Save the Children is committed to reducing children’s vulnerability to emergencies, ensuring their right to survival and development after an emergency and providing the support they and their families need to quickly recover and re-establish their lives, dignity and livelihoods.

Save the Children defines an emergency as “A situation where the lives, physical and mental wellbeing or development opportunities of children are threatened as a result of man-made or natural disasters, and where local capacity to respond is exceeded or inadequate”

Critical to the success of an emergency response is our ability to respond rapidly, often before the public even become aware of the situation. One of the tools we use to help us achieve this is the Children’s Emergency Fund (CEF), which allows us to mobilise people and materials quickly to areas affected by disaster, instead of having to wait for public appeals to be launched. Our supporters provide funds to the Children’s Emergency Fund, which helps us to save the lives of more children, more rapidly.

Emergency response, preparedness and disaster risk reduction is one of the tangible ways in which we realise children’s rights, and assist them, their families and their communities to better deal with and prepare for disasters on their own, thus increasing their resilience and reducing their dependence on others.

When we do respond to emergencies, we provide shelter, food and nutrition, relief items, clean water, child protection, health services and education. These activities are critical to saving lives, relieving suffering, and helping to normalise children’s lives after a traumatic event.