Image of damage at CSF in Dnipro

UKRAINE: MARCH THE MOST DANGEROUS MONTH FOR CHILDREN SINCE LAST SUMMER

11 Apr 2024 Ukraine

Press release on March being the most dangerous month for children in Ukraine since last July

Damage at a Save the Children's Child Friendly Space following a missile strike in Dnipro, Ukraine. [Save the Children]
 

KYIV, 11 April 2024– With 11 children killed and 46 more injured, March 2024 has become the most dangerous month for children in Ukraine since July last year, Save the Children said today,

WE STAND SIDE BY SIDE WITH CHILDREN IN THE WORLD'S TOUGHEST PLACES.

According to latest UN figures, at least 57 children were killed or injured in Ukraine in March 2024, which is twice as many as the number of children killed or injured in February, and the highest number of child casualties in the country since 57 children were killed or injured in July last year.

 

At least 125 children have been killed or injured in Ukraine in the first three months of 2024, with more than one child killed or injured on average per day – a 20% increase on the number of children killed or injured during the same period in 2023. [2]  

 

The casualties include four children – the youngest a three-month-old baby– who were injured in a single attack on 27 March, following a daytime bombing in Kharkiv, which damaged residential buildings, medical facilities and schools.

 

The increase in casualties comes as the country has seen a marked increase in attacks by guided and unguided aerial bombs, as reported by the UN [1].

 

Explosive weapons, including missiles, drones, aerial bombs, artillery, and rocket launch systems have accounted for 87% [3] of total 1,957 children killed or injured since the war in Ukraine escalated in February 2022.

 

Sonia Khush, Country Director for Save the Children in Ukraine, said:

 

‘Over the past two years, there has not been a single day when sirens did not sound across Ukraine warning of a grave threat of shelling or airstrikes. Missiles, drones, and bombs force children to spend hours in underground shelters, destroy their homes and schools, and kill and injure children themselves, their families, and friends.

 

‘Lately, we have observed a disproportionate use of explosive weapons against in populated areas that caused dozens of casualties and obliterated critical civilian infrastructure. This cannot continue any longer. Children must not be begging to be spared of attacks and violence – it is their sacred right to survive, grow, and develop peacefully that we all must respect and protect at all costs.’

 

Save the Children calls for all parties to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law and abstain from using explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas. Civilians and civilian objects, especially those impacting children such as homes, schools, and hospitals, must be protected from attack all time.

Save the Children has been working in Ukraine since 2014 and has scaled up operations since the war escalated in February 2022. The organisation is working closely with multiple partners to provide life-saving assistance such as food and water, cash transfers, and safe spaces, to make sure children and families impacted by this crisis have the support they need.

NOTES:

  • [1] According to OHCHR verified data, 57 children were killed or injured in June and in July 2024. In February 2024, there were 28 children casualties registered.
     Ukraine: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict – March 2024

  • [2] A total of 125 child casualties have been recorded through the first three months of 2024. With 104 child casualties registered over the same time span in 2023, (125-104)/104=21/104=0.2019 or 20% increase in child casualties.

     

  • [3] According to OHCHR, Ukraine two-year casualties update, a total of 1885 children have been killed or injured over two years of war in Ukraine, with 1639 casualties caused by explosive weapons.

  

For further enquiries please contact:

Randa Ghazy, Regional Media Manager for North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe: Randa.Ghazy@savethechildren.org;

Our media out of hours (BST) contact is media@savethechildren.org.uk / +44(0)7831 650409

 

Please also check our Twitter account @Save_GlobalNews for news alerts, quotes, statements and location Vlogs.

Related News

Maysa*, 28, holding her son Khalid*, 3, in the camp where the family is displaced in Syria

Maysa*, 28, and her husband, Bahaa*, 24, have two young children; Khalid*, three, and Khansa*, one and a half. The family is now living in a displacement camp in Syria after fleeing the violence in Lebanon. In 2019, Bahaa fled Syria to Lebanon, to escape escalating violence in his village, in search of safety and work. In Lebanon, he married Maysa*, a Syrian refugee. The family worked in agriculture, living in tents set up in the fields they worked in. Life wasn’t so easy for them, often landowners withheld their wages which were barely enough to cover basic needs. Some non-governmental organisations provided aid, which helped them get by, but life remained tough. When the violence escalated in Lebanon, the family fled to Syria to save the lives of their children. Save the Children is assisting the family by providing Ready-to-Eat kits, hygiene kits, dignity kits for women, and Plumpy Nut butter for children under 5 years. They are one of the 117 families who arrived on October 29, 2024, in one of the displacement camps in Syria and are living through difficult conditions. They have limited access to water, food, and warm clothes for their children. Despite receiving some basic supplies, such as blankets, a tent, and food baskets, the extreme cold affected their son’s health, and he fell sick. Roni Ahmed / Save the Children

13 Nov 2024

Lebanon

ABOUT 300,000 CHILDREN HAVE FLED LEBANON TO SYRIA, WHERE AID NEEDS HAVE NEVER BEEN HIGHER

About 300,000 children have fled from Lebanon to Syria in the past seven weeks to seek safety from the worsening conflict, only to arrive in a country where humanitarian needs have never been higher. We have multimedia content to accompany this press release: www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2S11VJ1U
READ MORE
Mpox Case Isolation Center Uvira, DRC

Prudence*, 26, a mother of three from South Kivu province, fled armed conflict with her family to Uvira, DRC, in 2023. The hot climate led to widespread illness, with her family suffering from malaria and her children contracting cholera, which is endemic in the area. In May 2024, Mpox spread in her health zone, primarily affecting children. By September, her youngest daughter Christelle*, just 5 months old, fell ill with Mpox. Unsure of the illness, Prudence* initially treated her with medicine from a local pharmacy, which was ineffective. While seeking help from a traditional practitioner, Prudence* encountered community relays trained by Save the Children, who advised her to seek proper treatment at the Mpox isolation centre. Christelle’s* health began improving during her two-week stay at the centre, much to her mother’s relief. Prudence* is thankful for the support she received and dreams of a better future for her children, hoping for peace to return to her village so she can resume farming. Elias Mcito / Save the Children

13 Nov 2024

Burundi , Democratic Congo

Cases of new mpox strain more than double among children in DR Congo and Burundi since emergency declared

The new and aggressive strain of the potentially deadly mpox virus  is spreading rapidly among children in the DRC and Burundi, with cases more than doubling since a public health emergency was declared in mid-August.
READ MORE
default-image

12 Nov 2024

Global

COP29: CHILDREN CALL ON WORLD LEADERS TO ACT AS CLIMATE DISASTERS THREATEN THEIR HOMES, EDUCATION, AND LIVES

Children are calling on world leaders meeting at the COP29 Summit in Azerbaijan to include children’s needs in their response to the climate crisis. Photos and link to the full press conference available here. 
READ MORE