hostilities on the Gaza side of the border. The pallets included standard medication such as antibiotics and heart disease medications. Save the Children’s teams say they have been unable to get critical medical supplies into Gaza in a timely manner, with health facilities relying on supplies from UN agencies that are also running out.

Save the Children’s teams also have 17 pallets of temperature-controlled medicines stuck in Al-Areesh, Egypt, including four boxes that require continuous refrigeration. Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) only allow flatbed trucks, not the closed trucks required to transport such supplies, resulting in repeated rejections of SC’s temperature-controlled shipments.

Other aid agencies confirmed they are facing similar challenges. Oxfam has water tanks, desalination units, tap stands, generators and latrines  approved but unable to enter through the crossing, whilst 864 tents procured by the Norwegian Refugee Council that had been at Al-Arish port recently arrived at Kerem Shalom but still remain inaccessible due to insecurity and safety concerns.

The UN said the average daily volume of humanitarian aid cargo entering Gaza has decreased by 56% since April while the decimation of the health system and continuous relocation orders are causing severe overcrowding and stretching already constrained resources, exponentially increasing the risk of water-borne and infectious disease. On 23 July, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there was a high risk of the polio virus spreading across Gaza, after traces were detected in six wastewater samples. WHO saidthat tens of thousands of children under age five are now at risk of contracting polio, and the possibility of international spread beyond Gaza cannot be ruled out.

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

“We are doing everything we can to save children’s lives in Gaza, but our job becomes more and more challenging by the day. Forcibly displacing civilians into areas that cannot accommodate them is causing a humanitarian catastrophe on an entirely new level. There is no space left, and barely enough life-saving supplies to keep children alive. Without access to critical assistance, lives will continue to be lost. 

Aid workers are not spared from the violence. One of our staff members was killed alongside his wife and four children by an Israeli airstrike back in December, since then aid workers have continued to be targeted. Humanitarian staff should never be a target and humanitarian operations, including convoys and warehouses, must be protected. We’ve said it again and again: an immediate and definitive ceasefire is the only way to save lives in Gaza.”

Save the Children has been providing essential services and support to Palestinian children since 1953 and are currently working around the clock to get vital supplies to families in Gaza – drinking water, food, hygiene products, mattresses, blankets, learning, shelter kits, toys, and games. We are providing mental health and psychosocial support to children and their families and delivering cash to families to help them to buy essentials. However, the basic conditions to reach families need to be established by the government of Israel by lifting the siege and facilitating unimpeded humanitarian access across the Gaza Strip and for all parties to halt hostilities.               

For further enquiries please contact: 

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

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

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

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Ethiopia: More than 1,320 children remain at risk following week of deadly landslides

Source: Save The Children

Addis Ababa, 26 July 2024: Hundreds of children living in the remote Gofa zone of Southern Ethiopia remain at risk of death and injury from rain-induced disasters, after surviving a series of landslides that killed at least 257 people, said Save the Children.
On Sunday, heavy rains in the area caused a major landslide which buried hundreds of people, including children, and on Monday a second landslide buried those searching for them. More than 15,000 people live in the immediate vicinity of the disasters, including at least 1,320 children under 5 years of age and nearly 5,300 pregnant and breastfeeding women, according to the UN.
Save the Children is working with local partners to roll out much-needed aid to communities impacted by the landslides, as search and rescue efforts intensify.  The response includes trucking in drinkable water, providing water purifying chemicals, setting up urgent health care and nutrition services, and building latrines. The aid agencies will also provide cash assistance and psychosocial support to affected families.
In Southern Ethiopia, landslides are common during the rainy season and are known to cause devastating disasters, leading to deaths, injuries and widespread displacement. But this year’s rainy season comes after a particularly unseasonable dry season, in which heavy rains and flooding linked to a combination of the El Nino phenomenon and human-induced climate change, have devastated communities.
At least 600,000 children across the Horn of Africa have been affected by flooding so far this year, leading to homelessness, and spikes in diseases such as cholera.  
Save the Children’s Country Director for Ethiopia, Dragana Strinic said:
“This week has brought horror upon horror for children in Ethiopia’s Geza Gofa district. It is near impossible to try to conceive of the terror they must have been feeling as mud and earth came crashing down into their homes and swept away their communities.
“We now need to support the local community in its rescue mission and to look after survivors who have lost everything: their homes, livelihoods and food sources, access to clean water. This is a stark example of the devastation extreme weather events can bring to children and their communities, particularly those already affected by poverty.”  
Save the Children has been operating in Ethiopia for over 60 years. The organisation focuses on health, nutrition, water and sanitation, protection services, education and cash and in-kind distributions. Since the beginning of this year, Save the Children has reached about 1.35 million people including over 840,000 children through life-saving food, water distribution, and treatment for malnutrition.
For further enquiries please contact:  
Emily Wight, Global Media Manager, London: Emily.Wight@savethechildren.org; 
Delfhin Mugo, Regional Media Manager for East and Southern Africa, Nairobi: Delfhin.Mugo@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. 

