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If you were forced to flee your home, what would you save?

Essential items like blankets, water containers and mattresses are delivered to earthquake survivors in Syria

Essential items like blankets, water containers and mattresses are delivered to earthquake survivors in Syria. Photo: Khalil Ashawi/Save the Children

Essential items like blankets, water containers and mattresses are delivered to earthquake survivors in Syria. Photo: Khalil Ashawi/Save the Children

Büsra packs her fourite teddy bear in her bag, Türkiye.

Büsra packs her fourite teddy bear in her bag, Türkiye. Photo: Ayşe Nur Gençalp / Save the Children Türkiye.

Büsra packs her fourite teddy bear in her bag, Türkiye. Photo: Ayşe Nur Gençalp / Save the Children Türkiye.

When you have to flee your home, you might pack your clothes, your phone, or your favourite toy.

But you can’t pack security, a stable income, a safe place to play or learn, or someone to fight for your rights.

That is what Save the Children is here for.

We provide what you can’t put in a bag. 

We’re there before, during, and after a crisis. 

We are experts in responding to earthquakes, droughts and conflicts, and the resulting crises that unfold, like hunger, displacement and disease. 

In times of crisis, and in the world's toughest places, we stand side by side with children.

Keep scrolling to learn how we support children when disaster strikes.

By giving to Save the Children today, you can help protect a child’s life and future.

Bag on the floor in a desolate area.
Yakaka (47) prepares to vaccinate Ali (orange t-shirt) at a Save the Children supported diphtheria vaccination campaign in Nigeria

Yakaka (47) prepares to vaccinate Ali (orange t-shirt) at a Save the Children supported diphtheria vaccination campaign in Nigeria. Photo: Wasiu Ogungbemi / Save the Children.

Yakaka (47) prepares to vaccinate Ali (orange t-shirt) at a Save the Children supported diphtheria vaccination campaign in Nigeria. Photo: Wasiu Ogungbemi / Save the Children.

Yadigar*(35) and Fidan*(9) who were affected by the earthquake in February 2023, unpack the winterization items they have just received in Adıyaman, Türkiye.

Yadigar*(35) and Fidan*(9) who were affected by the earthquake in February 2023, unpack the winterization items they have just received in Adıyaman, Türkiye. Photo: Ayşe Nur Gençalp / Save the Children Türkiye

Yadigar*(35) and Fidan*(9) who were affected by the earthquake in February 2023, unpack the winterization items they have just received in Adıyaman, Türkiye. Photo: Ayşe Nur Gençalp / Save the Children Türkiye

A shelter Save the Children helped renovate in the Kherson region, Ukraine.

A shelter Save the Children helped renovate in the Kherson region, Ukraine. Photo: Save the Children.

A shelter Save the Children helped renovate in the Kherson region, Ukraine. Photo: Save the Children.

BEFORE A CRISIS

We help prepare communities for disaster.

We secure relief items in disaster hotspots, reinforce homes and schools with sandbags ahead of predicted flooding, vaccinate children against likely diseases, and improve early warning systems. 

DURING A CRISIS

When disaster strikes, every second matters.

That’s when we provide life-saving supplies such as food, cash, clean water, and shelter. We also provide blankets to keep warm and toiletries to keep clean. 

AFTER A CRISIS

We stay to help children recover and thrive.

We provide access to education, primary healthcare services, Child-Friendly Spaces, protection services, mental health support, and help them fight for their rights.

From responding to conflict or war zones in countries like Ukraine, or after cyclones hit communities in Vanuatu, to rebuilding people's lives after earthquakes struck Türkiye and Syria - Save the Children is there for children.

Every day of the year, we are working to help children survive, stay safe and keep learning.

Continue scrolling or click on the navigation bar to learn how we have been helping children thrive and recover after a crisis.

Türkiye

Distributing essential household & winter items

Aslı* 9, with her favorite doll

Aslı* 9, with her favorite doll in Türkiye. Photo: Ayşe Nur Gençalp / Save the Children Türkiye

Aslı* 9, with her favorite doll in Türkiye. Photo: Ayşe Nur Gençalp / Save the Children Türkiye

Aslı*'s story

Asli and her family lost close relatives and their home was destroyed when earthquakes struck Türkiye on the 6th of February 2023.

Subsequently, the family began living in a tent. When forced to leave their home, families like Aslı's did not have time to pack the essentials they would need to survive the winter months.

Save the Children Türkiye ensured families like Aslı's* had the basics they could not fit in a bag. The team provided winter household items such as ovens, carpets, blankets, rechargeable lights and electric heaters in earthquake-affected areas.

The blanket makes me really happy. It keeps us warm.
Aslı*
Aslı*9 going through the distribution of winter household items, Türkiye.

Aslı*9 going through the distribution of winter household items, Türkiye. Photo: Ayşe Nur Gençalp / Save the Children Türkiye

Aslı*9 going through the distribution of winter household items, Türkiye. Photo: Ayşe Nur Gençalp / Save the Children Türkiye

We continue to work hard to help families and children like Aslı* can endure the challenging winter conditions safely.

