Save the Children Statement: Global Ceasefire Could Help Protect the Lives of 415 Million Children

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (March 23, 2020)—Following the plea by the UN Secretary General for a global ceasefire amid the COVID-19 crisis, Janti Soeripto, President and CEO of Save the Children, said:

“There are 415 million children living in conflict—they are dying from violence, recruited and abducted, detained and abused. Now they face the added risk of losing loved ones to the virus or being infected themselves. It is impossible to properly fight such a pandemic when bombs are falling, or go to a hospital when bullets are flying. You can’t scale up much-needed health services when soldiers are fighting in the streets.”

“COVID-19 attacks families everywhere indiscriminately and is set to wreak havoc on millions of children’s lives. Save the Children fully supports the call of the Secretary General, who today called for a global ceasefire to be enacted immediately, to help protect children in conflict from further danger.

We now need to support countries that have been ravaged by war for years. Countries where the health systems are already at a breaking point—they need time to prepare themselves as best as they can for what might be coming. A stop to the fighting will give them that space. The world needs to come together in humanity at this moment, and that’s not possible in places where war is raging.”

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we’ve changed the lives of more than 1 billion children. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.