There are three basic types of emergencies; each type determines the nature and scale of Save the Children’s response. They are:

Sri Lanka - A woman hands out aid to victims of December's tsunami.

Sudden-Onset Emergency — earthquakes, floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, cyclones, industrial accidents, and war or political reprisals.

Slow-Onset Emergency — drought, desertification, deforestation, pest infestations, epidemics, pandemics, and war or political reprisals.

Complex Emergency — internal and external dislocation, famine, war and civil breakdown.

Who is at Greatest Risk?

Save the Children believes in the rights of all individuals to receive aid in an emergency, based on need. However, women and children face disproportionate risks in emergencies, such as forcible displacement and human rights violations, so emergency responses often are planned to meet their immediate needs.

In emergencies, children are particularly vulnerable to being separated from their families, recruited into armed forces, exploited sexually and made victims of gender-based violence, such as rape. Groups particularly at risk during an emergency include: disabled children, child combatants, gender-based violence survivors, adolescents, out-of-school youth, unaccompanied minors and orphans.

Risk Reduction, Early Warning Systems and Emergency Preparedness

The most effective way to reduce an emergency’s impact on a community is to encourage advance preparation. Community-based early warning systems allow Save the Children staff to plan ahead with community representatives and to determine how emergencies will be mitigated and managed locally. Save the Children is committed to building the capacity of its Field Offices, local partners and communities to effectively meet community needs through an organized Emergency Preparedness Plan.

Save the Children trained nurse, Bah Aichata uses a radio in the Faraouaran Village health center. The center is linked by radio to Bougouni Hospital.

While emergencies eventually come to an end, our work in affected communities does not. Save the Children builds upon the work accomplished during the emergency to continue repairing the social and economic infrastructure after a crisis has stabilized. This includes restoration of basic services, especially those most relevant for children and women, such as health and education. To lay the foundation for recovery and development, Save the Children also focuses on livelihood interventions and income-earning opportunities.

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. 

 Last Updated October 2008