Reunification and family tracing efforts help bring separated children back to their loved ones
Conflict and disasters cause massive displacement with an average of 35,000 children displaced every day. In the chaos, children can get separated from their families. Alone in a crisis they are at risk of exploitation, abuse and violence.
Twelve-year-old Nyota* fled when fighting broke out in January 2025 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. In the chaos, Nyota was separated from her family. She followed the crowd without knowing where to go. She found refuge in a church - alone and hungry.
“At the church, the leader noticed me. He saw that I had neither a mother nor a father, that I ate alone. I slept on an empty stomach and spent the whole day without eating.”
Childhood restored
Save the Children and our partner APEDC made sure Nyota was protected and supported. Once our team learned she was unaccompanied, Nyota was temporarily placed with a foster family, who could keep her safe with access to food, learning and other essentials.
At the same time, we worked with our partner, local authorities and community members to try and trace her relatives so they could be reunited. After several months without news and as hope was fading, Nyota’s family were located.
In October 2025, her uncle was informed that she had been found. This paved the way for a safe family reunification supported by Save the Children.
“For almost a year, we had lost all hope of finding her … Today, I am very happy because I have found my daughter [niece] again,” says Nyota’s uncle Jonas*, who had been caring for the young girl as part of his family.
Today, Nyota is back with her family and has received reunification kits for herself and her caregivers. This reunification brought an end to a long period of separation and distress, restoring hope to a household affected by displacement, poverty, and conflict.
Nyota’s family received a reunification kit with essential items to help with their needs.
The process of reunification
Thanks to the generosity of donors, Save the Children with our local partners can work on tracing families of separated children. In other parts of the world, children like Nyota are back safe with their loved ones – a reunion made possible by the help of our supporters.
In Sudan, four brothers lost sight of their parents while fleeing from violence. Below, take a look at the steps that Save the Children followed to reunite them after a long period of separation.