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<p>Assessing the needs of men, women, girls and boys in emergency situations, including
their protection needs, is a core function of DFID humanitarian partners. In conflict
affected areas for example, children face multiple problems ranging from being used
as child soldiers, to sexual exploitation, to denial of access to education. DFID
views facilitating education as one of the ways we can help to protect children.</p><p>
</p><p>In the Syria region for example, the No Lost Generation initiative contributes
to protecting children through access to learning and psychosocial support. It advocates
for better protection of children from violence, abuse and exploitation, aiming to
restore hope for the future to thousands of children. DFID has allocated £50m to the
No Lost Generation initiative, and is working with UNICEF and other partners to maximise
the quality, coverage and coherence of these interventions, contributing to resilience
and peaceful co-habitation. DFID has also funded education, psychosocial support and
child protection across the region, with a particular focus on support to education
in Lebanon and Jordan.</p><p> </p><p>We have also focussed on protecting children
as part of our Call To Action on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), which saw
commitments from partners that included creating new protection officer roles, incorporating
the issue of VAWG into humanitarian coordination response plans, supplying additional
human resources on VAWG and to increase the evidence base on this issue for more effective
targeting of UK assistance. In each rapid onset emergency DFID supports, we review
specific actions to address Violence Against Women and Girls. For example in response
to Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines during the Call to Action meeting in
2013, the Secretary of State convened a high level meeting with donors and UN agencies
to specifically ensure that VAWG was addressed as a priority. As a result, participants
agreed that the Philippines should act as a pilot for improving how VAWG is addressed
in emergencies. The Secretary of State tasked a team of DFID experts to the Philippines
to take stock of the international response VAWG within the first weeks of the emergency
and to ensure DFID programmes addressed this issue.</p><p> </p>
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