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Save the Children USA's Statement on Middle East: Helping Children Caught in Escalating Middle East Crisis
Westport, Conn. (July 17, 2006) — Save the Children USA is moving quickly to respond to the immediate and urgent needs of children and families in the Middle East who have been displaced and affected by the recent escalating violence in the region. The organization, with decades of experience operating in the Middle East, is communicating closely with its staff in the region, and is working in partnership with United Nations agencies and local organizations to identify and meet the needs of children affected by this crisis.
As the conflict escalates, so does its effect on children and families caught in the crossfire. Thousands of children and families have fled their homes and are now living in schools and office buildings. Others are trapped in their homes without electricity and running water and are unable to meet basic food, medical and hygiene needs. The evolving crisis is putting hundreds of thousands of children at risk of serious injury, psychosocial distress and malnutrition, and is disrupting their daily routine.
Save the Children USA to date is focusing first on helping to meet the basic needs of children and families uprooted from their homes, including providing supplemental food, medicines, first aid kits, hygiene kits and sleeping materials, with a special focus on ensuring the safety and well-being of children. Drawing on decades of experience helping young children cope in conflict settings, Save the Children is setting up safe play areas at shelters located in schools to help children return to some sense of normalcy and routine. Save the Children is also providing educational and play materials for children to use in these safe play areas.
Save the Children is appealing for public support as it responds to the most urgent needs of children and families affected by the growing conflict in the Middle East. Its current response is focusing on communities in Lebanon and Gaza. The organization is closely monitoring the evolving situation, and may expand its efforts to provide assistance to communities in Israel.
“Save the Children USA has been addressing the critical needs of children and their families in the Middle East since 1953, when our work in Lebanon began,” said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children. “We are concerned at the impact the intensifying violence in the Middle East is having on children. We will continue to support the needs of children caught in the conflict as we call on all sides to ensure the protection and well-being of children.”
Learn more about our response to the Middle East Crisis