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PHILIPPINES: School suspended after powerful storm wreaks havoc with warnings over disease

Source: Save The Children

MANILA, 25 July 2024 – Classes across the Philippines were suspended on Thursday[1], following a powerful typhoon that swept across the country and has made its way to Taiwan, Save the Children said.
Footage shared by news outlets[2] and on social media showed people in the capital Manila wading chest-deep in water while rescue teams used boats to carry people to safety. Some took with them whatever precious possessions they could, including family pets.
At least 45 schools in the Philippines located across 40% of the country* sustained damage from the storm and the country’s Department of Education said schools in several regions, including Manila, would close on Thursday following the destruction.
The Philippines is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Rising sea levels, higher temperatures, and increased frequency of typhoons and extreme weather events has led to floods, landslides and land erosion that pollute water resources, damage infrastructure, destroy crops, and lead to loss of lives and livelihoods. In 2022, the World Risk Index ranked the Philippines as the country with the highest disaster risk.[3]
Schools across the Philippines have already faced closures this year because of extreme heat and now rain and floods. In a study released last month, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said that 53 out of 180 teaching days, or more than one month of school, were lost last year due to “extreme heat and calamities”.[4]
Carla, 15, a member of Save the Children Philippines’ National Children’s Advisory Team, said she’s worried about flooding at her family home.
“There are holes in our roof and the leak in my room is severe. My school card got wet, making it difficult for me to apply for a scholarship. I’m also scared that our house might collapse soon.” 
At least 13 people were killed in the Philippines following the strong winds and heavy rains brought on by Typhoon Carina, also known as Gaemi, which also led to deadly landslides. In Taiwan, more than 220 people have been injured, and thousands of households have been left without power.[5]
Faisah Ali, Humanitarian Manager for Save the Children Philippines, said:
“In times of crisis, such as Typhoon Carina, our priority must be to reach the most vulnerable children. Responding swiftly and effectively to their needs is not just an act of compassion, it is our fundamental responsibility. By ensuring their basic needs like food, shelter, and health, and providing essential education support, we not only aid their immediate survival but also lay the foundation for their future. Every child deserves the chance to learn and thrive, even amidst adversity.”
The storm is expected to reach the eastern coast of China within Thursday, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center.[6]
Save the Children Philippines is at the forefront the humanitarian response and is  identifying the immediate needs of affected children and their communities. Save the Children is calling on the country’s Department of Education and concerned government agencies to ensure that children like Carla can safely return to school.
The country’s Department of Health raised a nationwide “Code White Alert” and asked medical personnel and health services to be ready to respond against the threat of leptospirosis, a bacterial disease infection spread in the urine of infected animals.
Save the Children Philippines’ Health Adviser, Dr. Amado Parawan, said:
“Flood waters may be contaminated with urine from rats carrying the bacteria. Thus, we encourage everyone to exercise precaution, especially for children, and seek immediate medication at the nearest health facility, if infected.”
Save the Children has been working in the Philippines since 1981 with programmes in humanitarian response, health and nutrition, education, and children’s rights and protection.
*45 schools were damaged in eight out of Philippines’ 18 regions, or about 40% of the country.
[3] https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2023-11/USAID-%20Philippines-Climate-Change-Country-Profile_0.pdf
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Statement on attacks in Khan Younis that killed at least 84 people including 24 children

