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Vulnerable children the focus of care agencies
View(s):Child victims of the flood and landslide disasters – some homeless, some separated from their families amid the chaos of displacement in temporary shelters – are being looked after by a network of state agencies.
As children are often in danger of abduction and physical and sexual abuse the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) is coordinating with police to provide round-the-clock protection in camps with female officers deployed for this purpose.
After NCPA Chairperson Dr. Natasha Balendra appealed for more resources, citing a need for more female police officers to be stationed in the camps, the Inspector-General of Police asked her to submit a list of camps that require protection.
The NCPA, Probations Commissioners, the Ministry of Women’s and Children’s Affairs and NGOs skilled in counselling and psychological treatment are joining hands to care for the children especially those who have been separated from their families.
Probation Commissioner for the Western Province Chandima Dissanayake disclosed one such case, recorded in Wattala, where the minor in question was immediately placed in a safe childcare facility.
Education has been interrupted for tens of thousands of schoolchildren
In the Western Province, the Education Ministry said, 59,888 school students have had their education affected by the floods with 120 schools damaged and displaced schoolchildren scattered across 12 relief camps.
The Sabaragamuwa Province reported 28 schoolchildren had been killed and 2,075 others placed in hardship, many in 10 relief camps. About 13 schools had been damaged.
The Northwestern Province reported 18 schools damaged and 1,355 students in hardship and displaced, and one relief camp established.
All efforts are being made to ensure continuity of the children’s education in the relief camps.
Education Ministry officials under the direction of Minister Akila Viraj Kariyavasam are providing children in relief camps with aid. Packages containing two sets of uniforms, textbooks, and exercise books and other learning materials have so far been handed over to children in Kolonnawa and Kaduwela, with distribution to begin soon in Homagama.
The Department of Probation is distributing learning materials to displaced children from low-income families in the Gampaha District.
The Department of Examinations said it would replace lost exam certificates. In addition, application date for the Ordinary Level examination has been extended from May 31 to June 10.
School buildings that were damaged or, in a few cases, completely destroyed, will be reconstructed, and this work has begun already in the Sabaragamuwa Province.
Minister Kariyavasam assured students the ministry would dedicate every effort to assist them in this time of need. The health and hygiene of displaced children is being monitored by the Health Ministry through teams from its Disaster Management Unit. So far, the ministry says, there is no sign of epidemic diseases.
Although relief camps established immediately after the recent floods are now being wound up the Family Health Bureau (FHB) affiliated to the Ministry of Health said some 30,000 people may yet remain displaced. The bureau is deploying public health inspectors to assess the sanitation of food prepared within the camps.