Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by Save the Children on 27 October 2022.

As Syria’s first major outbreak of cholera in over a decade spreads, thousands of children in neighbouring countries are also at risk from the deadly disease, with Lebanon’s recorded cases nearly doubling since last week, Save the Children warned today.

A global shortage of cholera vaccines may exacerbate the outbreak, with the World Health Organization recently announcing that the standard two-dose vaccination will be suspended temporarily to allow for the available doses to be used in more countries.

Lebanon’s first cholera case since 1993 was recorded on 6 October in the rural northern governorate of Akkar. According to the Ministry of Public Health, there are now 803 suspected and confirmed cases, with at least 11 deaths reported. Children are most at risk from the deadly disease, with those under 14 making up more than 50% of cases.

With the country steeped in an unprecedented socio-economic crisis – plunging three-quarters of its population into poverty, with frequent power cuts and a worsening cash crisis deteriorating living conditions for millions of people – communities are being forced to rely on poor water sources to survive, as bottled water costs soar three to five times higher than last year. Years of underinvestment in water and sanitation infrastructure have also left systems and services ill-equipped to cope.

Lebanon shares a long border with Syria, where the number of suspected and confirmed cholera cases continue to increase. As of 15 October, 20,014  suspected cases have been reported and 75 deaths confirmed, according to the World Health Organization. Cases have been confirmed now in all 14 governorates in Syria.

Save the Children said that Syria’s cholera outbreak likely started due to communities consuming contaminated water and food irrigated by the Euphrates River, which is experiencing historic low water levels mainly due to Syria’s worst drought in decades.

Nadia* in Raqqa, Syria, is a mother of five children, two of whom were previously sick with diarrhoea and bowel inflammation after consuming contaminated water.

“I’m very concerned that my children may get cholera. I try to buy them bottled mineral water, but it is very expensive for us, especially since we are a displaced family with very limited means. I hope the water becomes safe for us and our children,” said Nadia. 

Hamdan Alsallan, Save the Children’s Area Manager in Raqqa, North East Syria, said:

“We are expecting cholera to continue to spread if adequate measures are not taken. Millions of people depend on the Euphrates River for their water needs, which is also being used to grow and water crops.”

Meanwhile, Iraq saw cholera cases skyrocket this summer to 865 confirmed cases[i]. People displaced within the country were particularly affected by the outbreak, thought to be caused by vegetables irrigated with sewage water due to drought in major rivers[ii].

The outbreak predominantly affected the north of the country. However, since prolonged drought is still affecting irrigation systems, there are concerns there will be a renewed cholera outbreak in the coming weeks. Movement of people across borders could accelerate a potential outbreak.

Climate change, lack of food and access to health services have left millions of children in countries like Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria in poor health. They are the most vulnerable to the spread of this preventable disease, which is likely to continue spreading in countries with strained health and water systems.

There are also fears of a potential cholera outbreak in neighbouring Jordan, where authorities have taken measures on its borders with Iraq and Syria, including cholera surveillance and checking food entering the country.

Cholera surveillance is also ongoing in the Za’atari refugee camp, where about half the population are children. Save the Children, in partnership with UNHCR, is prioritising community health and hygiene education activities in the refugee camp.

Dr Ibrahim Shihab, Save the Children’s Regional Health Advisor for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, said:

“The spread of this disease could be a catastrophe for the region, where medical and sanitation infrastructures are already fragile. Children are particularly vulnerable to cholera outbreaks.

“In Syria, almost 35% of cases are among those below the age of 10. Cholera infection can have a very negative impact on pregnant women and children under 5 years old who are already suffering from other diseases, malnutrition, and lack of access to quality health care.

“Without appropriate and proper control and containment measures, we might see the outbreak extend to nearby countries.  We  are calling on donors to mobilise additional funding to address the outbreak and limit its impact on children”.

ENDs

1. https://www.emro.who.int/images/stories/homepage/WHO-Iraq-SitRep_Week-32.pdf?ua=1
2. https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/iraq-cholera-epidemic-emergency-plan-action-epoa-dref-ndeg-mdriq015

The press release issued by Save the Children on 26 October 2022.

An estimated 774 million children across the world – or one third of the world’s child population – are living with the dual impacts of poverty and high climate risk, according to a new report by Save the Children.

