Each year, with the help of our supporters, Save the Children reaches millions of children affected by conflicts, disease, floods and cyclones. As well as saving lives, we help children and families to recover and rebuild their lives.
Since our first humanitarian response in 1919, Save the Children has helped generations of children across the globe, delivering emergency aid and rebuilding communities devastated by war and natural disaster. Today, more than a century later, we continue to do everything we can to protect children.
In 2019 alone, we helped 10.6 million children in crisis.
On April 25, 2015 a magnitude-7.9 earthquake hit Nepal, just 50 miles from the capitol, Kathmandu. It caused untold devastation, killing over 9,000 people and injuring a further 17,000 - including many children. Save the Children was ready to respond. Drawing on over a century of experience our teams were able to reach more than 127,000 people, including 76,000 children, with vital aid.
Cyclone Haiyan, or Yolanda as it was known in the Philippines, made landfall on November 8 2013 and was one of the deadliest typhoons ever to hit the Philippines, killing over 6,000 people, and displacing 4 million more. Buildings and roads crumbled, fishing boats were wrecked, and groves of coconut trees were flattened, leaving many families unable to earn the incomes they depended on. Save the Children was one of the first humanitarian organisations on the ground.
Since 2011 more than 2 million Syrian children and their families have fled their country. Despite the danger inside Syria, Save the Children has reached over 1.1 million people, including over 570,000 children, with life-saving food baskets, education, health services, clean water, warm clothes and support for traumatized children.
Rapid deployment of lifesaving aid
In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, children and families need food, water, shelter, and medical aid. In the first hours and days after a major disaster, Save the Children concentrates on meeting these basic needs – to help keep families alive and safe.
Our rapid response teams are based all around the world, allowing us to deliver lifesaving supplies, care and protection anywhere, and quickly. We know from experience that the faster we can respond, the more lives we can save.
Transporting goods into a country after an emergency can be difficult – there are often delays before planes can land, or trucks can get through. Save the Children stores emergency supplies in warehouses around the world, so we can move equipment to where it’s needed as soon as possible.
As well as immediate food and water supplies, Save the Children provides blankets, mosquito nets, plastic sheeting, torches, cooking equipment, mattresses and other essential household items to families to keep them safe.
Sawat and her family were forced to flee to higher ground when torrential rain caused widespread flooding in the Cox's Bazar area. When the flood waters rose, her house was destroyed. Save the Children gave her family food. She was also able to buy a goat to help her financial situation in the longer term.
“When the child-friendly space started, we took him there every day. His mother is now able to go back to work as he spends time at the centre. I come in to check on him sometimes but the facilitators take good care of him.” - Bikalpa’s Grandmother
“I am looking forward to getting back to school. I will also have new books and get to read new stories.” Reena's school was severely damaged by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. Save the Children teams helped set up temporary learning centres and child-friendly spaces throughout Nepal so that children have the space and support they need to play, recover and access education while schools are rebuilt and repaired.
Access to clean water and hygiene kits saves children's lives in the aftermath of emergencies.
Sidra, four years old, outside her family’s shelter after they received a shelter kit from Save the Children to help weatherproof their tent. Our teams are delivering life-saving aid to Syrian refugees. We’re giving them food, safe water, medicine, protection, shelter and education.
"Save the Children gave us shelter materials and a household kit." Typhoon Haiyan damaged and destroyed more than a million houses, leaving millions of people homeless. In the immediate aftermath, Save the Children have provided over 40,000 households with emergency shelter kits, nearly 50,000 household kits, containing blankets, cooking pots and kitchen utensils and helped 9,000 households rebuild safer, more resilient homes.
“We are very thankful for the help of Save the Children. One week after the cyclone, Save the Children helped us and now we have water again. Everyone feels very happy about it and we don’t have to worry about using dirty water anymore.” Cyclone Pam, Vanuatu.
Children play in a temporary school in village Limo Hindu, Padang Sago district, West Sumatra, Indonesia, where Save the Children erected 74 school tents.
Keeping children safe from harm
In the chaos caused by conflict and disaster, children often become separated from their families, increasing their vulnerability.
