Save the Children has restarted its program inside Kosovo. The initial focus of the program is to help reunite families torn apart by the conflict.
This is work begun by Save the Children at the start of the refugee crisis in Macedonia, and while some children have been reunited with their families, there aremany people inside the province who still do not know where their relatives are. Meanwhile in Macedonia, Save the Children has stepped up its work to prevent families being separated as they travel home to Kosovo. Lynn Ngugi, Family Tracing Coordinator for Save the Children in the Balkans explains:

"Even though a peace deal has been signed, the devastating impact of the war on children will not go away overnight. Some children continue not to know where their parents are, and many parents are still looking for their children. Now that we have access to Kosovo, Save the Children can begin to help those who stayed in the province throughout the conflict and those returning to trace and be reunited with their families. But we are also faced with the new threat of more separation as families travel back. Save the Children is doing vital work to prevent this happening."

Save the Children has been using years of experience gained in other war-torn countries to trace and reunite children with their families. The organization has set up a tracing base in Pristina and other bases will be set up elsewhere in Kosovo. The work in Macedonia and Albania continues and Save the Children has been training staff in other aid agencies to carry out this work effectively.

Notes to editors:

Save the Children/US's work in Kosovo is part of a joint Save the Children Alliance response to the current emergency, including Radda Barnen (Save the Children/Norway) and Save the Children/UK.

1999 sees the tenth anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 1923, Save the Children's founder drew up the Declaration on the Rights of the Child which evolved into today's Convention. It has been ratified by all but two countries (Somalia and the USA).

For more information, please contact Corinne Woods at 203-221-4233 or Georgia Bushman at 203-221-3757.