In the News

With school now back in session for children around the world, countless boys and girls likely start their mornings thinking about what to eat for breakfast, what to wear to school, or how they will do in a sporting event later in the day. For an untold number of other children, however, their waking thoughts are filled with dread and anxiety over a global occurrence that can and must end—violence against children. A new survey of children across five continents reveals children are living their days in fear of violence, with girls fearing bad things will happen to them, and boys fearful they will be forced to do bad things to others.

New ChildFund survey of thousands of boys and girls reveal significant insights into the global occurrence of violence against children

A new global survey conducted by ChildFund Alliance of nearly 5,500 children from 15 countries reveals children feel poorly protected and believe the adults in their lives do not listen to them.

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NEW YORK, 26 June 2019 – Thirty years after global leaders promised to protect the rights of all children, millions are not in school, face poverty, exploitation, violence, neglect, and abuse. A new report, A Second Revolution: 30 years of child rights, and the unfinished agenda, says it is time for the global community to fulfil the broken promises of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (UN CRC).

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Findings demonstrate encouraging results for a Canadian-backed migration project as the U.S. takes steps to cut similar aid to the Northern Triangle countries.

Preventive measures such as skills training, violence prevention training, safe spaces, and changes to government policies and programs are providing Central America’s young people with alternatives to migration, according to a new report released today by ChildFund Alliance. Early Learnings of PICMCA: A Promising New Approach to Preventing the Crisis of Child Migration in Central America shares encouraging findings on the root causes of irregular migration of children and ways to keep young people from fleeing their homes.

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On February 25, 2019, nine civil society organizations released an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres urging him to list the Saudi and Emirati-led Coalition (SELC) in the annexes of his upcoming 2019 annual report on children and armed conflict. The letter calls on the Secretary-General to include the SELC in ‘list A’ of his annexes for all relevant violations, including attacks on schools and hospitals, in order to ensure a credible, accurate listing of perpetrators. The letter documents three of the five ‘trigger’ violations for listing, including killing and maiming, attacks on schools and hospitals, and recruitment and use. The stakes have never been higher, with verified reports of grave violations of children’s rights increasing by nearly 25 per cent in 2018.

José María Faura is the Executive Director of Educo, a global development and humanitarian action NGO with over 25 years’ experience working to defend children and their rights, and especially the right to an equitable and quality education.

BARCELONA, Jan 23 2019 (IPS) - Children´s education is in a state of emergency when it comes to protracted crises. 75 million school-aged children and young people are in desperate need of educational support, are either in danger of or are already missing out on their education in countries facing war and violence (1*).

Yet education has traditionally been the most underfunded area regarding humanitarian aid, coming in at less than 3% of total global funding (2*).

8 October 2018, New York, NY - ChildFund Alliance is pleased to announce it has received a two-year $375,000 grant from Oak Foundation. These funds will support the Alliance’s Child-friendly Accountability initiative.

“The initiative aims to empower children to hold governments and local leaders accountable to their obligations to end all violence against children, as laid out in Sustainable Development Goal Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children,” said Meg Gardinier, Secretary General of ChildFund Alliance. “It is a rights-based project that builds children’s knowledge and gives them the skills they need to take action to improve child protection in their communities.”

Ten years ago, Ariana Dunne began sponsoring Shaban, a three-year-old boy in Uganda. For the price of four cups of coffee a month, she has continued to sponsor Shaban, and recently got a chance to go and visit him.

Ariana writes about her experience sponsoring a child through ChildFund Ireland, and the emotional meeting with 13-year-old Shaban, his family and community. 

Read the full article in SHEmazing.

New York, NY, 4 September 2018 -- World Rugby and ChildFund have today launched a major international partnership to change children’s lives through the transformative power of sport, as part of Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan.

“We awarded the tournament to Japan because we knew that it could be a powerful game-changer for sporting and social change in Asia," said World Rugby Chief Executive Officer Brett Gosper. "As a transformational rugby for good program, ChildFund Pass It Back is the perfect embodiment of that objective and we are excited about the impact rugby can have for thousands of children within the world’s most populous and youthful continent.

“Rugby is a sport of character-building values and we have witnessed the solidarity of the rugby community in rallying behind Kamaishi and I am sure that fans purchasing tickets for Asia’s first Rugby World Cup will be generous in supporting rugby programs that will make a real and lasting difference to thousands of disadvantaged children.”

$15-million joint venture led by Canadians providing hope and solutions for irregular child migration from Central America

MARKHAM, Ont. — Recently, the horrific plight of child migrants from Central America created both empathy and outrage throughout Canada, North America and the entire world. We watched news images of families who risk everything — separation, incarceration and even death — in search of a better life. For most, it was the frightened, desperate faces of the children that were particularly heart-wrenching. But what we witnessed through newscasts is only a fraction of the dangerous reality that actually affects so many young people living without safety, security or opportunity. Every day, youth in some of the most desperate countries in the world are faced with crime, violence and the drug trade. Coupled with limited employment and educational opportunities, these youth are pulled into a downward spiral of hopelessness and struggle to find a better future for themselves and their families.