On This Page
- Locally Led Emergency Response
- During Displacement: Our Work With Children in Crisis
- Building a New Life: Support for Reintegration
- Collaboration Toward Sustainable, Localized Support
- Guiding Principles
In any crisis, children's needs must come first.
Sometimes crises strike, sometimes they creep, and sometimes they simmer to a boiling point. Right now, the world is facing complex crises and conflicts compounded by global terrorism, organized crime and political instability that fuels unprecedented and widespread violence. In this turbulent global landscape, children are always the most vulnerable.
Many will remain in their communities and recover, and ChildFund helps them do so. But with rising conflict, environmental shocks and economic inequality, more children and families are leaving their homes every day. Over 100 million people worldwide are displaced, half of them children.
Between 2008 and 2023, ChildFund’s humanitarian responses reached 2 million displaced people in crisis directly. Over 151,000 of them were children.
I saw a positive way forward in my community. Many youth have become young entrepreneurs and now they have the means to be economically stable.
— participant in ChildFund’s Preventing Irregular Child Migration in Central America project
Our Approach: Protection for the Most Vulnerable
ChildFund’s holistic approach for children in crisis prioritizes children’s protection and inclusion in any situation. As we respond in crises, we also collaborate with governments, communities and civil society to facilitate stability and protection for children, ensuring sustainable impact.
Locally Led Emergency Response
In communities where ChildFund has a presence, we support local systems including civil society partners, governments and youth groups to build resilience against crisis. In Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, our Preventing Irregular Child Migration in Central America (PICMCA) program helped young people expand their agency and contribute within their communities by documenting their child protection concerns and engaging meaningfully with decision makers.
Key PICMCA impacts:
- Youth civic engagement saw a 24% increase by the end of the program.
- After livelihood support interventions, 40% of youth were employed.
- 16% of people reported feeling very safe in their community.
- 2/3 of youth reported greater awareness of the risks of irregular migration.
When crisis erupts, ChildFund aims to safeguard children and their communities during the initial stages by mitigating risks of abuse, violence and other forms of harm. Key packages include:
- Provision of non-food items and dignity kits
- Child-friendly spaces
- Provision of mental health and psychosocial services
- Safe identification and referral
- Multipurpose cash for protection
This strategy strengthens our response within existing operational areas such as Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia and Mozambique, while allowing us to selectively expand our response to large-scale crises beyond these areas through partnerships.
Because children’s needs are often sidelined in humanitarian responses, ChildFund builds Safe Spaces where children, youth and the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations can access lifesaving services and children can learn and play in safety, with access to psychological first aid to address any mental health issues that arise, while their adults seek the resources they need. We also provide mental health support for caregivers and distribute emergency supplies like dignity kits.
Featured Programs & Resources
- Child-Friendly Spaces in The Gambia
- Preventing Irregular Child Migration in Central America (PICMCA)
- External Evaluation: 2023 Included and Empowered Youth Project by USAID, IOM, ChildFund (Spanish)
- ChildFund’s Child-Friendly Spaces Toolkit (2022)
- ChildFund’s Child-Friendly Space Training for Managers
- Psychological First Aid: Remote Training of Trainers Manual
- Psychological First Aid: Remote Training of Trainers Presentation
During Displacement: Our Work With Children in Crisis
When crisis leads to significant displacement or long-term challenges that require a more comprehensive and sustained approach, our program gradually transitions to interventions that ensure focused and equitable protection for the most vulnerable and socially disadvantaged populations experiencing displacement. Our programs establish safe spaces as a first-line response in settlements for displaced populations, including safe spaces for young people where they can access lifesaving services including protection, health care and specialized mental health and psychosocial support.
Building a New Life: Support for Reintegration
When children and families are ready to reintegrate after arriving in a new community or returning home, our support in two countries — Ecuador and Uganda — focuses on economic recovery, integration into educational systems and protection. In Ecuador, now home to a displaced population of about 871,000, we work with people who have arrived from Colombia or Venezuela; in Uganda, we work in the Palorinya Refugee Settlement to support Sudanese and Congolese people who have fled conflict in their home countries. Local conditions play an important part in defining the design of both countries’ programs.
Featured Programs & Resources
Collaboration Toward Sustainable, Localized Support
Through robust collaboration and advocacy, we bridge humanitarian response and sustainable development. Leveraging ChildFund's extensive experience and partnerships, we influence local and national policies to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable. Our approach ensures that the rights and well-being of displaced children and families are central to both immediate response and long-term recovery efforts.
Across all three programs addressing children in crisis, a critical shared element is their unique localization strategy, implemented effectively in highly complex humanitarian contexts. This approach involves working closely with relevant authorities and stakeholders from the community level to the national and international levels. The programs facilitate communication and cooperation among local partners and key actors, building relationships that extend beyond the programs' duration. All initiatives embody a holistic view, focused not only on the young people — the core population of interest — but also on their families, their teachers, their communities and other stakeholders who can help build supportive structures and promote access to education and livelihoods.
Guiding Principles
Throughout all our efforts, ChildFund commits to:
Tending vulnerable communities
In Mexico between 2021 and 2023, ChildFund supported 2,118 people from vulnerable communities and people living with disabilities.
Supporting marginalized groups
In Ecuador, we work to improve access to and quality of education for internally displaced people, especially girls.
Localization in protection
In Uganda, one of our aims is to facilitate sustainable local child protection. ChildFund and other partners supported local organizations to build this within their communities.
Sustainable livelihoods
A pilot program in Ethiopia has developed sustainable technology for agriculture and livestock production, strengthening the livelihoods of 1,600 households in its first year.
Community-led child protection
In Guatemala, local partners facilitate a community-led, power-sharing child protection process, amid and despite prolonged crisis.
Holistic child protection in emergencies
Our response to internal displacement caused by the conflict in northern Ethiopia included child protection, nutrition support, education and creation of safe spaces for children, supporting nearly 13,000 people between 2021 and 2024.
Protection, health and education
Our holistic program for displaced families in Honduras offers education and safe play spaces for children in shelters, community-based mental health support, support for frontline workers at the southeastern border, maternal and child health services , and prevention and response of violence.
Ecuador: Experiences and Challenges with People in Human Mobility
In Ecuador, ChildFund and our partners are working to support children and families living as refugees to help provide access to decent livelihood opportunities, quality education and safe and protective communities.
