Opening September 6, Children in Emergencies is an exhibition of UNICEF’s photographs that show the impact of emergencies on children in the developing world.

Each year, UNICEF responds to more than 200 emergencies around the world. It is children who all too often experience the worst consequences of these man-made and natural disasters.

Many of the photos at the exhibition,  located at the Wellington Central Library have a profound story behind them.

For example the exhibition’s signature photo is of three girls leaving the Abu Shouk camp for displaced people near El Fasher city,  in North Darfur, to gather firewood. The journey is a seven hour trek.

Gruelling enough you might think, for children and teenagers – but girls as young as eight have been attacked, raped or killed walking this route. Two million people were displaced, fleeing terror attacks that include killings, abductions, gang rapes, looting and the burning of villages during this civil conflict, which began in 2003. (Photographer Ron Haviv)

Another photo (by Roger Le Moyne) in the exhibition shows a Congolese boy Mwindo, 13, a child-soldier who spent three years in the militia, where his job was to make small marks with a razor blade on the arms and foreheads of new recruits, a ritual thought to protect them from bullets. During a confrontation with other insurgents Mwindo killed a man who lunged at him in a forest. Two of his friends were also killed. Mwindo would like to have a small roadside business, selling goods so that he can return to school one day.

The third photo (by Giacomo Pirozzi) shows a Palestinian boy taking a photo of a teenage girl Jamila Al-Habbash, 15.

Jamila was struck by a missile while she and other children played on the roof of her home during the January 2009 military incursion. Her sister, Shaza, was killed. The conflict killed 1,300 Gazans, including 430 children.

The exhibition runs from September 6-20th.  It will be launched by David Shearer MP, former deputy head of UN Iraq.

Tell us what you think of the photos in this blog; we’d love to hear your opinion.

Ash is losing his locks for the children on Pakistan!

It’s amazing what people will do for a good cause. Ash, 14, from Parnell College in Auckland, is ready to lose his locks (his ‘beloved dreadlocks’), to raise money for UNICEF’s emergency relief in Pakistan.

Ash is running a Trademe auction to raise as much money as he can, and is even willing to send his dreads to the highest bidder!

This is no easy feat for Ash, who’s been growing his hair for two years. His friends reckon it’s a great idea, but Ash already thinks he’ll grow his dreads back after having a clean shave. Ash will have his locks professionally cut by a hairdresser.

The auction finishes on Tuesday 7 September, so do something different – visit his Trademe auction and bid! All funds will go to UNICEF’s emergency relief for children in Pakistan.

Have you got any bizarre fundraising ideas? Or better puns than us? Let us know by leaving a comment!

It is hard to understand what the people of Pakistan are going through. This week we received this letter from UNICEF Pakistan. We found it very compelling, because it provided some ‘chapter and verse’ about life in Pakistan. Let us know what you think, or if you know anyone in Pakistan.

UNICEF NZ Communications team.

Dear Dennis,

As you know, the situation here in Pakistan is desperate. Those of us with decades of emergency experience have never seen anything like than devastation this flooding has caused. Mothers have walked through mud and water for kilometres, fleeing from or lost or damaged homes with nothing but a baby clinging to their backs, pulling along children by each hand. Everyone is desperately thirsty in high beat and humidity, but there is only heavily contaminated water around them.

On behalf of the children of Pakistan, I would like to thank UNICEF for your much needed support thus far. We have vaccinated children against polio (342,200) and measles (252,000) delivered hygiene kits to 7000 families and are reaching some 1.5 million every day with clean water; we have distributed 3 millions of purification tablets to other families. But though we have received generous and rapid contributions from the people of New Zealand, we are still in need of more funds, as the crisis worsens, and the numbers affected mount.

The tragedy that is unfolding now, especially for small children, is a terrible descent into diarrhoea, dehydration and death. For those that survive, malnutrition is ever more likely.

The people of New Zealand have always been so generous! Please convey to them that the scale and duration of this disaster is terrifying. While in the north there was a torrential, rapid tsunami-like rush of water, in the south it is a slow but inexorable flood that keeps spreading. Wherever people can find a bit of high ground, they are huddled together under bits of cloth and plastic.

