Save the Children calls on all involved in the relief effort to ensure that children in affected areas are not evacuated or moved without an adult carer.
Katy Barnett, Save the Children child protection expert: "The primary need for children at the moment is shelter and aid - to keep them safe and allow their families to protect them. But we need to also ensure that children are not put at more risk during the uncertainty of the coming days and weeks. Even during an emergency, all children have a right to a family and families are normally the best placed to protect and care for them.”
At the weekend Save the Children sent a mission back to Alai where on Friday we had evacuated 10 seriously injured children with their carers to Islamabad for urgent medical attention. The helicopters included provisions of tents, water cartons and food supplies. Seven doctors accompanied the flight to provide medical aid to the injured, assess the situation and evacuate any seriously injured children to Islamabad.
The children received medical treatment in Islamabad. They were accompanied by recognised carers - an essential procedure to ensure that children are not separated from their families in times of emergency.
In Islamabad, Save the Children is working in 6 hospitals to ensure the protection of evacuee children from rural areas and will work with government and other agencies to ensure that any unaccompanied and separated children are provided with services aimed at reuniting them with their parents or carers as quickly as possible.
We are also continuing to provide essential healthcare and relief to the most vulnerable children in rural areas and also to ensure that they remain safe within the protection of their families and other carers during the ongoing crisis.
Even a temporary separation can all too easily become permanent. Therefore Save the Children is setting up monitoring systems to ensure that displaced children remain with families and carers and avoid risks of separation over the weeks ahead.