6th January, 2006

Eighty per cent of tsunami affected children polled in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand are positive about their future but a third of those children surveyed in Indonesia believe their lives won’t improve, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.

UNICEF surveyed 1,633 children aged between eight and 17 who were directly affected by the tsunami about their thoughts and feelings on the disaster and their future.

While the results showed that children in Indonesia were generally less positive about the future than those affected in other countries, this was perhaps not surprising given that a staggering 69 per cent of those surveyed there had lost a family member.

The survey also showed that many children are still afraid with more than half of those surveyed in India and Sri Lanka fearing another earthquake or tsunami - as many as 76 per cent of those interviewed in Thailand fear the loss of a loved one and more than a third of those in Indonesia said they often feel alone.

Meanwhile research from World Vision and Monash University has shown that more than 75 per cent of children affected by the Boxing Day tsunami are scared the disaster will be repeated.

The finding was based on 130 interviews with children in Sri Lanka aged between nine and 18 years.

The study, which was funded by Monash and will be published in full next year, also asked children aged under 10 how they felt before and after the tsunami. Only a quarter said they felt happy after the disaster with almost half saying they felt sad and a quarter saying they felt fearful.

- DAVID ADAMS