A girl pretends to hide among finished pots near Twante. Pic: M T Davis

THE saying goes that ‘children are the future’ and a host of aid groups including the government and the United Nations Childen’s Fund (UNICEF) are working to protect these youngest victims of Cyclone Nargis, a UNICEF spokesperson said last week.

Mr Ramesh M Shrestha told The Myanmar Times that the groups, which also include Save the Children, World Vision and the Social Welfare Department, under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, are accelerating the process of reintegrating children separated from their families.

One step in the program was a two-day workshop on alternative care – placing children with extended family members within their original communities – for separated, unaccompanied and orphaned children, which was held on July 7 and 8 at the MiCasa Hotel in Yangon.

“Reintegrating children back into their families is not something that has only come about after Nargis, we’ve been working with the department for more than a year to take care of children who have been in various institutions.

“Some of them are found on the streets and have run away from home,” Mr Shrestha said.

However, Nargis has certainly increased the number of children needing care and UNICEF has already reintegrated 16 children so far. Unfortunately there another 421 who still need help.

“There is still a lot more that needs to be done.

“If we can’t put the children back with their parents, we’d like to place them with close relatives. But we need to support the whole communities and encourage everyone there to take responsibility for these children because the families need help.

“Many people have lost their possessions, their relatives, their livelihoods, pretty well everything,” he said.

He added that all organisations are cooperating on projects at the moment because they all have the same goals.

Mr Shrestha said the biggest advantage of alternative care is that they feel like they’re part of a family again.

“There are adults in their immediate families who can be parental figures, which minimises the chance that they will feel like nobody is caring for them
“But when they’re in institutions, it’s like being at school where there are teachers and children. That pupil-teacher relationship is also good but it’s not like a family.

“A family environment is one where children are cared for and can relax completely. It’s one where they can feel free to play other children of similar age,” he said.

Mr Shrestha said he agreed with the department’s June decree ban on the adoption of children orphaned during Nargis.

“We fully agree that adoption should be a last resort because there are always positives and negatives. We’ve seen examples in other countries that adoption doesn’t always end up with a harmonious family.

“Many countries that do allow adoptions end with the child not being treated as a true member of the family,” he said.

Mr Shrestha said all partners in the program are discussing what assistance to give to the families who are taking in children.

“They do need both financial and material support. We’re looking at ways to support the livelihoods of the families who will be responsible for these children.

“But we have to be very careful to only offer support that we can maintain for a number of years – not just one year, that would be irresponsible on our behalf. We must make sure that we’ll be able to continue to provide help for these families until they are able to ably support themselves. But we’re still discussing what steps we need to take on this matter,” he said.

Mr Shrestha added that it will also be important to monitor the ongoing wellbeing of the children concerned.

“We have social workers to make sure that the children are safe and are going to school. They will also guarantee that the whole family is taken care of and that all children in the family are provided for,” he said.

“But we’re looking at a what kind of mechanism we need to put in place for this to happen long-term because looking after children is a long commitment” he said.

Another issue that UNICEF is looking at is the psychological care of children who lost family and close relatives. Mr Shrestha said UNICEF is working with the Ministry of Education on this: “I think many children suffered psychological scars from losing family members and we’re working through the school network to identify those who need help.

“We’re cooperating with the Ministry of Education to develop handbooks for teachers on how to handle affected children. We hope that many of these issues will be addressed by social workers in the future but it’s not an easy issue.”

He added that UNICEF is planning to instigate a training program for teachers on how to work with traumatised children.

Another risk for children who remain separated from their families and beyond the reach of institutions is trafficking, he said.

Mr Shrestha said that children under departmental, family or social worker care are relatively safe but those who remain on their own are far more vulnerable.
Save the Children, which is a partner in many national childcare projects, estimated that 40 percent those affected by the cyclone are children.

Mr Guy Cave, the director of Child Protection and Education department of Save the Children, said that they believe that keeping children within institutions should be seen as a last resort.

“We should explore the possibility of placing children with extended family who can provide a safe home for the child. But foster care within their original communities should be arranged for unaccompanied and separated children while the family tracing and reunification processes are happening,” he said.