Member Spotlight

As CEO and Director of ChildFund India, Neelam Makhijani is working to give excluded and vulnerable children the capacity to improve their lives and become adults who bring positive change in their communities.

As a journalist in New York, Neelam Makhijani worked for a leading Asian weekly, where she wrote and commented on South Asian political issues. Her job connected her to many humanitarian initiatives and she decided to take her job on-ground and “be the change she wished to see”.

Today, thousands of people worldwide are beside themselves with excitement at the kickoff of the world’s foremost soccer tournament. Here at ChildFund International we have something else to celebrate: We have teamed up with Coca-Cola, Walmart International and One World Play Project to #PassTheHappiness. Through this worldwide campaign, we will receive a share of 100,000 unpoppable soccer balls for teenagers in our programs.

As the voice behind the Coca-Cola Anthem for the 2018 World Cup, artist Jason Derulo joined Coca-Cola as spokesperson of the #PassTheHappiness campaign to help bring the power of play to underprivileged youth globally.

“This is a great opportunity to give back, not only to my home country of Haiti, but to teenagers around the world,” Jason Derulo says, juggling a One World FutbolTM at his home outside Los Angeles. “This ball is amazing.”

Our progress for positive change in Paraguay is setting the stage for collaboration with governments and civil-society organizations around the world

If you’ve ever been to Paraguay, you might understand the feeling of community you experience from people in all corners of the country. I experienced this genuine welcome on my recent trip there a few days ago, but my eyes were also opened to one side of the country I couldn’t see.

I couldn’t see what happens behind closed doors. Jorge Méndez Rheineck, our country director in Paraguay, spoke frankly about the situation: “Violence against children in the home is a problem for too many. Worse, children suffer sexual abuse from adults they trust — relatives, family, friends and neighbours,” he said.

Soccer is widely regarded as an excellent way for kids to stay physically fit, build social skills and develop self-confidence. In several small Indian communities where ChildFund works, the world’s most popular sport has another, more surprising benefit: empowering girls to resist early marriage.

Meet 16-year-old Raniya. Her home state of Jharkhand, India, is rich in natural resources, known for its waterfalls and ornate Jain temples, but nearly 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Here, the rate at which girls marry before age 18 — which hovers around 47 percent nationwide — jumps to 51.8 percent.

By Ángeles, CCFC former sponsored child, Paraguay

(Translated by Maria Ferreira, program officer, Paraguay)

It’s been a busy few months for Ángeles, a former sponsored child from Paraguay. This past fall, she attended a violence-prevention meeting in Ottawa, hosted on behalf of the World Health Organization and the Government of Canada. And, she’s just returned from a global meeting in Sweden. The 17-year-old attended the End Violence Solutions Summit with academics, civil-society organizations, private-sector leaders and government officials. (She even met the Queen of Sweden!, See below.)

Here Angie opens up about her impressions of this special trip — one she shared with Leticia, a peer from SOS Children’s Villages.

Nearly 3,000 children and adults with disabilities, and 3,000 family members of children with disabilities in the rural areas of Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, Matale, Nuwara Eliya and Puttalam districts in Sri Lanka were reached through the European Union-funded TOGETHER project, which concluded in December 2017. Assistive devices worth 11.7 million rupees (US$184,000) were also provided to children with disabilities. The project was implemented by ChildFund together with its partnering civil society organizations in the five selected districts and by the Department of Social Services.

More than half of these children are participants of Educo projects in the country

19 January 2018 -- The NGO EDUCO [a member of ChildFund Alliance] warns that 8,703 Filipino children are suffering the consequences of the eruption of Mayon volcano, which has been active since Jan 13. The majority of them, 5,568 children, are participants of projects that Educo run in the country in the municipalities Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, Ligao and Legazpi.

In Papua New Guinea, ChildFund Australia has implemented the HOPE (A Haus (house) for Protection and Empowerment) project, which aims to reduce the widespread violent abuse of children’s and women's rights by empowering survivors and training human rights defenders. The project has provided a safe refuge center for survivors of violence, better prevention mechanisms and a group of human rights defenders trained and empowered to intervene in sexual violence cases and encourage survivors and families to seek legal justice and medical attention.

Digital technology is changing childhoods, with one in three internet users now under the age 18. The worldwide web brings new opportunities for young people to learn and connect, but it also represents new threats to their well being. Fortunately, a new program from ChildFund Australia is helping to keep children safe from harm online, writes Mark Kavanagh.

In Sri Lanka, the TOGETHER project (Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities together to include Children with Disabilities in Sri Lankan Society) has brought together key civil society organizations and local authorities to empower children with disabilities within society.