The country with the highest percentage of children impacted by this double burden is South Sudan (87%), followed by the Central African Republic (85%) and Mozambique (80%).

Generation Hope: 2.4 billion reasons to end the global climate and inequality crisis, found that while 80% of children are estimated to be affected by at least one extreme climate event a year, some are at particular risk because they also face poverty. This means they have less capacity to protect themselves and recover.

The analysis revealed that India has the highest total number of children both living in poverty and bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, at 223 million. Nigeria and Ethiopia follow, with 58 million and 36 million children, respectively, living with this double burden.

The report used climate modelling from researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and found that a significant number of children – 121 million – experiencing the double threat of high climate risk and poverty live in higher income countries. Twenty-eight million live in the world’s most affluent countries, with more than two out of five of these children (12.3 million) living in the US or the UK.

In the UK, it is estimated 3.2 million children out of 14.2 are in poverty and affected by a least one climate change event per year.

Globally, 183 million children face the triple threat of high climate risk, poverty and conflict. Out of the total child population experiencing this triple burden, children in Burundi (63%), Afghanistan (55%) and the Central African Republic (41%) are the most affected.

The climate and inequality crisis erodes children’s and communities’ resilience to shocks. If not urgently addressed, the frequency and severity of humanitarian and cost of living crises are set to increase in the years ahead.

Drawing on insights from the 54,000 children in a major consultation conducted earlier this year, the report also shows how these multiple, overlapping risks are linked to and exacerbate the current global food, nutrition and cost of living crisis that is causing 345 million people in 82 countries to face a severe lack of food.

Luciano, 12, lives in a displacement camp in Malawi. His family lost their home after cyclone Ana ripped through their island in January 2022. His family climbed out of the house and onto a tree, but Luciano’s younger brother was washed away by the floods. Luciano said:

“We moved to the camp because water flooded on the other side of the river and it surprised us at night, when we were sleeping. All we managed to save was a few of our clothes. We tried to save more items, but we couldn’t. My little brother was on top of the house. Whilst he was on top, the house collapsed, and suddenly he was gone.

“At the camp we do not eat enough food. When I used to live on the other side of the river, I was not like this. Now I have lost some weight. But I have hope and I would like to live the life I lived before the floods, again.

“I am always anxious that the floods will hit again because when they hit last time, they created a stream near our house that can easily flood when it rains.”

Gwen Hines, CEO of Save the Children UK, said:

“Across the world, inequalities are deepening the climate emergency and its impacts, most notably for children and low-income households. 

“Given the scale of the challenge, it would be easy to fall into despair. But we, as today’s generation of adults, must learn from children and dig deep into our reserves of hope for a greener and more just world. We must use this hope to drive action with children, putting our capacity for creativity and collaboration to work to end the climate and inequality crisis and push for the protection and fulfilment of children’s rights.

“As leaders prepare to travel to the COP27 and G20 summits, they should have the rights and voices of children at the front of their minds. It is imperative that they secure ambitious outcomes, ensuring children have safe and meaningful ways to input into decision making. In particular, the world’s richest countries, whose historic emissions have driven the climate and inequality crisis, must lead the way in unlocking financing for countries that are struggling to protect children from its impacts, including through fixing the global debt relief system and through climate finance – particularly for adaptation and loss and damage”. 

The new report builds on ground-breaking research published by Save the Children  in partnership with Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2021, which found that children born in 2020 will on average face seven times more scorching heatwaves during their lives than their grandparents, and newborns across the globe will on average live through 2.6 times more droughts.

The report comes as families across the world battle the worst global hunger crisis this century, fueled by a deadly mix of poverty, conflict, climate change, and economic shocks, with the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine further driving up food prices and the cost of living. One million people are facing famine across five countries, with estimates that one person is dying every four seconds of hunger.

Save the Children is calling on the UK government to step up their action to address the climate and inequality crisis by meeting its fair share of the $100 billion international climate finance commitment and mobilising support for a new international commitment in the scale of trillions to match the problem. The aid agency is also calling on the government to ensure children’s rights are at the heart of climate finance by ensuring the services children rely on are resilient during times of climate disasters, including education, health and social protection.