Save the Children Fiji’s mission is to protect and help Fiji’s children and deliver basic services during an Emergency Situation. Save the Children Fiji is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance which has its own approved policy for helping children during disasters
1.0 Goal: Our goals for this involvement are:
- To cater for the Educational needs of children who are affected by flooding across Fiji
- To help keep children in school and to maintains a child’s right to an education at all times.
- Toprotectchildrenfromphysicalandemotionalinjurybykeepingtheminfamiliar, protected and caring environment.
2.0. Objectives: Our objectives for the current emergency are to:
- Provide children with school stationery and other Study tools that will allow children to attend as well as participate effectively in education.
- Provide children with the sense of normalcy following the floods by enabling them to return to school
- Decrease the potential vulnerability of children in this situation by providing them with safe space through the schools.
As a key contributor of relief in an emergency situation, SCFiji takes the responsibility of directly providing relief to children in situations such as currently being experienced in the Western Division. Providing relief assistance to children in the aftermath of Natural Disaster is one of SCFiji’s priorities. The objective of the organization is to identify children’s needs and the consequent strategies to address them. The floods are no exception as SCFiji seeks to provide adequate relief to children in relation to their identified needs.
It is intended that the relief will be provided for children in the form of stationery and providing awareness on child protection in Emergencies.SC Fiji has extensive in the past experience in coordinating relief efforts for children around educational needs and has identified similar patterns across Fiji when in comparison to the aftermath of previous disasters.
After any natural disaster, children are particularly vulnerable to situations of neglect, violence, an, in some instances abuse. Education is often seen as a stabilizing factor for children living in situations where the community is focused on recovering from a natural disaster. This has significantly contributed to SCFiji’s goal of moving the children back into their schools as soon as possible.
In attempting to achieve these goals, SCFiji is drawing on its extensive expertise in the area of emergency relief and its solid network of government as well non- governmental partner agencies.
3.0 SC Fiji Action
- To address the needs of children as it’s envisioned that this project concentrates on basic Educational Assistance whereby School stationery, and other study materials will be provided to children of flood affected families as these are essential part of any child’s school kit. In spite of this, these schools kit that is high cost item for a child’s education.
- The benefits of this scheme are as follows:
- reduces costs of education on the child’s family;
- builds the capacity of the school to identify disadvantaged children and take a proactive stand in providing solutions that will seek to enhance their opportunity for an education
- SCA through the Education in Emergency Project has fund available for the purchase of stationery and discussions are being held with SC Fiji partners and other donor agencies to secure this fund and design the expanded project that will cover a period of five weeks from the commencement of the school year.
SCFiji staff will be conducting Assessment for Educational assistance in the worse affected areas identifying needy children in helping them return to school with full sets of study materials.
4.0. Impact of the project
This project will directly assist children from the affected areas immediately. A project like this also has a significant potential for ‘ripple effect’ beyond its intended immediate beneficiaries. This creates a situation where the family is able to divert resources to other areas and build their capacity to recover from disaster.
5.0 Risk Factors and Measures
As with most projects of this nature, there is a risk for the development of the ‘hand out’ mentality among the project beneficiaries, both indirect and direct. In a desperate situation like that currently being experienced across Fiji, intervention by agencies like SCFiji can easily cultivate the community’s expectation of the organization to address every one of its needs.
To address this SCFiji plans to engage in full consultation with the schools, MoE and communities during the initial stages of the project. It must be made clear that the project is a short term one and seeks to build capacity of the project partners to engage meaningfully in their recovery process.
6.0 Funding Sources
- SCA has provided funding through the EiE project on Education materials 3.0 (A&B above).
- Vodafone ATH Foundation donated FJD$10,000 for this operation
- SC Fiji will be approaching corporate and donor agencies on funding opportunities for this response which will depend on assessment obtained from the staff.
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