Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in Central America, a consortium of NGOs issued a communiqué calling for all responses to ensure children were not separated from family or community and that unaccompanied children be reintegrated in their family, their community or substitute homes in their country. The signatories asserted temporary placement of children in families abroad as well as intercountry adoption were not adequate assistance measures for children in the event of a natural disaster. Evacuating children or placing them temporarily in families abroad is more traumatic than useful for the children involved. The communiqué provides collective guidance on care and support for children with their families and those separated.