UNICEF is on the ground in the worst affected areas, working with partners, leading the water sanitation, nutritional, child protection and emergency education responses. Aid is now getting through to even more remote places.

We urge the people of New Zealand to do what you can to help UNICEF protect the children of Pakistan.  We must ensure that the floods that damaged or destroyed their homes, schools and clinics do not also destroy children’s futures.

Warmest thanks.
Karen R. Allen
UNICEF Deputy Representative, Pakistan

Wondering how you can help?
Donate to UNICEF NZ’s Pakistan Emergency Appeal
Fundraise for Pakistan

Dr. Mohammad Rafiq, UNICEF Pakistan

For children this was truly terrifying. They were grabbed out of their beds by parents in the middle of the night and had to run to safe ground as water poured into their houses. The only warning they had was from local Mosques telling them to leave. They ran without their shoes and without their belongings.

I met a father and son who had to flee their home when the flood waters arrived. A few days later they returned to find their house completely destroyed. When I met them, they were desperately trying to find any of their belongings in the mud. This was devastating to see.

Children are the most vulnerable people affected by this flood. They also face a great threat from hunger and diseases like cholera and scabies.

There is no mobile phone reception anymore so I go on the local radio twice a day to tell people about how to protect themselves from disease. I tell them that if they have a water tank on the third floor or higher they should treat this as the most precious thing in the world and only drink it. If people do not have this then they can collect rainwater. If they have to drink floodwater they should use pure sachets, or water purifying tablets if possible. As a last resort they can filter the water from a clean cloth two to three times and then put in sunlight for a couple of hours. This is really for when all other options are exhausted.

Our biggest concern, though, is the places we have not been able to reach yet. Roads have been destroyed and bridges washed away, which makes our work even more difficult. We have not seen an epidemic of any disease yet, but God forbid that there is one somewhere we have not been able to reach yet.

Since the flood, food prices have already begun to rise and we know it is important to get food to people who need it. UNICEF already had stockpiles of high-nutrition biscuits in Pakistan and we have distributed these to 4,000 children.

I worry about the future for the 1.4 million children affected by this flood. Once the waters subside and people find shelter, there will still be no schools and many, many children will face losing their education. We will feel the effects of this disaster for years to come.

How you can help
Donate to UNICEF NZ’s Pakistan Emergency Appeal

Dr Mohammad Rafiq is UNICEF Pakistan’s Officer in Charge, Khyber Provincial Office.

The recent floods in Pakistan have been the worst I have ever seen in my 53 years. When I was young we heard from our elders that there were great floods in 1929, but we currently think that these are twice as bad. Nobody has any memory of a worse disaster.

Flood waters are creating a risk of diarrhoeal disease.

We could see a lot from the air and the population is in a very desperate situation. At least a third of the two districts I visited have been flooded.

We saw houses that were literally swimming in the midst of muddy water, while some walls of buildings had crumbled and fallen. The roads were covered with water and cars were unable to move. Crops had been washed away and destroyed, or were completely under water. Trees were pushed down by the strength of the water.

There were people trying to save their lives by climbing trees or roofs of buildings. I heard extremely sad stories of people whose relatives had died and there is no possibility of burying them in the midst of this flood. They had to take their remains up into trees and tie them to the trees to hold them there until they can be buried.

It is a very difficult situation to assess in detail because bridges, roads, even main highways are blocked or broken, and there are many places that are not accessible on the ground. But there are going to be great needs in terms of water, sanitation, shelter, assuring the healthcare of the population because of water-borne diseases, and food security.

UNICEF’s main focus right now is to limit the spread of diarrhoeal disease as much as possible, because diarrhoea in young children contributes to dehydration and mortality. To do this we need to make sure that the population only drinks clean water. But this is very difficult because hundreds of thousands of people are surrounded only by dirty, muddy water and all their water systems have been damaged or polluted by the flood waters.

UNICEF is working with the Pakistani authorities to repair tube-wells and drinking water systems as quickly as possible. To date, 73 tube-wells have been repaired, benefitting 800,000 people. We are also providing emergency clean drinking water, water purification tablets, and hygiene kits. UNICEF is supporting 24 medical camps in affected areas that will help up to one million people, as well as providing high-energy biscuits for thousands of children.

Support UNICEF’s aid efforts by donating to our Emergency Fund