Joining Forces - For All Children

In 2017, leaders of the six largest child-focused agencies – Terre des Hommes International Federation, ChildFund Alliance, Plan International, Save the Children International, SOS Children’s Villages International, and World Vision International – joined forces to accelerate change to secure the rights of children and end violence against them.

Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Joining Forces aim to pilot and scale up innovative and effective approaches to advance child rights worldwide – and be driven by the voices and needs of children. Joining Forces members actively work together to implement projects with and for children in 23 countries.

In 2021:

  • At least 14 joint campaigns were held in 2021 on positive parenting, protection from violence and the right to child participation using creative formats such as video, social media and art competitions.
  • In January 2021, we organised an event on a global project, – Joining Forces for Africa (JOFA) – Protecting children from violence during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. The main findings were presented from Mali, Uganda and Kenya and high-level officials  from the UN, AU and the EU ,  contributed to the event. Children from Uganda, Mali and Kenya also participated as speakers, advocating as agents of social change.

This three-year project (2020-2023) is supported by the European Union and is a multi-country response to the child protection needs and concerns exacerbated by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Implemented in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Mali and Senegal, this project has been designed to respond rapidly to the global COVID-19 pandemic emergency. It seeks to address the immediate protection needs of children, whilst working long-term to support the strengthening of child protection systems and building the resilience of children, their families and communities. The overall objective of this project is that children and adolescents experience reduced levels of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.