Displaced Children in Northwestern Pakistan Need Your Help Now

For immediate release
15 May 2009

Save the Children New Zealand has announced that it is sending NZ$63,000 to support the organisation's international appeal for the humanitarian situation in Pakistan. The organisation is also appealing for public support worldwide to assist hundreds of thousands of children and family members forced from their homes and villages by intensified fighting in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP).

"We are seeking up to US$ 10 million from public and private sources worldwide to support our immediate relief efforts including activities in the areas of health, education, and child protection," said Ned Olney, a director of Save the Children emergency response programs.

According to UN agencies, nearly 500,000 people have fled their communities in the Swat valley in the last 10 days, bringing the total number of children and adults who have fled conflict in northwest Pakistan to well over 1 million since August 2008.

Many new families on the run have fled their homes with few possessions. Save the Children staff members report that these families have no bedding, no kitchen supplies, no food, not even containers to store water. Because little fuel remains available in the affected areas, most families must walk up to two days to reach safety, carrying babies and small children along the way.

Among the many displaced people are youngsters who have been separated from their parents and family members as well as children who have witnessed the horrors of war, including seeing their relatives or neighbours killed in front of them, and children with torn and bleeding feet who have had to walk up to 50 kilometres to escape the fighting.

Babies and young children are at the greatest risk of serious illness, staff members say. Among the major health concerns is acute diarrhoea from unsanitary conditions in overcrowded houses and camps.

Save the Children is focusing its efforts on separated children, women-headed households, families with children under 5, and families that include an injured or chronically ill family member. In its first days on the ground, Save the Children has begun distributing household and hygiene kits, which include a stove and gas, a grill, kettle, cooking and eating utensils, water jugs, lanterns, floor mats, combs, soap, detergent, and sanitary cloth.

"Our efforts are part of a coordinated response and in partnership with the government of the Northwest Frontier Province and local authorities," said Olney. "We will be working to ensure that children and families affected by the crisis receive emergency assistance, including health services and hygiene and household supplies. The agency also will work to provide protection and education programs for children in camps or temporary shelters," he said.

Save the Children needs vital support to help meet the most critical needs of children and families who are fleeing the violence in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. Donations made will go towards providing safe drinking water, food, and other urgent necessities.

To donate please visit www.savethechildren.org.nz or call 0800 167 168

ENDS

Note to the editor:

* Save the Children has worked in Pakistan for more than 25 years - helping to improve the lives and well-being of Afghan refugees and Pakistani children and women. The agency has a strong portfolio of health, education and emergency response programs, while continuing to address the needs of Afghan children and families who remain in Pakistan. Save the Children also is continuing to work in areas affected by the 2005 earthquake.

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