Independent News Express

Tag: Save the Children

  • Nearly 120,000 Children Displaced As Violence Escalates In Eastern DRC

    Nearly 120,000 Children Displaced As Violence Escalates In Eastern DRC

    About 120,000 children have been forced from their homes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since the start of the year as a wave of horrifying violence hits villages [1] with some children becoming separated from their parents and one town cut off, said Save the Children.  

    On Sunday, several bombs exploded in the town of Chebumba, killing at least two adults and wounding four children. The town of Minova in South Kivu, where Save the Children operates through partners, was attacked on Tuesday and routes out of the town cut off and access for humanitarian aid blocked. Staff reported children injured and unaccompanied children desperately searching for their parents.

    David Okoni* works at a Save the Children partner organisation which operates in the town of Minova, 45km from Goma city. On Tuesday heaving fighting took place in the town. David said:

    “Around 5:00 AM, gunfire started echoing through Minova, sending people fleeing in all directions. Most were already displaced people having previously fled conflicts and were sheltering in Minova. Many attempted to reach Goma across the lake, but as boats stopped operating, people were left stranded without adequate shelter, and forced to sleep in schools, under the open sky, and even in a warehouse.  

    “The situation is dire. Parents have no food or clean water for their children, and those wounded by bullets remain without medical care as healthcare workers have also fled to save their lives. Our staff have already encountered unaccompanied and separated children desperately searching for their parents, though the full extent of the crisis is still unknown.

    “Currently, there is no access to the area as boats are no longer crossing the lake. It is urgent that civilians who wish to leave can do so, and that humanitarian aid can reach the displaced families who are in desperate need of assistance.” 

    The eastern provinces of North and South Kivu are home to more than 4.6 million displaced people,and have witnessed an intense increase in fighting since the start of 2025.  More than 230,000 people have been newly displaced, according to the United Nations,  with a spike in violence over the past week in the towns of Bweremana and Minova. According to the UN, some 113 people have been injured and hospitalised in various health facilities around Goma as the violence continues. 

    Conflict in DRC has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with nearly 7 million people, including at least 3.5 million children, displaced and more than 26 million people – or one in every four people – in need of humanitarian assistance.  

    Greg Ramm, Save the Children’s Country Director for DRC said:  

    “Children are getting caught in the crossfire and time is running out for them. Humanitarian access has been blocked to the already vulnerable populations.

    We urge all parties involved in the conflict to prioritise the protection of civilians and ensure unrestricted humanitarian access. We reiterate our call on the international community to take immediate actions to address the rapidly unfolding humanitarian crisis in the DRC. This includes providing emergency assistance to those displaced, supporting efforts to protect civilians and working towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict.” 

    Save the Children has worked in DRC since 1994 to meet humanitarian needs linked to the arrival of refugees and the displacement of populations due to armed conflict in eastern provinces. Save the Children has scaled up its humanitarian response to support existing care systems, training local leaders and communities to prevent and respond to exploitation and abuse, and ensuring access to healthcare through mobile clinics. It is also helping children access basic education by building classrooms, training teachers, and distributing learning materials.  

    In Minova, South Kivu, Save the Children delivers essential food assistance, livelihood opportunities, protection services, and educational support in partnership with national organizations. Additionally, the organization implements health, nutrition, water and sanitation activities through a consortium project. 

  • COP28: How Climate Change Crisis Gravely Affected Children In 2022

    COP28: How Climate Change Crisis Gravely Affected Children In 2022

    BY OJO SAMSON AYOMIDE

    More than 27 million children were driven into hunger and malnutrition by extreme weather events in countries heavily impacted by the climate crisis in 2022, which was a 135% jump from the previous year, according to a new data analysis by Save the Children ahead of COP28.

    Save the Children found that children made up nearly half of the 57 million people pushed into crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse across 12 countries because of extreme weather events in 2022. This was based on data from the Integrated Food Security Classification or IPC scale, a monitoring system for assessing hunger emergencies in 58 countries.

    The IPC has estimated that the number of people facing hunger in countries where extreme weather events were the main driver of food crises has nearly doubled in five years – soaring to 57 million in 2022 from about 29 million people in 2018. 

    The majority of countries where weather extremes were the main driver of hunger last year were concentrated in the Horn of Africa, with Ethiopia and Somalia accounting for about half of the 27 million children.

