Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action 

By the Education Cluster Unit

Exploitation, violence, separation and sexual abuse are but a few of the hardships children suffer in emergency situations. In 2010 the members of the global Child Protection Working Group agreed on the need for child protection standards in humanitarian settings.

The Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action were developed between January 2011 and September 2012. The process of drafting the Minimum Standards involved over 400 individuals from 30 agencies in over 40 countries, including child protection practitioners, humanitarian actors from other sectors, academics and policy makers.

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 West Africa crisis: a new approach for the future

By Nick Martlew, Save the Children

The worst has past. The lessons must be learnt. This is the rhythm of humanitarian action. And the general feeling is that this time, with the response to the hunger crisis in the Sahel, it’s worked.

The crisis affected over 18 million people and threatened 1 million children with the severest form of malnutrition.

It might not seem that way to those thousands of families who lost their children, or to the thousands displaced by instability in Mali, but the overriding feeling among aid agencies and donors is: it could have been worse.

FAQs: West Africa Sahel drought and hunger crisis

By Worldvision

Millions of children will live in a state of permanent food crisis every year because communities lack the ability to access, grow and store food. This is according to the report "Ending the Everyday Emergency" commissioned by World Vision and Save the Children.

CREDIT: WV

So what has gone wrong, what are the factors that led to this chronic food crisis in the Sahel, and what are we doing to help communities build their resilience and meet their food requirements in the long-term?


Here’s a quick guide on the crisis and how World Vision is responding.

Additionally, here’s a infographic of the difference between drought, crisis and famine.