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EMERGENCY helpdesks for children with parents caught up in a building collapse in Bangladesh have been opened by charity Plan International.
Hundreds are still missing after the Rana Plaza, which housed clothing factories, crashed to the ground on Wednesday near Dhaka, killing more than 300 people.
Trained staff will man five special information points around the clock for four days.
“We are doing everything we can to get young people the information they need and to reconnect them with surviving parents and family members,” says MingMing Evora, Country Director for Plan International in Bangladesh.
“We are in close contact with the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and we are organising psychological and emotional support for children to help them deal with these traumatic events.”
Around 3,500 people were thought to be in the garment factories when the building collapsed.
More than 2000 people have been rescued, while around 1200 are being reported as injured.
“Our primary priority is protecting children and keeping them safe,” says Ming Ming Evora.
“There is a child-friendly space adjoining the helpdesks so that children have access to food and a secure place to play.”
“We are supplying thousands of bottles of safe drinking water as well as toys for children.”
For more information on Plan call 0300 777 9777 or visit www.plan-uk.org
Rose Foley Senior Media Officer Plan UK | www.plan-uk.org
Direct Line: 0203 217 0257 | Switchboard: 0300 777 9777 / +44 (0)20 7608 1311 (Non-UK) | Mobile: 07964 296431
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Notes to editors
1)Plan is a global children’s charity. We work with children in the world’s poorest countries to help them build a better future. A future you would want for all children, your family and friends. For over 70 years we’ve been taking action and standing up for every child’s right to fulfil their potential by:
- giving children a healthy start in life, including access to safe drinking water
- securing the education of girls and boys
- working with communities to prepare for and survive disasters
- inspiring children to take a lead in decisions that affect their lives
- enabling families to earn a living and plan for their children’s future.
We do what’s needed, where it’s needed most. We do what you would do. With your support children, families and entire communities have the power to move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity.
2) We work with children in 48 of the world’s poorest countries to help them build a better future.
3) Plan was founded by British journalist John Langdon-Davies in 1937 to rescue orphans and other vulnerable children from the Spanish Civil War.
4) We have over 114,000 sponsors in the UK, generating £25 million a year, and 1.5 million sponsored children worldwide.
5) Sponsorship starts at £15-a-month and, rather than going to individual children and their families, funds projects to improve schooling, health, nutrition and livelihoods across communities.
6) Plan UK’s Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) is a group of young people aged 13-18 who offer Plan an invaluable youth perspective. YAP puts young people’s voices at the heart of Plan’s work, because they have ideas, experience and, needless to say, know more about childhood than adults. Their input can help Plan to understand how to work with the young people whose lives it aims to improve.
