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UNICEF in Emergencies

Since its inception, UNICEF’s mandate has involved a rapid response to humanitarian crises.  Originally called the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, the organisation was created to provide humanitarian assistance to children living in a world shattered by the Second World War.  Though emergencies have grown increasingly complex and their impacts ever more devastating, UNICEF remains dedicated to providing life-saving assistance to children affected by disasters, and to protecting their rights.

UNICEF is guided in its emergency response by its Core Commitments for Children in Emergencies, which builds on our experience in recent crises and outlines our initial response and timeframe for response.  It states the core responses at all levels of the organisation.
UNICEF works in collaboration with local and international partners, including governments, UN agencies, and civil society. These partnerships are crucial to ensuring comprehensive and effective delivery of humanitarian assistance.

In recent times, UNICEF has been an active member of the UN Disaster Management Team (UNDMT) in India.   UNICEF also has regular disaster preparedness programmes where communities are motivated to build on their traditional knowledge and coping mechanisms to deal with annual climate-based phenomena such as floods.

With it’s network of 13 field offices covering 16 states in India – UNICEF has played a critical role of in times of crisis by gathering information, conducting rapid assessments and providing a platform for the UNDMT to coordinate the UN system’s response in areas where it has a presence.

Over the last two decades, India has borne the brunt of several major natural disasters such as the Latur Earthquake in 1993; the Orissa super cyclone in October 1999, the Bhuj earthquake in January 2001, the Tsunami strikes in December 2004 and lastly, the earthquake in Jammu & Kashmir.
 
During emergencies, children are especially vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and violence.  Measles, diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, malaria and malnutrition are the major killers of children during humanitarian crises. Therefore, emergency immunization is one of UNICEF’s priority interventions, along with vitamin A supplementation and therapeutic feeding centres.

UNICEF also works to ensure safe supplies of drinking water, and to improve sanitary conditions for communities and the displaced. UNICEF also advocates for early resumption of schooling as key to restoring a semblance of normalcy in the lives of affected children.