Invisible Wounds of War - Save the Children’s Resource Centre

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The 24 million children living in conflict areas are facing a mental health crisis, yet only a minuscule share of development funding is allocated for programming to support their recovery. The fear, anxiety, and trauma of conflict has a severe effect on the psychological well-being of children. Prolonged exposure, especially when left untreated, can affect the child's brain development, behavior, and overall well-being. Urgent commitment from the international community is needed to remedy these effects. Continuing our centenary campaign to #STOPTHEWARONCHILDREN, this month's spotlight highlights the invisible wounds of war.
Photo: © Save the Children
Children need to feel safe, loved, and to have their basic needs met in order to be healthy. In the chaos of war, the cornerstones of a child’s well-being are often uprooted entirely. Living with the stress of bombardments, airstrikes, and gunfire causes great fear and uncertainty. Furthermore, any potential separation from their families or caretakers causes grief and exasperates the feeling of insecurity. Even when the child manages to survive the devastation of war, they are left with trauma and toxic stress that can have an adverse effect on their brain development and their overall sense of well-being.
A new analysis by Save the Children estimates that approximately 24 million children are living with high levels of stress and potential mental disorders. Another 7 million children are living with severe mental health disorders. Yet, mental health and psychosocial support services only accounted for 0.14% of global development aid funding between 2015-2017. To avoid a mental health epidemic, the international community must systematically step up the support allocated towards children’s psychological recovery. Learn more within the report below.
Road to Recovery: Responding to children’s mental health in conflict2019 · Save the Children International
The briefing paper sets out the scale of mental health effects on children living in conflict zones and the role of education in responding to them.Latest figures reveal that 142... View Full Abstract
As we enter our 100th year, we re-commit ourselves to our founding mission: to hold ourselves, as well as others, to protect children in conflict. The time to act is now.
Featured Resources
3 resources
Stop the War on Children: Protecting children in 21st century conflict2019 · Save the Children International
At least 100,000 babies die every year because of conflictMore children are living in areas affected by armed conflict than at any time over the past two decades.At least 550,000... View Full Abstract
 64 pages pdf (2.3 MiB)
The War on Children: Time to end grave violations against children in conflict2018 · Save the Children International
Today, approximately 1 in 6 children are affected by armed conflict. These 300 million children are not only caught in the crossfire of war, but are increasingly used as targets... View Full Abstract
 44 pages pdf (3.6 MiB)
Healing the Invisible Wounds of War: A roadmap for addressing the mental health needs of children2018 · Save the Children International
The Wilton Park Dialogue, in partnership with Save the Children and the UK Department for International Development, brought together 50&nbsp;experts in the field of mental health... View Full Abstract
 22 pages pdf (1.1 MiB)
By: Save the Childrens Resource Centre
Last updated: 2022-04-13

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