Responding To Emergencies

Latest from Leh:

On August 5th, the district of Leh in the remote mountainous Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir suffered a serious and extremely rare cloudburst which caused extensive flooding and landslides in the district capital and at least 34 villages in the surrounding area.

Lives were lost, many more injured and missing. Property, infrastructure, the electricity supply and telecommunications systems were severely damaged. Widespread loss of agriculture crops and livestock was also been reported.

Save the Children was the leading NGO responder to the flash flooding. Within 48 hours of the flood, we deployed an emergency assessment team to the region and began coordinating the interagency relief strategy with the government and other NGOs on the ground. Our efforts reached out to 1700 families with essential relief items, targeting the poorest and most vulnerable households in the remote rural areas of Ladakh.

We distributed food, hygiene and shelter kits to flood-affected families and set up Child Friendly Spaces and temporary schools to provide traumatized children with psychosocial support and a safe environment to learn and play.

Now that the initial relief phase has drawn to a close, We are focusing on longer-term recovery initiatives including livelihood support and school rehabilitation. The inter agency response continues to help victims of the flood till date.

Our Partnership with ECHO in Leh:

Save the Children’s institutional partners play an integral role in advancing our mission to effect immediate and lasting change in the lives of the children.

In December we were particularly grateful for the partnership with ECHO (European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection) as we successfully concluded a three-month partnership to bring relief to flood-affected families in Leh. With the support of ECHO, Save the Children was able to facilitate cash-for-work for families who had lost their economic assets in the flood, provide essential shelter kits enabling families to begin rebuilding their homes and equip households with stoves and warm clothes in preparation for the extreme Ladakh winter. Our efforts targeted the poorest, most vulnerable and geographically isolated households, meeting essential needs and enabling families to regain a sense of normalcy and security in the wake of the disaster.

ECHO will now partner with us in building on our work over the past three years to provide legal, psychosocial and economic support to orphans and other vulnerable children in Jammu & Kashmir.