©TDH

ENSURING NO CHILD IS LEFT BEHIND

Children are always the first victims of conflicts and natural disasters. Terre des Hommes acts as quickly as possible to meet children's basic needs in emergency situations – providing food, water, medical assistance, psychosocial support and protection against exploitation.

Terre des Hommes strives to be there for children living in protracted crisis and works with communities towards the progressive rebuilding of their societies.

Last year, crises compelled a record number of people to leave their homes. Terre des Hommes worked in emergency situations and their aftermath in 17 countries – almost a third of the organisation's global budget.

Hurricane Matthew

In October 2016, Hurricane Matthew swept across Haiti, killing over 500 people and causing devastating amounts of damage to already vulnerable communities. Terre des Hommes (Switzerland) acted with other partners to limit any outbreaks of cholera in the three months after the hurricane. One meal a day was given out to children, and local institutions were supported in disseminating clean water and chlorine tablets to those who needed them.

Listening to children on the move

Terre des Hommes (France) also worked with children in crisis situations by carrying out a consultation in France amongst child refugees. Refugee and migrant children and youths explained the difficulties they faced from administrative, language and cultural barriers, local hostility towards them, and other issues affecting their integration into French society. Opinions were compiled and included in a UN paper on how states and other organisations should respect the rights of child refugees and migrants across the globe.

See how Terre des Hommes is providing psychosocial support for child refugees

Play video

Watch how scholarships help child refugees study

Play video

MOBILE LIBRARIES FOR CHILD REFUGEES

Since the closure of the Western Balkans route, over 60,000 refugees and migrants have become trapped in Greece – with many children among them. Terre des Hommes (Lausanne) and its partner ARSIS have provided child refugees in the Epirus region of Greece with informal, innovative education tools, such as portable libraries, adapted to their needs – allowing children to continue their education despite their difficult circumstances.

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR REFUGEE AND MIGRANT YOUTH

Terre des Hommes (Italy) are also striving to improve the lives of young refugees and migrants. They have provided scholarships to 11 unaccompanied minors, allowing them to continue their education, attend a training course in a specific profession or enrol in university. Through this access to education and work-based training, these young people are empowered to integrate more effectively into Italian society and given a solid foundation on which to to build a future within Italy.

CALLING GOVERNMENTS TO ACCOUNT

Terre des Hommes also brought the plight of children in emergency situations to the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May 2016. The organisation called for politicians and governments to renew their commitment to prevent and resolve global crisis, where Terre des Hommes is always among the first to operate. We highlighted how the assistance and protection of people in need is everyone’s business – from humanitarian workers to politicians and economists, and many more.

PARTNERSHIP FOR CHANGE

In 2016, Terre des Hommes (Lausanne) joined the Global Humanitarian Lab – a partnership of leading humanitarian organisations working to create, develop, and accelerate innovative solutions to address the common problems of affected populations and the humanitarian community.