Source: Save The Children

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

“Nearly 10 months into this horrifying war, the devastation to children’s lives and disregard for legal protections has not ended. Israeli military forces continue to shrink the area of the zone they have declared “humanitarian”. Civilians are constantly under evacuation orders from areas previously deemed safe. In Khan Younis, thousands of families are fleeing Israeli airstrikes following new relocation orders that gave insufficient time for civilians to know from which areas they are required to leave or where they should go. At least 84 people have reportedly been killed in one day, including 24 children, according to the Ministry of Health. Health workers say they are overwhelmed by hundreds of cases at Nasser Hospital, and they lack medical supplies to treat patients. There is nowhere left for families in Gaza, and wherever they go, they still risk being targeted. 

Children in the occupied West Bank are not spared from violence. The UN said that the number of child casualties in the past nine months has increased by nearly 250%. A raid on Tulkarem refugee camp is putting more children at risk, with the Palestinian Red Crescent saying Israeli forces are obstructing their team’s movement, and they cannot reach all the wounded.  

We are outraged by the relentless and disproportionate violence against Palestinian children. We cannot allow this to become normalised. Those who have survived are living through inhumane conditions and extreme stress. We must protect them. They are children. There must be an immediate permanent ceasefire and accountability for any crimes committed. Without accountability, children will never be safe.”    

For further enquiries please contact: 

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

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

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

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“SPORT IS CRITICAL FOR CHILD DEVELOPMENT, BUT TOO MANY MISS OUT” – OLYMPIANS AND CHILDREN CALL FOR BETTER ACCESS TO SPORT

Source: Save The Children

Olympian Inés Melchor, Peru, long-distance runner, looks at her medals. Credit: Save the Children/ Miguel Angel Arreategui Rodrigue

  • The Paris Olympics start on 26 July and celebrate global excellence in sport; meanwhile millions of children around the world are denied sporting opportunities due to poverty, conflict, gender or disability.

PARIS, 23 July 2024 – Too many children are missing out on the opportunity to take part in sport in a safe and enjoyable environment, said Save the Children, with the organisation joining Olympians and children to call for greater recognition of sport as an essential right for children [1]. 

Physical activity is essential for children and adolescents’ physical growth, cognitive development, motor skills, and overall mental wellbeing, with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommending children and adolescents do at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day. However, around 81% of adolescents globally do not meet recommended levels of activity according to the WHO.

Sport is particularly important for children, as in addition to the health benefits, it also gives them the opportunity to make friends and feel connected. Physical activity including sport can also benefit children’s mental health, improving mood, and boosting cognitive function  according to the WHO.  

Yet many children around the world are unable to access sports and the associated benefits due to factors such as gender, conflict, poverty, or their refugee status, said Save the Children.  

The child rights agency spoke to children and former Olympians from around the world to learn about what sport means to them.  

Inés Melchor from Peru, a long-distance runner who participated in the Athens 2004, London 2012 and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, said: 

“Sport is hugely beneficial for children and adolescents’ physical and mental health. It combats stress and sets them on a good path for a healthy life. We need to value children’s participation in sport and provide them with opportunities and encouragement to take part.” 

Nikkita Holder from Canada, who participated in the 100-meter hurdles and the 100-meter relay in the London 2012 Olympics, said: 

“Sport is essential for children’s development, yet too many miss out. Every child has the right to participate in sports, but unfortunately, barriers such as poverty, gender discrimination and disability prevent many children from playing. As a community, it is our responsibility to break down these barriers and ensure that all children have the chance to experience physical and mental benefits of sports.” 

Since 2018, Save the Children and The Arsenal Foundation’s Coaching for Life programme [2] has given almost 5,000 refugee children living in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan the opportunity to play football. The programme challenges gender inequality and encourages communities to support girls’ participation in football – there are now an equal number of girls and boys taking part.  

