OUR GLOBAL STRATEGY

Maryam, 19, is Save the Children’s Girl’s Champion in Nigeria. She is passionate about supporting girls to get an education and prevent child marriage. She wrote a poem “A Girl with a Book” about girl’s rights and the power of education.

Ghinwa*, 13, standing with her Child Rights & Governance group in a refugee settlement in Beirut, Lebanon Children and families in Lebanon have endured multiple crises in recent years, including an economic collapse and severe depression, political deadlock and rising instability, a massive explosion in Beirut’s port, the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently a food security crisis compounded by the conflict in Ukraine: all of which have endangered children’s basic rights. Ghinwa*, and her family fled the war in Syria when she was just five-years-old and settled in a Palestinian camp in Beirut. Since then, life has been extremely hard for all of them. With her father unable to work due to a stroke, and her older brother needing regular medical treatment, Ghinwa* has to try to help bring in money - so she sells water and tissues to drivers at a busy crossroads outside the camp. Aware of the negative impact of this on her wellbeing, she adds: "Working makes me feel that I am very poor and always in need... like I am so different to other people (kids) who don’t work." She wasn't able to start school until aged 10, and so naturally struggled to keep up with her peers - and when the economic crisis hit bringing electricity cuts and teachers’ strikes, she stopped attending school altogether. Ghinwa* felt her life had no possibilities: "I couldn't read or write, I had no hope for my future, I had no dreams" she says. But now, not only is she literate, but has self-believe: "If I study and focus hard, I can achieve anything I want." Ghinwa* attends a Save the Children supported education centre near her home. There, she has learnt to read and write, grown in confidence, made friends, and become informed about her rights, eager to speak up on behalf of all child refugees. Save the Children places a great importance on encouraging children and young people to speak up about their rights, delivering a message to those who have the power to make change. Life is still challenging for this young activist but the difference is she now has education, and therefore a dream: to be a lawyer, defending children's rights. The impact of the education centre on Ghinwa* cannot be underestimated - "It has changed my whole life" she says. Through the Child’s Rights Governance programme, Save the Children aims to amplify children’s voices and make them heard on the national, regional and global level. The programme helps build the capacity of children to become child rights advocates and agents of change. Jonathan Hyams / Save the Children

Anai* is a mother of six children living in a village in South Sudan. In this area, people are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, facing severe floods. In 2022, the flood water came up to a metre high, destroying the huts made of reeds and mud that Anai* and her community live in. All the crops were also destroyed because the water makes the roots rot. As a result, there is very little to eat, causing immense suffering to the Anai* and families like hers. Children are particularly at risk, as many were already malnourished, leaving them more vulnerable to diseases. During the times where the villages are flooded, they are inaccessible to humanitarian organisations, and this situation can last for weeks. Families, babies, elderly and disabled people wait on higher ground until the water finally subsides. Save the Children has supported Anai* with cash assistance, so she can provide food, medicine and other essentials for her family. Achuoth Deng/Save the Children