UNICEF and the Global Goals
UNICEF is committed to doing all it can to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in partnership with governments, civil society, business, academia and the United Nations family – and especially children and young people.
Child protection and social inclusion
#ENDviolence initiative
Child survival
A Promise Renewed
Girls' education
Innovation for education
Learning for peace
Emergencies and humanitarian action
UNICEF in emergencies
Investing in girls and women
Cases for support
Evaluation and good practices
Human rights–based approach to programming
Policy advocacy and partnerships for children's rights
Social and economic policy
Supplies and logistics
UNICEF Innovation
UNICEF uses innovative approaches to solve problems and improve the lives of children around the world.
Industrialized countries
As the crisis enters its sixth year, the world must not forget the human realities at stake.
Ten things you didn't know about malaria
Nearly one billion people in Africa to be protected against yellow fever by 2026
At current rates of reduction, it will take over 100 years to end child marriage in West and Central Africa
UNICEF report: Over half a billion 'uncounted' children live in countries unable to measure SDG progress
More action needed to improve security and humanitarian access in Myanmar if Rohingya children are to return safely - UNICEF
Statement by Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, on Syrian children freezing to death while crossing from Syria to Lebanon
At least one in four children in Iraq impacted by conflict and poverty
Geneva Palais Briefing Note: The situation of children in Rakhine State, Myanmar
Broadcast quality video and photo for journalists
Receive UNICEF press releases
Plans, policies and positions
UNICEF Strategic Plan 2014–2017
Realizing the rights of every child (pdf)
We're building a new UNICEF.org.
As we swap out old for new, pages will be in transition. Thanks for your patience – please keep coming back to see the improvements.
Tsunami disaster – countries in crisis
Thailand: Orphaned by the tsunami, 1000 km from the sea
© UNICEF Thailand/2005/Duncan
The village of Baan Kam Nok Kok in north-east Thailand; 10 local children were orphaned by the tsunami.
By Robert Few
NAKON PANOM, Thailand, 21 June 2005 – Nong, a quiet 15-year old schoolgirl, still weeps when she talks about her mother, who disappeared when the tsunami struck six months ago. Sitting alone on one side of her school playground, Nong explains her mother's absence by saying she has gone away to marry a new man. Denial is the only way she can deal with the grief.
In fact, Nong is an orphan. She faces the same bleak future that confronts more than 1,200 children in Thailand who lost their parents to the tsunami. But Nong's case has one major difference: She lives 1,000 km from the sea, in the impoverished province of Nakon Panom.
On 26 December the waves reached up to three km inland, but their effect was felt across the whole of the country. In the north and north-east, hundreds of children like Nong were orphaned when their parents, migrant workers in the fishing and tourism industries of Phuket, Pee Pee and neighbouring islands, were caught up in the tsunami's fury. Of the thousands who were working in the south, many never returned home.
Outside the focus of relief efforts
The Thai Ministry of Social Development and Human Security estimates that the tsunami orphaned up to 300 children outside the southern provinces. Forty-four children who have lost one or both parents live in Nakon Panom alone, where Nong still waits for her mother to come home. Many more children are from families whose income relied on the now devastated southern tourism industry.
An orphaned boy at Baan Kam Nok Kok School.
These children have largely been ignored, because their homes are far from tourist areas and from the focus of relief efforts. In addition, it is often impossible for poor families in the north-east to find the money to travel south, identify bodies and obtain death certificates. Without these certificates, they are unable to claim government assistance.
"In the southern provinces, the government has changed the law, so that a person can be declared legally dead when they have been missing for three months," explains Ministry Official Khun Apawadee. "But here [in the north], the process can take up to two years."
Nong and her three siblings are being supported by their grandparents, who cannot afford the trip south to try to find and identify Nong's mother.
As a result, there may not be enough money for Nong to continue her schooling. She dreams of becoming a motorcycle mechanic.
An urgent need to protect
The north-east is Thailand's poorest region, and many children here were vulnerable to exploitation even before the tsunami wrought economic devastation. Now the risk to them has increased.
"There is an urgent need to identify and monitor these children to see how they are being cared for and that they are receiving all the assistance they need," said Brigette de Lay, UNICEF Emergency Child Protection Officer.
"We know from experience in other disaster areas that orphaned children and children in families whose livelihoods have been destroyed are at higher risk of being removed from school or being abused by their new caregivers. There is also a danger of orphan children being trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation if we do not ensure that protective measures are taken," she added.
UNICEF is working across the north and north-east of Thailand to ensure that vulnerable children are protected. In partnership with local organizations it has established child protection committees that bring together the police, social workers, teachers and others to watch for signs of abuse and to take action to prevent it.
UNICEF is also arranging vocational training and employment for girls at risk of being lured into prostitution. The organization is offering them a place on the Youth Career Development Programme, which is being run in conjunction with more than 20 Bangkok hotels, a bank and a hospital. More than 100 girls were accepted to the program in 2004 and almost all of them had obtained jobs with good salaries by the time of graduation.
Without vigilance and support for children orphaned or made vulnerable by the tsunami – no matter what part of the country they live in – Nong will never become a motorcycle mechanic, and many other children will lose the chance to realize their dreams.
Children need your help
Children worldwide need your help right now. Please donate what you can today.
x Donate Now
Please confirm your country and we will take you to the right donation page:
Where do you live? Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium (FR) Belgium (NL) Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada (EN) Canada (FR) Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, Democratic Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica Côte d' Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China (EN) Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar, Republic of the Union of Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Occupied Palestinian Territory Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Sudan, Republic of Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland (DE) Switzerland (FR) Switzerland (IT) Syrian Arab Republic Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe other countries
13 June 2005:
UNICEF New York correspondent Jane O'Brien reports on how the organization is helping the forgotten orphans and vulnerable children in northern Thailand.
Low | High bandwidth
(Real player)
Journalists:
Broadcast-quality
from The Newsmarket
More stories from Thailand
Tsunami reconstruction assisting Thailand's most vulnerable groups
Thailand: Psychosocial activities help children cope with tragedy
New enhanced search
UNICEF Annual Report
UNICEF and the UN
UN Links
UN Millennium Development Goals
UNICEF in depth
UNICEF Executive Board
Post 2015 Development Agenda
Public partnerships
Civil society partnerships
UNICEF and the European Union
Global Education First Initiative
UNGEI
Connect and subscribe
News feed (RSS)
Video podcast (Vodcast)