If Ebola was an emergency based around a tiny virus that often killed before it was discovered, the deep brown gash on a Freetown hillside is a sign of a disaster of a very different nature. Like Rio de Janiero on the other side of the Atlantic, Sierra Leone’s capital is built on spectacular coastal hills, and is overshadowed by a… Read more →←
Topic: Children in emergencies
The scale of destruction and depth of suffering is mind-blowing. It is hard to imagine life in these conditions. These are the thoughts that hit me as we arrived in the so-called ‘buffer zone’ just outside of besieged Al-Nashabiyeh in east Ghouta, rural Damascus. Burnt trees, rubble, and damaged buildings lined the streets as we… Read more →←
“I was a little girl when I came from Syria, I was 11 years old and just thinking about toys; now I have grown up,” says Omaima, as the 16 year old reflects on her time in Za’atari, nearly one third of her life. “I used to think that when I got to the camp it would be like a picnic, like a garden to play with my friends. Then I… Read more →←
There is life before the crisis, and life since the crisis. A small spark ignited a wave of conflict. The Kasaï region has become a synonym for unbelievable atrocities and immeasurable violence. Most people have probably never heard of the Kasai and would probably struggle to locate it a map. But now militias, mystical attacks,… Read more →←
The conflict in the Central African Republic follows a line that is the boundary between the savannah and the tropical interior of Central Africa. On that line is Bossangoa, a city at the centre of a range of conflicts that gripped the country in 2013 and 2014. Residents fled to displacements camps and across the border to Cameroon and… Read more →←
As heavy fighting rages in Raqqa, more than 200,000 people, half of them children, have been forced to flee their homes. They risk everything to reach safety. Many travel on roads full of landmines, or dodge shelling and snipers. One of their destinations is Ain Issa, 50 kilometres from the front lines in Raqqa city. The Ain Issa camp… Read more →←
Thirteen year old Mona is washing dishes out front of her tent. Living with her mother, Harzia, aunt and grandmother, Sabria, the tent is a largely female space. Except there is Ali. At four months old, he does not take up much space in these close quarters, but his presence is notable. He is nestled into one corner of the tent so he… Read more →←
“I’m from Zummar, a village close to the Syrian border. It’s been three years since my family and I left there. We had to go because of all the rockets and things. It was really dangerous. So we went to Mosul.” “I used to go to school in Zummar, but not in Mosul. I don’t know how to read or write. It’s been so long since I… Read more →←
Escaping the fighting in Raqqa involves perilous journeys to reach safety. Mothers, fathers and children must be able to dodge the snipers and landmines along the way, then spend weeks running from farm to farm, sleeping in the open before they arrive at a camp where they can at least get access to basic services again. Those who are… Read more →←
Around the world today, there is a growing global ‘movement’ of children and adolescents – but not the kind of movement that generates many ‘likes’ on social media. It is a movement made up of 50 million children on the move. More than half of them have been forcibly displaced by conflict. Some are escaping violence and… Read more →←
