What we do

Emergencies

Volunteers unload UNICEF supplies from a truck, in the flood-ravaged town of New Bataan in Compostela Valley Province in Davao Region in south-eastern Mindanao, Philippines, following the devastation caused by Typhoon Bopha (December 2012).

Emergency situations are a fact of life for many children in our region. During emergencies, children’s health, security and well-being are compromised as families and communities are shattered and basic social infrastructure is destroyed. Temporary shelters often become permanent homes, where children have no access to education, health and other services.

Natural disasters. Our region is the world’s most affected by natural disasters. And they are expected to become even more frequent because of urbanization, population growth, deforestation and climate change.

Refugees. There are more than half a million refugees in our region. Many of them are children. Almost half of the refugees in Papua New Guinea and Thailand are children.

Internally displaced persons. More than 1 million people in our region are displaced within their own country. They represent the legacy of long-running conflicts and sectarian violence. Natural disasters and large-scale development projects also displace communities.

Other emergencies. Low-level insurgencies still persist in Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand. Public health emergencies, such as the Influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic, pose a serious threat.

One of UNICEF’s main missions is to fulfil the basic needs and fundamental rights of our region’s most vulnerable children, including survivors of natural disasters, refugee and internally displaced children, and children affected by armed conflict.

UNICEF’s Core Commitment for Children identifies life-saving interventions and critical minimum basic services vital during the first several weeks of an emergency as well as longer-term activities that support sustainable reconstruction and development.

For Cyclone Nargis impacts in Myanmar and the Sichuan earthquake in China, see the one-year-after reports.
Sichuan Earthquake One Year Report: May 2009

One year after Cyclone Nargis: On the road to recovery

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