La Paz, Bolivia (January 26, 2008) — Save the Children is rushing to provide lifesaving assistance to children and families forced from their homes by rising floodwaters in Bolivia.

The agency, working with local Civil Defense Emergency Committees, is currently supplying medicines in the municipalities of Yapacani and Puerto Villarroel, where hundreds of families have lost their homes and have moved to shelters. Save the Children is assessing emerging needs in those areas. In El Alto, Save the Children has already provided food, and blankets to families whose homes were damaged by the flooding.

"This is the third year in a row for unusually heavy flooding — and for all the risks to children that natural disasters entail," said Gary Shaye, Bolivia country director for Save the Children. "We are helping children and their families address immediate survival needs, as well as working to mitigate potential disruptions to education and damage to food crops."

The severe rainy season has pushed Bolivia’s major rivers to flood stage, threatening lowland and valley communities in the departments of Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca, La Paz, and Beni. More than 21,000 people live in the affected areas and, to date, there have been 27 deaths. Flooding and landslides have cut off some communities and lines of communication.

The rains are expected to continue through March.

Save the Children has been working in Bolivia since 1986.

You can help Save the Children respond to this emergency as well as other future 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.

Donate to the Children's Emergency Fund