More Than 150,000 Children Separated From Their Parents by War Violence
July 30, 2024
19,000 unaccompanied Palestinian children
Since the start of the war on Gaza, life has taken a dramatic turn for its 2.2 million inhabitants. Among them are an estimated 19,000 Palestinian children who are separated from their parents or have no surviving family left at all. This is a direct result of relentless Israeli bombardment targeted at densely populated camps and homes.
Almost all of these children are facing disease and starvation. And they need more than water, food and medicine. Psychological first aid is critical to reduce distress in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event. Longer-term psychosocial support is also desperately needed to prevent shock, fear and other symptoms from developing into mental health conditions.
The importance of early intervention
“Separation from family members is a very painful event that can have lasting harmful effects on children’s development and mental health”, says Professor Mark Jordans, War Child Director of Research & Development. “Essentially, the longer a child is separated, the more they experience difficulties - including emotional and behavioural problems or issues in relationships.”
This highlights the crucial importance of tracing these children and reuniting them with their families as soon as possible. Or, in the case of Gaza, where the majority of children have become permanently orphaned, providing fostering arrangements, case management and mental health support.
Despite these services being almost impossible to provide in Gaza due to intensifying Israeli attacks by air, sea and land, War Child and partners are delivering a number of key activities in this area, supporting over 3,000 children to date. As the conflict dynamics evolve, we will scale up this work including supporting the formal child tracking and registration system in collaboration with local partners.
Similar situation in South Sudan
At the end of last year, more than half of the new arrivals in South Sudan, who had fled the war in neighbouring Sudan, were under 18. Many of them arrived without parents or caregivers.
As of July 2023, more than 380 unaccompanied children were counted at the border and in transit centres. They join more than 65,000 children across the country who are currently identified as separated from their caregivers due to conflict and displacement.
These children face acute risks such as recruitment by armed groups, early marriage and forced labour. As a result, they suffer from serious psychological problems, including anxiety, withdrawal and loss of hope for the future.
Nyakuma (22) and Ajou (14) are separated from their father and lost their mother. Nyakuma now takes care of her brother and other unaccompanied children
Collaboration with partners
War Child acknowledges this urgent situation facing thousands of children. We also recognise that, in order for psychosocial support to be successful, basic physical needs must also be met in a context like South Sudan.
That’s why we focus our emergency response on vital protection services such as individual counselling, cash support, the distribution of household items and referral for medical and food aid provided by partners. In tandem, children are assigned temporary caregivers or foster parents. We do this together with the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare.
“Collaboration with partners is absolutely critical in providing a comprehensive package of care to unaccompanied children in South Sudan”, says Doruka Malang Deng, War Child South Sudan Programme Coordinator. “War Child is at the start of the process but we need other organisations to take things forward.
As an example - once a child has received psychological support from us, we’ll share all the information we have on them with Save the Children. Save the Children uses this data to trace family members. UNICEF then facilitates the transport of the child for family reunification.”
