Save Every Last and Vulnerable Child in disaster zones​: World Humanitarian Day 2016

Let us all pledge greater commitment to life-saving action and disaster preparedness for our children, says Save the Children

To commemorate the World Humanitarian Day, Save the Children calls for a renewed commitment, from all stakeholders, towards life-saving action and disaster risk reduction in order to mitigate the impact of humanitarian disasters on children.

As seen during the devastating floods that hit Tamil Nadu last year, children are the most vulnerable in times of disaster and their safety needs to be prioritized.

Save the Children was on the frontline, working with the government on delivering quality humanitarian response rapidly during this unprecedented crisis.

Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, and Chennai districts of Tamil Nadu were worst-affected by the deluge, which claimed close to 350 lives, affected more than 17.64 lakh people, including almost 700,000 children for whom life was thrown out of gear.

Lakhs of children lost books, belongings with many even losing their loved ones, not to forget the psychological trauma they have undergone.

Geared up to mount a massive relief response, Save the Children's teams moved swiftly on the ground to assess the damage and redress the grave situation at hand.

The organisation mounted a CHILD CENTRED HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE embedding Child Protection, Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Health, Education response and focused on creating safe ‘Child Friendly Spaces’ (CFS) for the care and the psycho-emotional well-being of children affected by the crisis.

In these safe shelters children were equipped to learn together, share their concerns, clarify doubts and build up extra-curricular skills such as sports, recreation, art and craft.

Save the Children set up 21 Child Friendly Spaces across 3 locations in Tamil Nadu (Chennai/ Thiruvallur/ Cuddalore) that initially operated for 3 months and on the request of the community this was extended till June 2016.

Ray Kancharla, National Manager (Humanitarian & DRR) for Save the Children says, “Ten years after Tsunami and five years after Cyclone Thane, Save the Children readily returned with rapid relief and restoration among children and communities in Cuddalore, Chennai and other places and worked in close bonding with the local administration in strengthening and complementing the commendable efforts of the Tamil Nadu Government.

Further, Save the Children is developing innovative models in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and mainstreaming Comprehensive School Safety with Cuddalore and Chennai Metropolitan in order to prevent future risks to children and transform them as champions and change agents.”

During this crisis, Save the Children reached more than 6,000 households including 8240 children with life-saving aid which includes, household utility kits, hygiene kits, education kits, and solar lamps among others. 500 families were supported with livelihood activity to return back to normalcy.

Currently, the organisation is helping the flood-hit population in several States in India to get their lives back in order. Restoration of schools in Chennai and Cuddalore is underway to make them functional.

Save the Children is presently working Chennai Corporation to develop innovative model of Comprehensive School Safety which is replicable and scalable.

In India, Save the Children has been working for the past 8 years and quickly delivers humanitarian relief after the nation's frequent floods and other disasters.

At present, the organisation is responding to the needs of flood-affected communities in Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.