9 Mar 2011 • Humanitarian crises Syria - Jordan, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, Egypt

North Africa and the Middle East: Protecting the most vulnerable children

- Published by Schweizer, Jessica

Since the end of January, several countries in North Africa and the Middle East have been the scene of demonstrations, all of which give cause for alarm to a greater or lesser extent. Terre des hommes is assessing the needs of the children affected.

Libya:
The situation of children in Libya is very hard to assess. The lack of information has led to several groups presenting conjectures of varying degrees of seriousness.

However, what we can be sure of is that the conflict is intensifying and the number of victims is constantly increasing.

Terre des hommes has launched an initial assessment mission on the Libyan-Egyptian border. According to its preliminary conclusions, the flow of refugees is relatively fluid from the Egyptian side, and they are mainly adults. However, the intensity of the fighting could force many families to flee.

Information: Terre des hommes and emergency situations

Information: Terre des hommes and emergency situations
Since its foundation more than 50 years ago, Terre des hommes has acted in emergency situations to meet the needs of populations in crisis.

In particular, this includes:
• Emergency aid distribution – Tdh supports local authorities and distributes emergency food and sanitation aid.
• Water and sanitation – Tdh sets up systems to provide access to drinking water and latrines, and ensures that sewage and rubbish are disposed of so as to remove potential sources of epidemics.
• Reconstruction – Tdh helps families that have lost everything to resume earning a living through training and the purchase of the equipment needed to get started.
• Coordination – Tdh intervenes directly in camps in Darfur to protect the victims of conflict. The Foundation is responsible for coordinating services through encouraging community participation. Tdh also provides the most vulnerable refugees with the material and support needed to build shelters.
• Psychosocial activities – Tdh supports children and families affected by disasters. Psychosocial activities take place in recreational centres and are led by teachers and social workers who have been trained by Tdh. They monitor the children and offer them direct support or refer them to specialists. Finally, Tdh promotes the setting up of protection systems that aim to identify and protect the most vulnerable children.

Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories:

Terre des hommes has worked in North Africa and the Middle East for more than 40 years. It conducts projects in these areas related to mother and child health# Protection# humanitarian_crises.

For nearly two months, Morocco, Jordan, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Egypt have been the scene of demonstrations of varying degrees of significance. Children have often witnessed violence and have sometimes even been involved themselves. Access to basic services such as food, health and education has been interrupted, and in some cases has not yet completely returned to normal.

For that reason, Terre des hommes is continuously assessing the impact of the situation on the beneficiaries of its projects in order to be able to put in place the support children might need.

Information: International humanitarian law, internal armed conflicts and children
International humanitarian law is very clear as to the protection that must be given to children in situations of conflict.

Article 4 of the second protocol applicable in situations of non-international armed conflict states:
Children shall be provided with the care and aid they require, and in particular:
a) they shall receive an education, including religious and moral education;
b) all appropriate steps shall be taken to facilitate the reunion of families temporarily separated;
c) children who have not attained the age of fifteen years shall neither be recruited in the armed forces or groups nor allowed to take part in hostilities;
d) the special protection provided by this Article to children who have not attained the age of fifteen years shall remain applicable to them even if they take a direct part in hostilities;
e) measures shall be taken, if necessary, and whenever possible with the consent of their parents or persons who are primarily responsible for their care, to remove children temporarily from the area in which hostilities are taking place to a safer area within the country.

Given their extreme vulnerability, children must be given special protection.

1) All non-accompanied children must be registered.
2) Their situation must be assessed quickly, individually and in their mother tongue.
3) It is essential to search for the child’s family and support family reunion if the situation permits and if it is in the best interests of the child.
4) Access to all basic services must be facilitated, including health, safety, water and sanitation, education, and psychosocial support, for example.
5) Shelters provided for children must be suited to their needs in order to avoid all forms of abuse.