OUR APPROACH

Natural disasters and wars have the most brutal impact on children, whose futures can be turned upside down as they are forced to flee their homes, see their loved ones killed or injured and their schools closed, and even face the risk of being recruited into fighting forces. 

Up to one-third of the world's out-of-school children live in disaster and conflict-affected countries, a percentage that is rising annually.

Despite the above facts, only 2% of all humanitarian funds are currently spent on education.

Street Child works to ensure that children are safe, in school and learning, especially when they are affected by a humanitarian crisis, and continued access to education sits at the heart of our response.

Ever since Street Child's prominent role in all phases of the response to the 2014/2015 West African Ebola crisis, we have continued to increase our humanitarian capacity to respond to sudden-onset disaster situations and ongoing conflict-affected contexts.

In March 2020, we launched an emergency global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, quickly moving alongside our network of national partners to take a frontline position in community-based COVID-19 prevention and protection efforts. We continue to support children’s learning throughout the ongoing crisis, be it remotely or by supporting their safe return to the classroom.

RESPONDING TO NEEDS IN CONFLICT AREAS

Conflict often exacerbates already difficult conditions, aggravating stress and trauma amongst children and communities. Street Child's work in emergency contexts aims to meet immediate needs and support long-term recovery.

In Afghanistan, as conflict and the COVID-19 crisis coincided, aid and assistance were cut off. Street Child launched a large-scale response across Badakhshan, Bamyan, Kabul and Paktika provinces, where our case management officers and therapists reached 13,075 individuals, including 575 individuals living with disabilities, with a comprehensive package of physical and psychosocial protection services. As the winter set in Street Child distributed age- and gender-specific supplies for 2,500 families, supporting them to survive the cold.

HOW WE RESPOND IN AN EMERGENCY

When a disaster happens, we’re there to support children and their families by:

  • Meeting their immediate survival needs, providing essentials including water, food, shelter and healthcare.

  • Creating safe spaces for children to recover.

  • Ensuring children with urgent protection needs are identified and receive timely services.

  • Ensuring girls and boys are still able to access education.

  • Supporting long-term recovery, listening and helping people and households rebuild their lives.

  • Enabling and encouraging our local network of partners to be at the forefront of the response.

We are also proud to work as an active member of the education in emergencies working group, part of the Global Education Cluster coordination mechanism.

OUR HUMANITARIAN COMMITMENTS

Street Child is continuously seeking to learn and improve our humanitarian response and are proud to associate ourselves with the following globally acknowledged standards:

  • We are signatories to the ‘Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief’.

  • We are working towards The Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability.

  • We are committed to meeting the SPHERE minimum technical and humanitarian standards and principles.

  • We are committed to the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and the Minimum Standards for Education.

  • We support the vision enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.