We support millions of children worldwide when an emergency strikes. But we need your help to continue to be there.

Ukraine

Supporting kindergartens & school shelters

Facilitator of Save the Children helps the children to create a residential building in a city of dreams with a Lego constructor in a child-friendly space in Ukraine.

Facilitator of Save the Children helps the children to create a residential building in a city of dreams with a Lego constructor in a child-friendly space in Ukraine. Photo: Oleksandr Khomenko/ Save the Children.

Facilitator of Save the Children helps the children to create a residential building in a city of dreams with a Lego constructor in a child-friendly space in Ukraine. Photo: Oleksandr Khomenko/ Save the Children.

Oleh* and Olena*'s story

Four-year-olds Oleh and Olena live in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine. Despite their young age, they are no strangers to air raids. A few times a day, the children have to hide in shelters from the air raids.

Oleh*(4) and Olena*(4) draw in the bomb shelter of their kindergarten during air alarm in Dnipro, Ukraine.

Oleh*(4) and Olena*(4) draw in the bomb shelter of their kindergarten during air alarm in Dnipro, Ukraine. Photo: Anastasiia Zahoskina/Save the Children

Oleh*(4) and Olena*(4) draw in the bomb shelter of their kindergarten during air alarm in Dnipro, Ukraine. Photo: Anastasiia Zahoskina/Save the Children

Often, the air raids can last more than two hours, which can cause young children to feel stress and fear.

To help children cope better, Save the Children have worked with nurseries and schools not only in Dnipro, but across the whole of Ukraine, to make these spaces and shelters feel safe and fun for children.

We help fill bunkers with colour, desks, chairs, games and learning materials so that children can focus on just being children.

So far, our team in Ukraine has reached over 1,340,000 people including around 615,000 children since the escalation of the war in 2022.

A teacher blows soap bubbles playing with children in the kindergarten shelter during an air raid.

A teacher blows soap bubbles while playing with children in the kindergarten shelter during an air raid. Photo: Oleksandr Khomenko/Save the Children.

A teacher blows soap bubbles while playing with children in the kindergarten shelter during an air raid. Photo: Oleksandr Khomenko/Save the Children.

Children are always the most vulnerable in crisis. Help protect a child’s life and future.

Vanuatu

Supporting families recover from the impact of cyclones

Noa*, 11, looks inside his damaged school, Vanuatu.

Noa*, 11, looks inside his damaged school, Vanuatu. Photo: Damian Mobbs / Save the Children Vanuatu

Noa*, 11, looks inside his damaged school, Vanuatu. Photo: Damian Mobbs / Save the Children Vanuatu

Noa*'s story

Noa is 11 years old. He lives in a village on the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu with his two parents as well as with his two siblings.

In March 2023, the family was forced to take shelter from back-to-back tropical cyclones – Tropical Cyclone Judy and Tropical Cyclone Kevin.

I stayed with my mother and my father and we hid in one of our house’s rooms. One of the corrugated iron sheets on our roof flew off, so then we had to run and hide in another room in our house.
Noa*, 11.

The tropical cyclones tore off part of the family’s roof and damaged their water tank, resulting in their water supply becoming contaminated with dirt and leaves. The cyclones also severely damaged the local school, putting children at risk of losing out on their education.

Noa*, 11, pictured inside his damaged school following back-to-back tropical cyclones - Judy and Kevin - that hit his Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu.

Noa*, 11, pictured inside his damaged school following back-to-back tropical cyclones - Judy and Kevin - that hit his Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu. Photo: Damian Mobbs / Save the Children Vanuatu

Noa*, 11, pictured inside his damaged school following back-to-back tropical cyclones - Judy and Kevin - that hit his Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu. Photo: Damian Mobbs / Save the Children Vanuatu

Noa is experiencing the devastating impact of climate change first-hand. His mother, Emele*, is worried that their island nation will become even more vulnerable as the future unfolds.

In the aftermath of the cyclones, Save the Children provided families like Noa's with the essentials such as water, food, seeds, tools, and household items including blankets.

Emele*, 39, Noa's* mum, receives a hygiene kit from a Save the Children staff member following back-to-back tropical cyclones in Vanuatu in March 2023.

Emele*, 39, Noa's* mum, receives a hygiene kit from a Save the Children staff member in Vanuatu in March 2023. Photo: Damian Mobbs / Save the Children Vanuatu

Emele*, 39, Noa's* mum, receives a hygiene kit from a Save the Children staff member in Vanuatu in March 2023. Photo: Damian Mobbs / Save the Children Vanuatu

In addition, Save the Children set up Child-Friendly spaces where Noa and his siblings can play with other children in a safe environment, keep on learning and regain control of their childhoods.

Every day of the year, Save the Children is working to help children survive, stay safe and keep learning. But we need your help to continue to be there.

300 million people will require humanitarian assistance in 2024.

Our work has never been more difficult or dangerous.

Your support has never been more invaluable.

Help us provide children with what they can't fit in a bag - their security, their education, their rights.