As you may have seen on the news, a devastating earthquake hit Myanmar, impacting at least six regions home to over 28 million people, including 6.7 million children. It is the strongest earthquake to hit Myanmar in a century.
More than 1,000 people have reportedly died and thousands more injured – many are children. These figures are only likely to rise over the coming days as search and rescue operations continue. Many are feared to be trapped under the rubble.
Our teams are launching an emergency response to ensure children and their families can get the support they need to mitigate the worst impacts of this disaster.
We have stocks prepositioned in several of our warehouses across the country, that will be distributed to affected communities. This includes kits containing toiletries, blankets, tarpaulin for makeshift shelters and learning and recreational materials for children.
As Jeremy Stoner, Asia Regional Director at Save the Children, says: “The earthquake has upended lives across Myanmar and in parts of Thailand and there are children and families who will need our urgent support as they come to terms with what has happened.”
We are working around the clock alongside local partners to scale up critical support to children across the worst impacted areas. Activities will include:
Distributing the prepositioned essential emergency relief items
Providing cash to families so they can buy food, medicine and other essentials
Providing access to clean water, essential hygiene and sanitation items and health services
Providing psychological support to children and their caregivers to help them overcome the traumatic experience they’ve been through
With your support, Save the Children is there before, during and after an emergency. Working together, we help communities become more resilient so that each time a crisis happens, they are stronger, more likely to survive and recover more quickly. Your support of our Children's Emergency Fund today helps make this possible.
Every minute counts. Your generosity can be the difference between despair and hope for a child in crisis.