Without swift action and adequate preparation, children caught up in emergencies are at greater risk of disease, starvation, trafficking, slavery, dangerous labour, sexual abuse, neglect and psychosocial trauma.
When disaster hits a community or country, we promote child protection, working with families, communities and governments to ensure that the most vulnerable children do not get forgotten in the chaos.
<p>I lost my parents during this Ebola; I don’t know what my future will be like</p>
<cite><strong>Nina aged 15-18</strong>, Moyamba (Ebola)</cite>
Safe spaces to play
When homes are destroyed, families are separated and everything that is familiar is left behind. Giving children a safe place to play becomes even more important.
During emergencies we set up child friendly spaces where children can play, socialise and begin the process of recovery. While children are struggling with what is unfolding around them, we help them look to the future, by giving them safe spaces to be themselves in.
“Those were the worst days of my life. It was horrible being away from home with no food and no friends. Now I feel good that I can go to school and resume my studies, and have a place to play. So I feel very happy.” Naila, 10, Pakistan
Two weeks after Typhoon Haiyan destroyed her home and all of her belongings, Maria found comfort in the safety of a child-friendly space provided by Save the Children in the Philippines. Maria now has a safe space to play and learn again.
“It was very bad in South Sudan. We had to run because there was lots of fighting and people were being killed. I was very scared. Here it is a lot better. There is no fighting here. I go to the Child Friendly Space every day and its lots of fun. We play games and swing on the swings. I like it here a lot but I want to go back to my old village. I love my old village.” Joseph, 7, lives in a refugee camp in Uganda, where he attends Save the Children‘s Child Friendly Space. Since fighting broke out in December 2013 more than 616,000 people have fled South Sudan to neighbouring countries. More than 154,000 people have entered Uganda.
War and natural disaster result in millions of families and children witnessing or being victims of unthinkable atrocities. During and after an emergency, children face many risks. By reuniting families and creating safe spaces in emergency evacuation sites we can prevent abuse, neglect, exploitation of and violence against children in emergencies.
Learning in the ruins
Today, 58 million children are out of school. Around half of these children live in conflict affected countries, with millions more forced out of education as a result of disasters such as earthquakes, floods or storms.
Resuming education as quickly as possible is essential to help children and communities cope with crises, helping to restore normality, stability, structure and hope for the future.
When children are forced out of school, often they do not return, condemning them to a future of poverty and hardship. That’s why providing a place to learn is a core part of Save the Children’s emergency response.
In emergencies, we partner with UNICEF to co-lead the education cluster for the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). We work with local governments, communities, parents, children and teachers to ensure that learning spaces are established or restored, teaching materials are provided, relevant teacher training and support is provided, so that children are able to continue their education as quickly as possible.
“In our school they aimed missiles towards us, and when the missiles hit the school it destroyed half the building…I was not at school that day, but I saw it on fire. I have seen many bodies – in the streets, thrown outside homes, and even in the river.” Fadi, 9, Syria
Save the Children launched the first pre-school in Zaatari Refugee Camp in December 2012. The site consists of four fully furnished winterized tents, one playground and latrines. The pre-school is accessible to more than 1000 Syrian children who fled the war in Syria is search of safety.
“I was in class when my school was hit. We ran out of the school right away and I went back home, but my uncle went to the school and found out that many children had been injured. I’ve never seen my school or my friends again. I miss them a lot.” Basma, 8, Syria
“Right now I feel I’ve forgotten what I’ve learnt, I’ve forgotten everything.” Laila, 9, Syria
“It’s very important to go to school in this camp because then when I finish my studies I can become a teacher or a nurse, someone who is great in the nation and can help rebuild what has been destroyed. If there was no school I wouldn’t be happy. When I go to school everything I have gone through starts to disappear in my mind, and I no longer remember.” Innsaf, 13, South Sudan
On the move
A generation of children are on the run. They are fleeing with their families in unprecedented numbers, creating the highest level of displacement since World War II. Forced to run from conflict and persecution in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, the world is witnessing a rapid escalation in the number of people seeking safety from suffering in countries across the world.
