Save the Children Focuses on Protection of Children in Flood-Affected Mexico
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With tens of thousands of people still unable to return home due to severe flooding in southern Mexico, Save the Children is working to ensure that children are protected as their families begin to rebuild their lives.
Save the Children is currently working in four of the largest shelters in Villahermosa, the inundated capital of Tabasco state, providing structured activities for children in "espacios amigables," or friendly spaces. Over the coming days, the agency will install another six safe spaces in evacuation shelters — reaching up to 2,000 children. Save the Children is partnering with the University of Tabasco and its students, who will be trained to help supervise and run play areas.
In addition, Save the Children is coordinating with the Ministry of Education to assist with transitional education programs and to help prepare schools to reopen once the floodwaters recede. The floods damaged some 3,000 of the state's 5,370 schools — leaving children without a critical safety net and disrupting their education.
"The Mexican government and local relief agencies have done a great job addressing the survival needs of people caught up in the flooding," said Ned Olney, associate vice president for the agency's emergencies unit. "Still, children are very vulnerable during and long after disasters. So Save the Children will continue to coordinate with and assist local authorities to help ensure that they are not left behind as the region works toward recovery."
More than 1 million people had their homes flooded, damaged or isolated by rising waters in late October, the result of heavy, weeklong rains that pushed rivers out of their banks. About two-thirds of the state was left under water. Mexican authorities have called this the worst natural disaster the country has seen.
Save the Children has been working in Mexico for nearly 40 years. Save the Children is part of the Save the Children Alliance which works in more than 100 countries, responding to humanitarian crises and implementing development programs to improve the lives of children in need.
You can help Save the Children respond to emergencies that put at great risk the survival, protection, and well-being of significant numbers of children. By contributing to the Children's Emergency Fund, you enable us to respond immediately to children and families who urgently need our help when disasters strike.
