Children's Emergency Fund
Conflict, climate-related disasters, and displacement are turning children’s lives upside down. During and after an emergency, children face a greater risk of violence, sexual exploitation, and hunger – and girls are often the worst affected.
Right now, children across the Middle East are once again facing terrifying violence and uncertainty. In Lebanon, tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes as hostilities escalate, while families across Gaza continue to face devastating humanitarian needs.
Your support will help children in affected communities get the urgent and lifesaving relief they need including food, water, access to education and vital protection.
Donate to the Children’s Emergency Fund so we can respond rapidly when a crisis hits.
Responding to crises in the Middle East
Across the Middle East, children who have already lived through far too much are once again facing terrifying violence. As multiple emergencies unfold across the world, the level of suffering is growing.
In crises like this, girls often face even greater challenges. Displacement increases the risk of violence, exploitation and early marriage. And access to education, healthcare and basic hygiene becomes harder.
As needs rise quickly and the situation remains volatile, we need your support to help keep protecting children and their families. And make sure that girls’ safety, dignity and rights are not overlooked during this crisis.
How we respond to emergencies
Last year, Plan International responded to more than 170 disasters worldwide. When emergencies strike, our teams work quickly with trusted local partners to reach children and families with lifesaving support.
Donations to the Children’s Emergency Fund help us provide:
- essentials including food, clean water and shelter
- safe spaces where children can recover, process trauma and play
- access to education so children can continue learning during crises
- cash and voucher assistance for families who have lost everything
- dignity kits so girls can safely manage their periods
- support for long-term community recovery
Help children in climate-related disasters
In November 2020, hurricanes Eta and Iota left a trail of destruction that affected over 1.9 million people in Guatemala, with 300,000 displaced from their homes. Due to the climate crisis, the frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters is increasing.
Thousands of children like Eimy from the Alta Verapaz region were forced to flee their homes and drop out of school after mudslides and widespread flooding buried homes and roads.
We work to respond immediately to crises by providing life-saving essentials such as food, shelter, and economic support to affected communities.
You can play a crucial role in helping us be there for children like Eimy.
Why your support matters
Our response
Supporters of the Children’s Emergency Fund are helping us to reach children and girls in an emergency.
Children’s psychological support: Lebanon
The huge explosion in Beirut’s port area on 4 August 2020, caused widespread damage and left children emotionally and psychologically scarred. Our Children’s Emergency Fund supported Beirut’s children by providing psychosocial support. This helped them address the trauma of the explosion and move forward with their lives.
Distributing dignity kits: Ethiopia
Conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has displaced almost 2 million people. Our Children's Emergency Fund has helped thousands of girls living in camps to access dignity kits. These contain soap, sanitary pads, underwear, and other essential items to help them manage their periods and improve their well-being.
Providing access to clean water: Zimbabwe
Throughout the COVID pandemic we helped repair water points and installed 90 hand washing stations in remote communities across north-eastern Zimbabwe. We also supplied disinfectant kits to 24 schools and ran a public information campaign around hygiene and hand washing to protect against the spread of the virus.
Children’s emergency fund
Help us reach children in an emergency as soon as they need us
Main banner image caption: Elin, 11, and her family, hope to return to their home in Gaza.