Emergency response teams from Plan International Indonesia have deployed to Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra as floods and storms have left thousands of families, including children, women and people with disabilities, living in emergency shelters.
Floods and landslides across Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia have claimed more than 1,000 lives in under a week, according to authorities, with Indonesia experiencing the most severe impact.
The disasters, caused by days of intense monsoon rainfall and the exceptional Cyclone Senyar, have affected communities across the region. Equatorial cyclones are extremely rare, making Cyclone Senyar’s occurrence particularly unusual and destructive
Plan Indonesia has so far distributed 23 tons of humanitarian relief supplies such as shelter kits, hygiene kits (including menstrual hygiene supplies), blankets, and sleeping mats – items critically needed by families who have evacuated their homes.
Children urgently need assistance
Although humanitarian aid is arriving, survivors – especially children, adolescent girls and other vulnerable groups – urgently need humanitarian assistance including clean water, adequate sanitation facilities, personal hygiene supplies, blankets and tarpaulins.
“Plan Indonesia reiterates that the specific needs of children and women must be at the centre of every disaster response”, said Ida Ngurah, Program Director at Plan International Indonesia.
“Without inclusive approaches that address the specific challenges that girls and women face, disasters not only cause immediate harm but also worsen inequality. Disrupted access to education puts children, especially girls, at higher risk of dropping out of school and losing future opportunities.”
Limited safe spaces and lighting in evacuation centres also increase the risk of gender-based violence and exploitation. Economic pressure may force families who have lost their livelihoods to adopt harmful coping strategies, including giving their daughters in marriage.
Additionally, women and girls continue to face barriers in accessing proper sanitation and reproductive health services, which exposes them to illness, infection, and unplanned pregnancies.
In addition to its emergency response in Indonesia, Plan International is closely monitoring developments in southern Thailand, where recent floods have affected more than 2.9 million people across multiple provinces1.
Across Southeast Asia, Plan International is coordinating with governments, humanitarian agencies, and community networks to support children and families affected by these overlapping emergencies. The organisation is also responding to ongoing crises in Vietnam and the Philippines, where typhoons, monsoon rains and earthquakes continue to impact thousands of people.