Approximately half of the 19.5 million registered refugees globally are children and young people. The numbers are growing dramatically as a result of escalating crises in places where violence, persecution and conflict are uprooting entire populations.
Out of fear for their lives, children are forced to embark on perilous journeys. They hope for the chance of a better life and the opportunity for asylum. But while they are on the move, they are extremely vulnerable.
7-year-old Ali fled from Syria over a year ago. He lives with his parents, brothers and sister in an old chicken barn, which is mouldy and damp in a Jordanian village near the border with Syria. Ali becomes sad when he thinks about Syria. He mourns his cousin who died three weeks ago after he was shot in his back. Music is one thing that comforts Ali. He takes his lute along to this rock in the valley and plays his music while he looks upon the horizon of Syria and dreams of being on the other side of the valley, at his home, in Syria.
“We were afraid for our children’s lives so we fled to the caves in the mountains. It was the safest and the only available place for us to live. Living in the caves was impossible, it was total misery. If it was up to me and if I didn’t have children I would have preferred to have lived under the threat of airstrikes rather than living like that.
Muna and her 3 year old brother Tamer (right) standing outside their family room in a cow shed. 25-year-old Laila* and her three children were forced to flee their village in Syria after receiving death threats. They now live in a cow shed in Lebanon along with other families.
“I really want to thank all the donors and the Save the Children staff for their help.“ Save the Children met Nadia* when she was one and a half, at her home in a refugee settlement in Lebanon, near the Syrian border. Nadia and her family were living in a small dark tent with very few basic necessities on the Syrian border. The whole family have now received Save the Children support to help them buy the food, water and medicine that they need. More than 2 million Syrian children have been displaced since the war began in 2011.
Being prepared
We can’t stop hurricanes, earthquakes or floods, but we can help children and their families be prepared when they strike.
Save the Children is committed to building the capacity of devastated communities so that they can recover, rebuild and be prepared for future disasters.
This is because we know that trained local people, equipped with the right skills, are the most effective and efficient way to respond to emergencies, save more lives, and build stronger communities.
Gerald, nine, attends a Save the Children Child Friendly Space. During the last typhoon he encouraged his family to evacuate their home and go to a nearby school, where they sheltered as the typhoon destroyed the area around them. When they returned home, they found their house had been destroyed along with their fishing boat.
Tin Lin Htun, eight, works on a map of his village in the Irrawaddy Delta, Myanmar (Burma). Save the Children is helping children identify the dangerous areas and safer places if there is another cyclone. Tin Lin Htun survived Cyclone Nargis by clinging onto a log, His parents also survived but he lost three siblings. Two thirds of the children in the village were killed in the cyclone.
Children are the most vulnerable in a disaster, as they often do not know where to go or what to do – they rely on their families and communities to keep them safe. This exposes them to greater danger, as they may become separated from the adults who care about them.
Save the Children work alongside children, their teachers, communities and local governments to establish inclusive and technical community disaster planning. Our child-led disaster risk reduction programmes ensure children are actively participating, and become capable and confident in their ability to respond to and cope with disaster.
Reducing the risk of disaster by involving the whole community means everyone is aware of local hazards and vulnerabilities, and knows what the plan is before a crisis occurs.
Bongbong sits with his son Walter, 9 and Samson, on the beach near his home where he goes to fish each day, Estancia, Iloilo, Philippines. Bongbong was able to rebuild his fishing boat and buy fishing nets with the help of Save the Children. After Typhoon Haiyan, many of the fishing boats were destroyed, leaving many without the means to support their families. Save the Children provided carpentry training, distributed boat repair kits and cash grants to fishermen to help replace destroyed boats and rebuild their livelihood.
Being prepared also means ensuring adequate food and water supplies are in place to ensure a speedy recovery. Around 75 percent of people living in developing countries rely on natural resources for their livelihood. Reoccurring disasters and unpredictable weather due to the changing climate increase the vulnerability of these families and their children.
We are working with communities to build resilience during and after disasters by training local farmers in sustainable livelihoods and food security.