“Article 38: You have the right to protection and freedom from war. Children under 15 cannot be forced to go into the army or take part in war.”
“An Emergency can be defined as a situation where children’s lives, physical and mental well-being, or development opportunities are threatened as a result of armed conflict, natural disaster, or the breakdown of a social or legal order, and where local capacity to cope is exceeded, unwilling, or inadequate.”
In emergency situations, Save the Children Sweden considers regional and national laws as well as International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law that are internationally agreed Humanitarian principles in order to enhance the respect for the rights of children in these situations.
Children are at greater risk of having their rights violated in times of emergencies. In these situations the State is often unable or unwilling to ensure the rights and protection of children, therefore at Save the Children Sweden we take on the responsibility of fulfilling the rights of all children while also pushing for other duty bearers to take on their respective responsibilities.
We work to ensure safe access to affected populations, to protect and prevent violations to the rights of the child including survival and immediate needs with a focus on child protection and emergency education during vulnerable situations, and the establishment of child-friendly safe spaces. In addition, our work is complemented by effective national and international advocacy to influence decision-makers in addressing the causes, scale of impact, and consequences of armed conflicts and natural disasters.
Advocacy: so that the world listens to children, looks out for their particular capacities and vulnerabilities, and factor these in designing their interventions.
Save the Children Sweden maintains an emergency preparedness plan, including child led disaster risk reduction in order to better guide our work in responding to emergencies regardless of the situation and phase.
Child Protection in emergencies
Children are at greater risk of being subjected to violence during emergencies, such as armed conflict and natural disasters. Between 250-300 million children are currently affected by humanitarian crises and disasters globally. An estimated 250,000 and 300,000 boys and girls are associated with government armed forces or armed opposition groups in at least 13 countries. In emergencies Save the Children works to alleviate pyshosocial distress and focuses particularly on the right of protection from:
Ø family separation
Ø recruitment into armed forces and groups
Ø exploitation and gender-based violence
Ø physical harm
Save the Children Sweden has established a program to support children affected by armed conflict in the Gaza strip by providing a protective environment through the support of community members, civil society organisations and national authorities. Community based child protection committees have been established and the capacity of partner members in these committees has been built to provide prevention, detection and response services to children that are at risk or are survivors of child right violations. A Child Protection Network has also been established to advocate for children rights towards all stakeholders and build awareness of community members on the right of children to be protected from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
In Lebanon, Save the Children Sweden has been active in responding to the protection and education needs of children affected by armed conflict. In 2006 we responded to the emergency in Lebanon by providing safe areas for children, where they received psycho-social support and remedial education. Moreover, Save the Children Sweden was part of a nationwide campaign to raise children’s awareness on mines and unexploded ordnances that were remnants of the 2006 war.
In the Nahr El Bared emergency, we were amongst the first INGOs that responded to the protection and education needs of children in both Nahr el-Bared and Beddawi refugee camps. We created safe play areas providing psychosocial support and remedial education was to children affected by the conflict. Moreover, the Child Protection Network of partner organisations and other local NGOs was created to coordinate the emergency response. The network created an early detection and referral system identifying children at risk or survivors of child rights violations and referring them for specialised support and protection. In 2009, a child rights violations monitoring and reporting mechanism will be established in the Nahr el Bared and Beddawi refugee camps through civil society organisations, to carry out evidence-based advocacy actions targeting national authorities and contributing to the UNCRC shadow reporting.