Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Bintang Puspayoga has said she will travel to Lumajang District, East Java, this week to ensure that children and women victims of the Mount Semeru eruption receive special protection.

In particular, she said, she wants to ensure their specific needs are met during the emergency period by distributing specific aid to them, according to a press release issued by the ministry on Wednesday.

The assistance will complement the assistance program of the Social Affairs Ministry and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s emergency response, which specifically targeted women and children, the minister noted.

She said she hoped that the rights of children and women refugees would be fulfilled and they would receive special protection from the risks of the disaster, emergency assistance, and both basic and specific needs.

“We hope that they will find a proper and child-friendly refuge, children can be prevented from separation from their parents or family, and children can be prevented from becoming victims of discrimination and mistreatment,” she elaborated.

The minister highlighted that her ministry is continuously coordinating with the East Java provincial government and the Lumajang district government regarding this matter.

“The provincial team has been dispatched, bringing recreational kits from the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry,” Puspayoga said.

At least 292 children, two pregnant women, and around 234 women are among the thousands of refugees affected by the Semeru eruption, she noted. Most of them are women and children with specific rights and needs, she added.

To improve the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s work, the ministry has compiled guidelines for the integration of rights protection and fulfillment of women, children, and other vulnerable groups in the national disaster mitigation system, she said.

The guideline is a disaster mitigation guideline with a gender perspective, which has been integrated into the agency’s operational guidelines, she informed. It details the distribution of the specific needs of women and children in emergency response actions, she said.

Source: Antara News