The most vulnerable children cannot bear accumulated crises

Children with disabilities in the poorest parts of the world pay a high price for an accumulation of global crises. This is what partners of Liliane Fonds and MIVA in Asia and Africa have signaled. Among other things, the consequences of climate change, the war between the United States and Iran and cuts in development aid threaten the development of these children.

Liliane Fonds and MIVA, together with partner organisations in Asia and Africa, are looking for answers to these urgent challenges. Both foundations work from their own specialism and reinforce each other in this. Liliane Fonds offers children with disabilities access to medical care, rehabilitation and education, among other things, MIVA makes this possible with means of transport and communication and solar energy.

Survival

Worldwide, people are feeling the consequences of the blockade of the shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz, which followed the attack by the United States on Iran, more than six months ago. A visible indicator of this is the rising price at the petrol pump.
This has a deep effect on societies, according to partners of Liliane Fonds and MIVA. “Daily life is becoming more and more expensive,” says Gamilla Gay Avena, program manager of NORFIL, partner organization of Liliane Fonds in the Philippines. “Due to the high oil price, the price for electricity is also rising and food is becoming more expensive, due to higher transport costs in supply chains.”

Families of children with disabilities that NORFIL supports are forced to make hard choices in order to survive. “These families are now being hit excessively hard. Caring for their child already entailed higher costs, for example because they often have to travel to care or therapy.” In a country that is more than seven times larger than the Netherlands, and where remote regions can often only be reached by plane, travel costs are skyrocketing. “It is becoming unaffordable for many people to visit a doctor or therapy session with a child.”

NORFIL itself is also affected, Gamilla sees. Care workers from the organization work in communities, and visit families in remote regions at home. “This direct, personal contact is crucial. We will continue to visit children who desperately need our support.” That method is now under great pressure. “We have to make choices in our business operations to save costs. We do consultations online more often, if the situation allows it. We keep our office closed on Fridays, staff work from home.”

Long term

Working on long-term developments for people with disabilities becomes more difficult under these circumstances, notes the Centre for Disability in Development (CDD) from Bangladesh. “Donors are shifting their attention to the most urgent crisis, where they can make a difference right now,” says Bari Namzul, director of CDD. “We discuss this with our partners. We are looking for opportunities to increase contributions so that our services for children with disabilities are guaranteed.”

As in other countries, the energy crisis is also being felt in Bangladesh. The country’s energy supply depends on the import of oil and liquefied gas. Due to the halted imports, a result of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, half of the power plants in Bangladesh had to be shut down.

In this situation where energy costs are increasingly unpredictable, MIVA helps partners to become less dependent on diesel generators and expensive electricity. By investing in solar energy, schools, hospitals and rehabilitation centers can continue to provide services even when energy prices rise or power supply becomes uncertain.

Request for help

In Tanzania, too, the most vulnerable people pay the heaviest price for a conflict to which their country is not a party, says Audiphax Kamala, program manager at Beyond Inclusion Tanzania (BIT), partner of Liliane Fonds. “Rising costs increase the financial pressure. While that pressure was already very high for families of children with disabilities,” says Audiphax.

As with NORFIL, the consequences are also felt within BIT. Audiphax also identifies a new challenge: attracting and retaining qualified personnel. “It is becoming more difficult to fill vacancies. Due to the rising cost of living, candidates are looking more critically at the pay we offer. But our budgets are fixed, we can’t just increase salaries. We try to reduce our operating costs, for example by purchasing materials and resources locally, but those options are limited.”

Tanzanian partners of BIT report that the demand for help from society is increasing. “This is because international aid and development organizations are withdrawing, as a result of cuts in development cooperation.” For example, political choices made by governments elsewhere in the world are putting even greater pressure on aid for the most vulnerable children in Tanzania.

All this has a noticeable effect on BIT’s programs. “Children who urgently need care and support and families who are in acute need have urgency. Making that decision is not easy because problems are not always immediately visible. It is precisely these children that you have to look for, they cannot come to us,” explains Audiphax. In order to be able to continue to offer tailor-made support, an increasing part of BIT’s budget is spent on travel and transport costs.

Overlap

“Climate shocks such as extreme drought and disrupted rainfall cause food insecurity, then price increases make that pressure even greater for vulnerable people,” says Hillary Tanyanyiwa, director of JF Kapnek in Zimbabwe. He also sees how one crisis amplifies the next and paints the same picture: the most vulnerable people in society are hit hardest by global crises that overlap.

“Mothers and grandmothers carry the heaviest burden. They take care of children, do the housework and also have to earn income to be able to put food on the table. I see how parents of children with disabilities are forced to postpone treatment for their child or skip a consultation, cannot afford medication or cannot replace a broken aid.”

Finding answers

Continuity of support for children with disabilities and their families is also a priority for Liliane Fonds and MIVA. That is why we keep in close contact with partners and look for effective and practical answers to the major challenges they face in our conversations.