War Child was founded in 1993 in response to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. It has since expanded its work to conflicts worldwide, with an emphasis on Africa and Central Asia. War Child strives to alleviate the suffering of children affected by war and focus public attention on the plight of these children. War Child is best-known for its award-winning series of fund-raising albums (including The Best of War Child, from Sir Paul McCartney’s website) and the Girls’ Night In and Kids’ Night In series, which has involved contributions by everyone from Stella McCartney to J.K.Rowling.
War Child believes that children should never be the victims of armed conflict. For those children who become victims of armed conflict, War Child believes that their security and access to quality health, educational and recreational facilities and services should still be a right. War Child also believes that children in conflict areas have a right to the love and care of their families and communities.
Duty Of Care: Protecting Children In War
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War Child exists to:
- prevent, wherever possible, children from being affected by armed conflict
- protect children who live in areas of armed conflict
- provide emergency relief to children and those they depend upon in areas of armed conflict
- work with local communities, their organisations and local authorities in areas of long term conflict as well as in post conflict areas in order to ensure sustainable security and livelihood opportunities for their children and to address the effects of armed conflict
Facts about War Children
These facts were supplied by War Child UK.
- One and a half million children have been killed in armed conflicts throughout the world over the last ten years.
- Four million children have been disabled in these conflicts.
- Twenty thousand people are killed or maimed by land mines every year, of which six thousand are children.
- 16 of the world’s 20 poorest countries have suffered major civil war in the past 15 years.
- 140 million children in developing countries have never attended school.
- In the Democratic Republic of Congo, where War Child works to demobilise and reintegrate child soldiers and supports abandoned children’s centres, 3.8 million people have died since 1998 because of the conflict.
- In southern Iraq, where War Child is working on the only community livelihoods programme of its kind, 76% of all households depend on food rations.
- In Afghanistan, where War Child continues to negotiate the release of children from adult detention centres and supports kindergartens for children born in prison, 10% of all mothers die in child birth, compared with 0.8% in the USA.
For more information about War Child please visit one of the following websites:
- Australia – www.warchild.org.au
- Canada – www.warchild.ca
- Netherlands – www.warchild.nl
- United Kingdom – www.warchild.org.uk
- United States – www.warchildusa.org
- International – www.warchild.org