Children most at risk of disease in Jakarta floods
Save the Children is responding to the needs of children affected by severe flooding in Jakarta.
Monday 12 February 2007
Save the Children is responding to the needs of children affected by severe flooding in Jakarta, which forced nearly 300,000 people to be displaced and killed at least 22 people.
Torrential rains in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and its surrounding areas caused widespread flooding - the worst the city has seen for five years.
The exceptionally heavy annual rains, caused flood water levels to rise rapidly, reaching over four metres in some areas. Thousands of houses and public buildings, including 1,498 schools, were affected. Telephone lines and electricity networks have been cut off in some parts of the city and floodwaters blocked some major roads and paralysed the transport system.
Our team in Indonesia is working to reach the children and families most in need. Save the Children has sent urgently needed relief items to Jakarta from our warehouse in Yogyakarta. The supplies include 2,000 tarpaulins to help provide temporary shelter for children and their families, and around 450 kits containing basic household and hygiene supplies like pots and pans, soap and washing powder.
Save the Children is supporting its partner organisations in Jakarta by providing supplies of food to keep community kitchens running in some of the worst affected areas of North and East Jakarta. Save the Children is providing 7,200 kilograms rice, 11,840 packets of noodles, 4,500 litres of drinking water and 464 liters of vegetable oil.
Save the Children is concerned that the flooding is likely to also increase the number of cases of dengue fever - which have already been high this year - along with cases of diarrhoeal diseases and acute respiratory infections, particularly in young children.
Toby Porter, Save the Children's Director of Emergencies, said: "Children suffer most in any emergency. In Jakarta, it is the children of poor families living in makeshift housing along the banks of the rivers who are suffering the most. The biggest risk for these children is being exposed to deadly water-borne diseases, including diarroreal disease, ARIs, typhoid, and dengue fever. Save the Children launched a rapid response to the emergency and stands ready to scale up our operation if the situation worsens."
