Vital Voices 10 Recommendations for NGOs in the Tsunami-Affected Region

1. Identify children who are at risk of being trafficked, such as children who are orphaned, separated from their families, or homeless.

2. Assist international relief organizations, such as Save the Children and UNICEF with registering unaccompanied children and locating family members.

3. Coordinate relief and rehabilitation efforts between relief organizations and other NGOs, such as those who address human trafficking, domestic violence or women’s rights in the region.

4. Create and distribute brochures or palm cards with child-friendly language or pictures to alert children of the potential dangers of trafficking.

5. Set up hotlines which provide information about NGOs and shelters that care for unaccompanied children. Distribute the hotline numbers to relief workers, NGO staff, and throughout communities affected by the tsunamis.

6. Make more space available at new and existing shelters and half-way houses to people, especially children, without homes.

7. Create closely supervised playgrounds in public spaces, such as schools and community centers. Providing safe spaces that encourage play will restore an element of normalcy in children’s lives which will help children cope with the loss of family and friends.

8. Report suspected human traffickers, in particular rebel groups in Sri Lanka and Banda Aceh of Indonesia, to local law enforcement and international relief agencies.

9. Recruit qualified and experienced volunteers to provide counseling, medical care, and other services to children and their family members.

10. Coordinate with religious groups, schools, or local government offices to conduct campaigns to receive donations, food, clothes, and toys for children.