
OUR SHARED HUMANITY
With the first quarter of 2022 already over, I wanted to shame some insights into what we’ve been up to. While heartrending at times, this period has been a reminder of the great work that our staff and partners do in the toughest circumstances, and that we are always stronger when we work together, united by our shared humanity.
Let me start with the work of our UK Impact team, whose goal is to reduce the number of children growing up in poverty in the UK and to help those from deprived backgrounds to benefit from early learning support. Our UK work may be on a smaller scale than our global work, but all our work is grounded in the Universal Declaration of Child Rights. We can’t claim to be living up to this mission if we ignore the increasing hardships faced by children from poorer families here, in what is still one of the richest countries in the world. Parents we work with tell us there’s nothing left to cut back. They are skipping meals so their children can eat; using candles rather than having the lights on after their children are in bed. Sadly the measures announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement don’t even put a dent in the problem.I am particularly proud of our parent campaigners who have been speaking out: sharing their stories on major platforms including Newsnight, This Morning and in the press.
WE’LL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT POORER FAMILIES TO GET THEIR VOICES HEARD, AND FIGHT ALONGSIDE THEM FOR A FAIRER SOCIETY IN WHICH ALL CHILDREN CAN ACHIEVE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.
Our UK team has also been busy leveraging our strong local partnerships and expertise in child protection to support refugees arriving in the UK, including from Ukraine. This includes guidance for frontline workers and families who have offered to host refugees; working with others to strengthen safeguarding and child protection systems for refugees; running community welcoming activities; and providing direct support to refugee families when they manage to reach the UK. In Northern Ireland, for example, we’re providing grants to families in partnership with Mid and East Antrim Council for example. Wherever possible, we aim to ensure that the support Ukrainian refugees receive is made available to every refugee, wherever in the world they come from.
The support shown by the public, generous individuals and many of our corporate and philanthropic partners for those caught in the conflict in Ukraine has been truly amazing. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal has already raised over £300m. Clearly, the scenes of children hiding in basements, or families leaving their belongings, homes and lives behind as they travel long distances in search of safety have shocked us all. As I write this, around 5.5 million people have already fled Ukraine. That still leaves around 38 million people in the country, with around 12 million in need of urgent and life-saving humanitarian assistance. Our teams are working in Ukraine, and in the surrounding countries, providing cash and voucher assistance to families to cover basic needs like food, rent and medicines. We are also looking at mobile money platforms that can move with people across borders. We’re providing basic hygiene supplies and tens of thousands of emergency medical trauma kits. As always, our expert teams are also working hard to give children spaces to try and relax and recover. The ‘child friendly spaces’ that we are famous for, and use in every emergency, always give me hope. There’s a lovely video here if you haven’t seen it.
AS HORRIFIC AS THE SITUATION IS FOR THE FAMILIES OF UKRAINE, I AM ACUTELY AWARE OF THE WIDER IMPACT OF THIS CRISIS.
The UN Secretary General has just released a powerful report highlighting some of these dynamics, from food and fuel price rises to geopolitical tensions. We are already seeing this feed through in many of the countries where Save the Children works. We are also concerned that aid for Ukraine comes at the expense of support to children in other countries. With UK aid capped at 0.5% of UK national income, this is a zero-sum game. We have joined others in calling on the Chancellor and the Foreign Secretary to rethink their approach – including through this open letter from around 200 UK NGOs. Encouragingly, the recent trends we are seeing from the Development Engagement Lab (DEL) indicate that support for aid among the British public is rising. It rose at the time of the UK Government’s cuts and has continued to hold steady at 53%. It’s a welcome sign that the UK public recognises the role we have to play in helping children and their families around the world.
We also need to work hard to maintain public and political attention to other crises, especially the looming famine in the Horn of Africa, Yemen and Afghanistan. You will hear more from us in coming months about the very serious food shortages being faced by families in the Horn of Africa. As the BBC has highlighted, 350,000 children’s lives could be at stake. This horror can be avoided if we act – as we did when the region last faced a famine of this magnitude in 2017. This is a top priority for me.
THE CONFLICT IN YEMEN MAY BE ENTERING ITS SEVENTH YEAR BUT WE HAVE NOT GIVEN UP HOPE, NOR HAVE FAMILIES THERE.
Our new report No Place is Safe in Yemen looks at the impact this prolonged conflict has had on children, surveying 400 girls and boys from eight of Yemen’s 21 governorates. The report’s foreword is written by 14-year-old Isaac* who was shot by a sniper while playing football in his schoolyard. It is a powerful reminder of the emotional and physical scars which the children caught up in this conflict will bear for a lifetime.
Save the Children supports 186 fixed health facilities in Yemen. We have provided consultations for over 4 million people, including over 2.1 million children, and have trained nearly 3000 health care providers and community volunteers in providing health care services. We are also helping thousands of children to continue their education, despite the conflict. We have shown what can be done, and why it needs to be done.
We’re calling on the UK Government to step up and drive action on the conflict in Yemen – it is uniquely placed to act as the ‘penholder’ for Yemen on the Security Council. We are also urging the Government to resist blanket sanctions on the Houthi rebel group because this would make it almost impossible for us and other humanitarian organisations to continue our work in the north of the country (this open letter explains our concerns).