Rehab*, 15, is a junior coach with the Coaching for Life programme, and initially faced resistance from some members of her community for participating in sport. She said: 

“They (the community) think that boys can play football, but girls shouldn’t. They have the mindset that girls should stay at home, clean, and not go out for training or work. These beliefs are rooted in traditional norms and expectations.” 

Children with disabilities often encounter challenges when trying to participate in sports, said Save the Children. Langyuan, 17, from China, faced barriers to accessing sport due to preconceptions about his hearing impairment and learning difficulties. He joined Save the Children China’s Disability and Inclusion Programme [3] at the age of 8, where he fully achieved his potential for sport. Since joining the programme, Langyuan has grown in confidence and has won many medals at the Sichuan Special Olympics. He now plays several sports, Langyuan said:  

“Playing basketball, running, swimming, roller skating, Tai Chi – I can do all of these. I started Tai Chi when I was seven, so I’ve been doing Tai Chi for almost ten years now. I like Tai Chi because it’s good for my health.”   

Sarah Cowley Ross from New Zealand, an Olympic Heptathlete who competed in the London 2012 Olympics, said: 

“Not only is sport vital for children and young people’s physical and mental health, it also teaches them important lifelong skills such as resilience, dedication, and teamwork. It’s crucial that we remove barriers preventing all children from taking part – sport should be available to everyone.” 

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children’s unique needs are met and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.   

 *Name changed to protect identify 

Notes:  

[1] According to Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

[2]  For 10 years, The Arsenal Foundation and Save the Children partnership has brought hope to children in some of the toughest environments, such as Iraq, Somalia, Indonesia, and in Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. In 2018, we took our partnership to the next level and combined our expertise to design and implement our innovative programme, Coaching for Life, which uses the power of football to improve the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of children. We launched the programme in Za’atari Refugee Camp with a focus on supporting children and their families who had been affected by the war in Syria. 

[3] Save the Children in China’s Disability and Inclusion Programme supports children with disabilities in accessing quality inclusive education and provides services for their comprehensive development in pre-school, compulsory education, and vocational training. The programme operates primarily in Sichuan Province, and in collaboration with other sectors, helps facilitate Individualized Education Plans to tap into the specialties and potentials of children with multiple disabilities, including areas such as sports. 

Media spokespeople available, please contact Ruby Wright, Global Media Manager, ruby.wright@savethechildren.org. For outside of working hours (BST) requests please contact: media@savethechildren.org.uk or +44(0)7831 650409.   

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Physical abuse, infectious disease spreading as conditions for Palestinian children in Israeli military detention deteriorate

Source: Save The Children

RAMALLAH, 22 July 2024 – Palestinian children in Israeli-run prisons have told Save the Children of facing increasing starvation, abuse including sexual violence, with conditions deteriorating markedly since the start of the war last October including a rise in infectious diseases like scabies.  

Israel is the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes children in military courts. On Friday 19 July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered an Advisory Opinion declaring the State of Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful, directly challenging the legal status of Israeli policies and practices related to military detention. 

Save the Children said that the ICJ’s conclusion reinforces the need to immediately end the arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Palestinian children, a decades-long child protection catastrophe. 

Since last October, Save the Children’s partners have supported about 49 former child detainees in Gaza. The children reported physical abuse and interrogations where some said they were asked to strip naked and stand in extreme temperatures. During their arrests, their parents had no information on their whereabouts and once released, children showed clear signs of violence and ill-treatment, including bruises, shock, traumatic stress, and weight loss. Some children reported being sexually assaulted, harassed, strip searched, and violently beaten. Torture, cruel or inhuman treatment of children is strictly prohibited under international law. 

The Palestinian Commission has reported that more than  650  children from the West Bank and an unknown number of children from Gaza have been detained since October, a finding echoed by recent UN reports. Of these, around 250 are reportedly still in prison. 

The main alleged offense is stone throwing, which can carry a 20-year sentence in prison for Palestinian children.   

 

Firas* and Qusay*, both 17, are from the occupied West Bank and were detained in two different Israeli-run prisons before the war in Gaza started. They were released at the end of 2023. They spoke to Save the Children about the conditions in detention. 

