Children in Emergency Contexts

Geeta Menon

‘ A disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that causes serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic and/or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own level of resources’

Typology of disasters



Natural hazards

- naturally occurring physical phenomena caused either by rapid or slow onset events which can be:  geophysical ( earthquakes , landslides , tsunamis and volcanic activity ),    hydrological ( avalanches and floods ), climatological ( extreme temperatures meteorological ( cyclones , drought and wildfires ), and storms/wave surges ) or biological ( disease epidemics and insect/animal plagues ).



Man-made hazards

- events that are caused by humans and occur in or close to human settlements ( complex emergencies. conflicts , famine , displaced populations , industrial accidents and transport accidents ). This can include environmental degradation, pollution and technological accidents.  Additional challenges: climate change , unplanned-urbanization , under development/poverty , pandemics . These aggravating factors will result in increased frequency, complexity and severity of disasters.



IFRC – International Federation of Red Cross

242 million people as affected by natural disasters and armed conflict between 1991 and 2000. Of this number, at least 76.5 million were children under the age of 15. The vast majority, some 75 million, live in developing countries

Disasters have devastating impact on children…Rights and Development affected

Directly:

Physical injury, disease, malnourishment, death, displacement, separation from family, sexual abuse, child labor - child soldiers, victim of violence, trafficking. Psychological Impact trauma, fear, anxiety

Indirectly…

External Environment : law and order, governance, justice, infrastructure, access to services Families and Communities: dislocation, fragmentation, loss of livelihood, loss of family members.

Issue of Gender: multiple issues, sexual violence and abuse, additional burden and responsibilities, nutrition, access to health services.

Quality of Adult Care affected

Impact : Children, Families, Schools and Governance

Larger fall out: affected districts poor on many variables Governance, services, investment, justice dispensation Families: loss of livelihood, de franchised, Displaced and in camps, loss of status, +alcoholism, issue of gender Militarization, environment degradation

Mal-nourished, increased mortality, psychological problems, development, access and participation in education, disability ……

Gender: GBV, increase in early marriage, malnutrition, sexually transmitted diseases, double whammy – earn, negotiate and responsibility of family.

Schools and ECE Centres: damaged, occupied, schedule disrupted, access difficult, teacher attendance, language, safety, discrimmination Quality, safety, relocation, teacher deployment

South Asia

 South Asia’s geography makes it particularly susceptible to natural disasters. Prone to a number of natural disasters – highly seismic zone, floods and tsunami. Tsunami of 2004, Earth Quake in 2005 – Pakistan, India, Afghanistan ,  Countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan exhibit a high level of vulnerability as demonstrated by their lack of coping capacities and adaptive capacities ( World Country Risk Report)

Home to Endemic - Wars and Conflicts

 Increase in wars and conflicts, change in nature of casualties, now eight out of ten casualties are likely to be civilians (Kaldor, 1999) 2 of which children are estimated to form 90% .

 South Asia is the second most violent place on earth after Iraq. Pakistan ,India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal have also experienced long-running conflict. Afghanistan if included in SA.

 Strong relationship between poverty, under-development, exclusion and conflict. Ex: Baluchistan, North-West Frontier Province, States in Central India

 Percentages are misleading: overall small percentages translate into large numbers ex : the number of children who experience the effects of conflict and disasters in India and Bangladesh are a significant proportion of all affected children globally.

Population density and poverty

 Poverty and population density has rendered South Asia especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change  With an estimated 600 million South Asians subsisting on less than US$1.25 a day, even small climate shocks can cause irreversible losses and tip a large number of people into destitution

Internal Displacement and Forced Migration

 Afghanistan : an estimated 700,000 people had left their homes and moved to camps and towns in the search for food, another 170,000 had crossed to Pakistan and 100,000 to Iran and numbers continue to grow  According to recent figures, three countries in the region are amongst the ten nations of the world with the largest numbers of IDPs: Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, each of which has 750,000 – 1 million.

India, Pakistan and Nepal. 10 The numbers of people thus affected are also growing in

Bangladesh: An Example of Emergencies

   Bangladesh has been cyclones declared the second most disaster-risk country in Asia. Vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons due to its exposure to seismic activity. Annual floods and The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in south-eastern Bangladesh – difficult terrain, conflict The health and wellbeing of Rohingya refugee children, from Myanmar Bangladesh following internal conflict, remains a concern.

Some interventions

 Child Protection  Water, Sanitation and Nutrition  Safe and Child Friendly Spaces  Learning Kits  Children as zones of Peace  Education  Parent Education

Challenges ..

 Do we know what is happening to children and their development in these areas?What is short term and long term impact?



Lack of data and information, mostly disaggregated information about children and schools.

Lack of assessments on interventions undertaken for children during emergencies

Do we have professionals in different departments who understand the needs of young children?..

Issue of Capacities and Understanding

  ECCE/D – different aspects of development have to be taken care of.

Diffused roles and responsibilities of different agencies within and outside government .

Issue of different departments, ministries , urgent need of coordination

  Children and their needs get subsumed with Women or the focus is on survival and protection ECCE, often overlooked by many as a luxury in emergencies ( Sinclair, 2001)

Dedicated Policies and Plans for 0-6

Planning for ECE in Emergencies

       Contextual – need to navigate through Political and Socio Cultural Environment- these matter.

ECE concern integral to different Policies – disaster, education, women, social welfare Structures ,Capacities and Resources need to be thought of Transitional Support Strategy – Child Protection and CFS Early Reconstruction Activities Post conflict Reconstruction and rebuilding of systems Co-ordination with Departments, Civil Society, Decentralized Structures and Community

References

     Disaster Risk in South Asia. http://urbanpoverty.intellecap.com/?p=388 Shared Views on Development and Climatic Change http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,content MDK:22038355~pagePK:146736~piPK:1 46830~theSitePK:223547,00.html

http://www.ecdgroup.com/docs/lib_005811208.pdf

Hania Kamel, Early Childhood care and education in Emergency situations. 2006. UNESCO ( Paper prepared for Global Monitoring Report)