    The 12 countries where weather extremes were the primary driver of hunger in 2022, according to the IPC, were Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Pakistan, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

    Somalia has been repeatedly at the frontlines of the climate crisis, suffering five failed consecutive rainy seasons. Now, the country stands once again at the precipice, with extreme weather events such as mass flooding set to exacerbate hunger this year.  

    Heavy rains and floods in recent weeks have displaced about 650,000 people – about half are children – cutting families off from accessing food and medical care. The current flooding could be just as devastating for the country as the years of drought that left millions of children hungry and malnourished. 

    Sadia*, 38, and her eight children, have weathered the storm of climate-induced displacement in Somalia twice over – initially due to drought and now again due to severe flooding.

    “We left due to droughts, and now we face displacement again because of floods. [Before the drought] life was good. We were farmers and took care of animals. We had enough food from our crops and milk from our animals to live comfortably. But the droughts came and destroyed everything we had,” saidSadia who eventually started a small business in the displacement camp selling fruits and other items to support her children.

    “But recently, heavy rains and floods have made everything worse. The markets are flooded, and my stall is underwater. I can’t earn any money, and it’s tough to feed my children.” 

    Pakistan was one of the countries where extreme weather events were the primary driver of hunger last year after devastating flooding submerged one third of the country, affecting 33 million people, half of whom were children. One year on, more than 2 million flood-affected children are acutely malnourished, with almost 600,000 children suffering from the deadliest form of malnutrition. 

    Dr Muhammad Hanif, who works at a healthcare unit run by Save the Children in Sindh Province—a region severely affected by the floods—explained that he had never seen anything like it in his lifetime.  

    “I am a doctor, so my weapon is medicine. It’s what we rely on to treat and save lives. But during the floods, I felt like a solider in the battlefield without a weapon; nothing to save the life of children or pregnant mothers,” he explained. “By the end of last year, I treated about 1,000 children for hunger-related illnesses, and about 30,000 other patients for various diseases that were inflamed by climate change.”

    Annually, conflicts and economic shocks push even more children into hunger than weather extremes. Conflict was the primary driver of hunger for 117 million people in 19 countries last year. IPC data also revealed an eight-fold increase in the number of people facing hunger because of economic shocks in five years, jumping to about 84 million people in 2022 from 10 million in 2018.  

    Globally, an estimated 774 million children – or one third of the world’s child population – are living with the dual impacts of poverty and high climate risk, according to Save the Children’s report Born into the Climate Crisis.  

    Inger Ashing, Save the Children’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “In a world where wildfires, floods, droughts and hurricanes are becoming the frightening new normal, children today not only face a climate emergency but a landscape of heightened inequalities, where hunger is an unwelcome guest at an already crowded table.  

    “As climate-related weather events become more frequent and severe, we will see more drastic consequences on children’s lives. In 2022, 135% more children were pushed into hunger due to extreme weather events than the year before.  

    “In my recent trip to Pakistan, I met a young boy named Jaffar who shared that his home and school were destroyed in the 2022 floods. His family had to sell their livestock and were struggling to cope with the limited resources in their community.  While he was able to attend our temporary learning centre there were no plans to rebuild his school. These are all losses and damages that violate children’s rights. 

    “Prioritising investment in children’s health, nutrition, education, protection and safety nets must be at the forefront of global efforts. To truly protect children now and in the future, robust support for the new Loss and Damage Fund is non-negotiable.  At COP28, World Leaders must listen to the demands of children and invite them to be part of proposing solutions. Without tackling the climate crisis, the global hunger crisis will only deteriorate further, pushing millions more to the brink.”  

    Last year, Save the Children found that 83% of children in 15 countries reported witnessing climate change or inequality, or both, affecting the world around them. Yet, children’s rights are neglected in climate finance. Currently 2.4% of climate finance from four key global climate funds can be classified as sufficiently considering children, although some funders like the Green Climate Fund are actively working to bridge these gaps. 

    Save the Children is calling on world leaders at COP28, particularly those from high-income countries and historical emitters, to take action on the climate crisis by recognising children as key agents of change. Climate finance must be increased, providing funding for losses and damages and climate adaptation. Governments must work to urgently limit warming temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.  

    The child rights organisation is also calling on leaders to address the root causes of acute food and nutrition insecurity such as conflict, inequality, and a lack of resilient health, nutrition and social protection systems.