26.01.2021 – 10:43
Save the Children Deutschland e.V.
Berlin (ots)
60 million children who will need help to survive this year – that corresponds to half of all children in need worldwide – live in only eight countries. Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria, Pakistan and Nigeria are home to some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Covid-19 has not only exacerbated the situation in these countries. The pandemic is putting decades of progress at risk for the world’s most vulnerable children.
Save the Children therefore calls for an immediate global effort to cushion the setbacks of the past year and prevent long-term effects for an entire generation. The children’s rights organization aims to reach a total of 9.4 million children and their families in 37 countries in 2021. To do this, she needs a financing volume of $ 769 million.
As a result of the pandemic, already weak health systems collapsed, children experienced the illness of their relatives or growing poverty through the loss of family income. The formation of more than 300 million Schoolchildren are still affected by the pandemic: many schools had to close to contain the virus, which in turn increases the risk of child abuse, exploitation, child marriage or permanent drop-out. According to the United Nations More than 235 million people – an estimated half of them children – will need some form of humanitarian aid this year, compared with 170 million in 2020. That’s a dramatic 40 percent increase in less than a year.
Of the approximately 117.7 million children who will need life-saving support in 2021, more than half (60 million) live in just eight countries, with Yemen, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo each accounting for more than 10 million children.
CHILDREN IN NEED
Yemen: 10,935,000
DR Congo: 10,192,000
Ethiopia: 10,011,000
Afghanistan: 9.700.000
Sudan: 6.164.000
Syria: 4,680,000
Pakistan: 4.305.000
Nigeria: 4.250.000
Total: 60,237,000
“Whether 2021 will be better or worse for children than 2020 depends on all of us. The global community must give all children a chance to health, education and protection. There is no excuse for children starving every day, being forced to work or that they are denied the right to education, “says Susanna Krüger, Chairwoman of Save the Children.
“We are particularly concerned about the large number of children at risk of acute and severe malnutrition. We must not ignore the warning signs of impending famine and food shortages. Even before the pandemic, children faced triple threats to their rights: conflict, climate change and hunger If we wait any longer, we risk thousands or even tens of thousands of deaths that could have been avoided. ”
In its Humanitarian Aid Plan for 2021, Save the Children set a goal of reaching 15.7 million people, including 9.4 million children, in 37 countries. The children’s rights organization needs a total of $ 769 million for this. Save the Children is committed to ensuring that children affected by crises have access to education and are protected from violence, exploitation and other forms of abuse in 2021. The organization also provides grants to families so that children can continue attending school and have access to medical care, clean water, and nutritious food. In all of its activities, Save the Children particularly focuses on empowering girls and women to ensure that they have equal access to support and services.
Read the Save the Children’s Humanitarian Plan 2021:
Save the Children’s Humanitarian Plan 2021: Children cannot wait
Pictures of children in Yemen can be downloaded from the following links:
Haifa *, 11 months:
https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2SAEMX5G
Dry *, 8 months:
https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2SAEK1AM
Amir *, 7 months:
https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2SAEMIQ0
Noor *, 4 months:
https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2SAEMDUA
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Über Save the Children
In the post-war year 1919, the British social reformer Eglantyne Jebb founded Save the Children to save children in Germany and Austria from starvation. Today, the world’s largest independent children’s rights organization operates in over 110 countries. Save the Children stands up for children in wars, conflicts and disasters. For a world that respects the rights of children. A world in which all children live healthy and safe and can grow up and learn freely and independently – for over 100 years.
Press contact:
Save the Children Deutschland e.V.
Press office – Susanne Sawadogo
Tel.: 030 – 27 59 59 79 – 120
Mail: [email protected]
Original content by: Save the Children Deutschland eV, transmitted by news aktuell
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