Source: Save the Children New Zealand
Haze from wildfires in Indonesia, intensified by El Niño-driven dry conditions, has forced Timor-Leste (East Timor) to shut schools for the remainder of the week, Save the Children said.
Timor-Leste’s Ministry of Education and the Ministry of State Administration has said it would shut schools nationwide from Thursday, and asked families to avoid leaving children outside ‘unnecessarily’ and for all children to avoid outdoor physical activity [1].
Intense forest and peatland fires in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Kalimantan have triggered toxic smog across the region for weeks, heavily exacerbated by a powerful El Niño event that is driving prolonged dry weather and increasing wildfire risk that is expected to continue into early 2023 [2].
Major cities like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have experienced “very unhealthy” to hazardous air pollution levels with the haze has drifting into Timor-Leste [3]
While parts of Southeast Asia experience an annual slash-and-burn season, often linked to agricultural expansion including some illegal fire practices, Indonesia’s seasonal fires are ‘more intense’ this year partly because of El Niño, according to theCopernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service [https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/].[4]
While air pollution affects everyone, children are among the most vulnerable because their bodies, organs and immune systems are still not fully matured and children absorb more pollutants than adults [https://www.unicef.org/eca/reports/breathless-beginnings-2024] as they tend to breathe faster, said Save the Children.
Arshad Malik, Asia Regional Director, Save the Children, said:
“Children are being choked by toxic air before they have a chance to play or simply enjoy being children. Every breath polluted with harmful particles puts their health at risk, while school days, outdoor activities and vital opportunities to learn and develop are increasingly disrupted.
This is not an unavoidable consequence of development or climate change. It is the result of policy choices and a failure to act. Regional governments must take urgent, ambitious action to cut pollution at its source, strengthen protections for children, and hold polluters accountable. Children cannot be expected to carry the burden of a crisis they did not create.”
Areport [https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/born-climate-crisis-why-we-must-act-now-secure-childrens-rights?_gl=1-1e5dedz-_ga-NTkxOTg2NTM1LjE3MzA5NzM2ODg.-_ga_GRKVSTV36C-czE3ODUxNDMxNTYkbzY4OCRnMCR0MTc4NTE0MzE1NiRqNjAkbDAkaDA.] by Save the Children and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel found that 1.5 million children could be spared the consequences of experiencing unprecedented lifetime exposure to wildfires if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees celsius.
Save Indonesia, in collaboration with The Institute for Child Rights Defenders (INDDICA), has worked to strengthen child safeguarding [https://savethechildren.or.id/artikel/inddica-dan-save-the-children-indonesia-bekerja-sama-memperkuat-layanan-perlindungan-anak-di-timor-leste], case management, positive parenting, and legal reform in Timor-Leste.
Save the Children works in over 100 countries tackling climate change across everything we do and putting children at the heart of climate action.
References:
[1,3] Timor-Leste Government announcement: https://www.facebook.com/portal.GOV.TL/?locale=en_GB [https://www.facebook.com/portal.GOV.TL/?locale=en_GB]
[2] WMO: https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/el-nino-set-become-very-strong-raising-risks-of-extreme-weather-2027 [https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/el-nino-set-become-very-strong-raising-risks-of-extreme-weather-2027]
[4] https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/ [https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/]
About Save the Children NZ:
Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected.
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