Children and young people suffer the most when a disaster strikes - Koroivueta

When a disaster strikes, children and young people suffer disproportionately.

This was highlighted by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Josefa Koroivueta at the opening of the Child Protection in Emergencies Training this morning at the Pearl Resort.      

Koroivueta says disasters impact children in many ways as their supporting structures such as schools are destroyed or used for other uses.

He says they struggle to deal with uncertainty, anxiety and shock, and their emotional and psychological well-being suffers.

Koroivueta says the Pacific Island Countries are extremely vulnerable to disasters and the effects of climate change continues to rank extremely high in world disaster risk assessments.

He they will continue to establish and strengthen functional and reliable child protection systems to be able to prevent and respond at all the phases of the humanitarian cycle, preparedness, response and recovery.

He says four Pacific Island Countries are within the 15 top countries with the highest World Risk Index and recent years have seen an increase in the frequency and the severity of disasters.

These countries are Vanuatu, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.