Qusay* said he saw a child with head injuries from a beating so severe that he would faint every time he tried to stand. He also said new detainees brought to the prison were as young as 12 and 13 years old: 

“The younger children were really scared and kept crying, I wanted to take care of them, but when I asked the prison guard to allow me to stay with them, I was violently beaten.” 

The Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, a governmental prisoners’ organisation set up in 1998, recently confirmed the spread of infectious skin diseases like scabies among prisoners due to a lack of hygiene items and shared bedding. Firas* recalled using a lighter to burn the ticks that would come near him, while Qusay* was released with tick bites covering his body. 

Qusay* said: 

“[After the war started], they took everything, we didn’t have enough blankets and I shared my pillow with another prisoner. In the winter, they opened the windows so we would feel cold. One child prisoner had a severe rash, so we asked the guard to allow him to sit in the sun or clean his body. The guard said, ‘Call me back when he’s dead’.” 

According to Israeli media reports, the recent increase in mass detentions has led to ‘intolerable’ overcrowding in Israeli prisons, with reports  of widespread abuse including detainees deprived of medical treatment and kept in cages, and human rights organisations documenting cases of torture.  

Firas* said the number of child detainees where he was held rose noticeably in the first five days after the war started on 7 October. Both children said conditions in detention deteriorated significantly after the war began. They said they would not be allowed to speak to or see their parents.   

Firas* said:

“The horrors we endured made me think that pre-war life in prison was heaven.”  

Child psychologists are warning that children released from detention are increasingly struggling to recover, unable to cope with the shock experienced in prison and the fear of being re-arrested. 

A psychologist from a partner of Save the Children said:  

“Their symptoms this time around are more intense and severe than in the past, partly because of the social conditions around them. The whole community is tense and stressed about what is happening. The children we talked to think a lot about their peers who are still in prison. They say, ‘we are safe now, but they are still not’. They feel guilty for being freed, and the constant fear of being re-arrested prevents them from thinking about the future. They can’t make decisions, they say, ‘Why would I think of tomorrow if they will re-arrest me’. Their families describe them as ‘frozen’.” 

With legal and family access to Palestinians in Israeli-run prisons further restricted since October, testimonies from children and adults released from detention are some of the only available sources on the conditions faced. 

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

‘We’ve been working alongside our partner on the ground and speaking to hundreds of former child detainees in the past years, and we have never seen such devastation and hopelessness. These children are trapped, unable to move or see the sun, forced into crowded cells with appalling, unsanitary conditions, and subject to severe abuse and violence. The children we spoke to have endured horrors an adult should never witness, let alone a child. 

“The abuse and ill-treatment of Palestinian children must end. The decades-old protection crisis for Palestinian children can no longer be ignored. For too long, the Israeli occupation has severely impacted the lives of Palestinian children.”

  

Save the Children continues to demand an immediate moratorium on Israeli military authorities arresting, detaining and prosecuting children and for the immediate release of all children arbitrarily detained. 

Save the Children has been providing essential services and support to Palestinian children since 1953.  

Save the Children has been working with a partner in the West Bank for 10 years to provide rehabilitative support to children following their release from Israeli-run prisons. This includes psychosocial support, vocational assessments and trainings as well as remedial sessions for those who missed out on education.  We are also assisting children from Gaza who were detained during the war and have been subsequently released with psychosocial support and referral to medical services. 

  

Notes to Editor:  

  • Since the beginning of the war Israeli forces have detained more than 9,400 Palestinians  from the West Bank in addition to thousands other from Gaza whose exact numbers are not confirmed. We know from our latest research before the war that most children in the military detention system face appalling emotional and physical abuse, including 86% of them reporting being beaten by Israeli authorities in detention, and 69% reporting having experienced sexual violence and abuse. 
  • A 2022 research by Save the Children found that children in Israeli prisons are routinely denied their right to contact with their families at every stage of the detention process. Save the Children research in 2020,  2022 and 2023 found alarming levels of abuse and ill-treatment of Palestinian children held in the Israeli military detention system, echoing findings from UNICEF and Palestinian organisations.  

  

For further enquiries please contact: 

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

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

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