The head of Save the Children US has expressed concern over the current situation for children in Gaza, saying that with deep aid cuts and multiplying global crises, 2026 could be an even worse year for the world's most vulnerable.
In an interview with The National, the organisation's president and chief executive Janti Soeripto said that severe winter weather has added another layer of misery to a desperate situation in Gaza.
"We've seen torrential rain, we've seen floods, we've seen storms – and don't forget, they are not living in homes, they're all in tents, and not very good tents, either,” she said. "Some of our learning spaces had to be closed or suspended because they were literally blowing away.”
She added: "Children are playing in sewage water, right? There is no clean water there, and flooding and torrential rains then make it worse.”
While a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas brokered in October continues to hold, children in Gaza are still facing extreme hardship. Nearly two million people have been displaced in Gaza over the course of the conflict, and with buildings and homes either destroyed or severely weakened in the war, many are living in makeshift shelters.
At least 14 Palestinians have been killed and dozens more injured as buildings collapsed in the winter storms. This month, a 16-week-old baby died of exposure.
"Babies dying from hypothermia is just unbelievably heartbreaking and really unnecessary,” Ms Soeripto said.
She explained that the needs of Gaza's children were still "vast” despite the ceasefire, with concerns over housing, water, disease, malnutrition, education and mental health.
"What you really see particularly in war zones, conflict-affected areas, is that children suffer the most, and they're often quite invisible, because their parents and the community is focused on managing their immediate needs,” Ms Soeripto said. "It is that moment of intense stress and violence that really puts children at additional risk.”
Sudan
Ms Soeripto said that Sudan is the world's largest humanitarian crisis, and the largest crisis for children.
She pointed out that, amid intense fighting, there has been "immense particular violence against women and girls” and that humanitarian workers have become targets. Neither of these issues is unique to Sudan, but the scale of the crisis compounds them.
"What children are experiencing is, they've been out of school for the last two years. They're on the run. They are severely malnourished. There is no access to adequate health care at all,” she said. "And then there's this additional element of incredible violence against them.”
Sudan's civil war broke out in April 2023. It has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 13 million people. About 30 million people – more than half the population – are facing hunger, with famine declared in some areas, mainly in Darfur.
Using satellite imagery, Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces likely disposed of tens of thousands of bodies after seizing the city of El Fasher in Darfur. The RSF, as well as the opposing Sudanese Armed Forces, have been accused of committing war crimes.
"It is just not safe to be children, to be a child in Sudan at this point in time,” Ms Soeripto said.
Syria
While Save the Children has long operated in Syria, it was recently given full access to work across the country.
In December last year, an offensive by opposition groups, headed by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, toppled Bashar Al Assad's regime, ending decades of oppressive rule. The new government in Damascus has been working to repair Syria's tarnished image on the world stage, lift international sanctions and jump-start its economy.
The 14-year-long civil war caused widespread destruction in the country, particularly in the rebel-held north-west. Syria is also home to ISIS detention camps Al Hol and Roj that contain former fighters and their families. Ms Soeripto called the camps some of the hardest places to be a child.
She added that while the situation in Syria was still dire – with high levels of poverty, and about half of the schools and hospitals damaged or completely destroyed – there was a great sense of optimism about its future.
"It was the most hopeful visit I did this year,” she said.
Ms Soeripto explained that more than a million Syrians who fled abroad have returned to the country.
"I think people are keen to come back and help rebuild their country,” she said. "And I think that that is exactly, of course, what the international community should support and cheer on.”
Foreign aid cuts
Going into 2026, one of the biggest problems Save the Children and other NGOs are facing are massive foreign aid cuts by the US and other countries around the world.
She pointed to the Gates Foundation's latest Goalkeepers report, which forecast that the number of children dying before their fifth birthday is likely to rise for the first time this century, reversing decades of global progress.
According to the report, global development assistance for health fell sharply this year, dropping 26.9 per cent below 2024 levels.
"We're talking about accessible, cost-effective solutions that have been proven, time and again. We're talking about access to treatment for malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, childhood vaccinations and birth assistance, helping mothers deliver babies safely,” Ms Soeripto said.
"Our expectation, or our projection, is that that will look worse in 2026 if we're not able to find alternative funding for those programmes and interventions.”
Save the Children, she added, lost 30 per cent of its funding due to aid cuts "overnight”, and had to end several projects. But she is determined not to waste this crisis.
"It is a pivot for us, and it's a pivot for the whole industry,” she said. "And that is our, I would say, opportunity, right? We're energised by that.”
Working with other child-focused NGOs, she says Save the Children is finding ways to streamline and reorganise to ensure those in need have access to helpful programmes.
Asked what message she had for world leaders that have advocated for foreign aid cuts, she said it was important to view caring for the world's children as an "investment”.
"We have known this stuff works for years. Yes, we can do things in some cases, better, faster, cheaper – but don't give up on those children,” she said.
"Let's try to figure out a way to do it better, but don't give up on them. It is still an incredible investment in terms of returns on human life, but also in terms of economic growth.”
