Above: Save the Children is one of the largest non-governmental organisations operating in Georgia. The ongoing conflict in the area has displaced thousands of children and families from their homes and villages. In addition to delivering relief supplies, we established Child-Friendly Spaces where children like Otinashvili, 3, (left), and Salome, 3 can be cared for, physically and psychologically.
Above: 'Sifa' (name changed) is 15 years old. During the conflict in DRC, she has experienced some of the worst situations that can confront a girl during war. She was abducted and sexually violated by combatants in an armed group, and now has a one-year-old son. She also fought as a soldier. Now, thanks to a child transit centre funded by Save the Children, she has been reunited with her parents.
Millions of children must fend for themselves or work to support their families, instead of focusing on learning and playing. UNICEF estimates that 2 million children are sexually exploited and 1.2 million children are trafficked every year.
Save the Children works with communities, governments, international authorities and children themselves to stop violations of children's rights. We tackle the abuse and exploitation of minors through child labour, trafficking, sexual abuse, the use of girls and boys by armed groups and physical or humiliating punishment at home, or in schools or institutions.
We adopt preventative measures by advocating for education and awareness about child's rights. For example, we promote gender equality in schools and communities to reduce sexual and domestic violence. In 2008, Save the Children helped develop a number of policies and frameworks to protect children, including national child protection policies in Colombia, India, Mongolia, Rwanda and South East European countries.
Save the Children carries out parenting training and positive (non-violent) discipline training for teachers. In 2008, we supported a Costa Rican organisation, Paniamor, in its Educate without Hitting campaign. As a result, Costa Rica became the third country in Latin America to prohibit corporal punishment in all settings.
In Colombia, where some children are vulnerable to being kidnapped or recruited into armed forces, 210,000 children have been trained to avoid risk. At the international level, Save the Children is a prominent member of the Child Protection Working Group, exchanging expertise and ideas with a number of other humanitarian agencies.
Our emergency operations incorporate initiatives such as child-friendly spaces where children are free to play, enabling them to cope with trauma. We continue to be a pioneer in reuniting children separated from their families by natural disasters and armed conflict.
Supporting the most vulnerable
We are focusing many of our child protection resources on the most vulnerable children, who are often hardest to reach and support.
Around 500,000 children in Indonesia live in children's homes. Our research showed that most of these children have families that could care for them if they received support or financial help. We are now working with the Indonesian government to reduce the number of children in institutions, and to improve their care.
To help address the needs of the millions of children who work, we held a series of meetings with UN member states during 2008 and organised a seminar at UN Headquarters in New York. We focused on the need to develop national action plans to address child labour and drew attention to the role that education can play in reducing the prblem. We also successfully lobbied the UN for the appointment of a Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children.
Save the Children's child protection work is adapting to new challenges, such as online child exploitation. For five years, as part of the worldwide INHOPE network, we have run a hotline so that internet users can report illegal content.
