Safe
Our Approach
Keeping children and their families safe is the centre pillar of Street Child’s work: all children have a right to be safe and safeguarded from risks, especially those which impact their ability to attend school.
At Street Child, we implement several initiatives in conflict zones to meet the diverse learning needs of children. We provide education in various settings, often outside of formal schools, which may include community-based education centres or temporary spaces like tents when necessary. Creating child-friendly spaces is a central part of our approach. These safe environments offer children stability and a sense of normalcy amid chaos, allowing them to learn, grow and have fun.
Our work also focuses on providing education for displaced children, and many of our programmes incorporate an accelerated language component. This helps children learn the language of the host country, facilitating their transition into formal education and promoting their long-term success.
Street Child prioritises mental health and psychosocial support for both children and caregivers as part of its overall programmes. The effects of crises like conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change can last a long time and deeply affect the emotional well-being of many families. To address these challenges, we provide support that meets the mental health needs of vulnerable communities. Our programmes create safe spaces where children and caregivers can get counselling, take part in therapeutic activities, and build resilience. By focusing on mental health, we help children cope with their experiences and improve their overall well-being, which also allows them to engage fully in educational opportunities.
Street Child runs programmes in some of the most climate-affected countries in the world. In Somalia, we are implementing a drought emergency and resilience project to mitigate the effects of severe drought. This programme supports the international community's efforts to reduce illness and death caused by extreme drought and lack of access to clean water.
Bangladesh and Nepal are also among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. In Bangladesh, we work with local partners to support affected communities by implementing low-cost solutions that have a significant impact. These include maintaining a zero-plastic policy in our programme areas and promoting green gardening to protect the environment. Additionally, we run programmes focused on sustainability and environmental education in local schools.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread school closures, leaving millions of children out of school. Even though the crisis was a few years ago, we are still seeing the impact of learning losses. During the pandemic, Street Child used lessons learned from the Ebola crisis to strengthen community knowledge and improve hygiene practices. We ran campaigns to provide children with education through audio recordings, which helped reduce the number of lost school hours while keeping them safe from infection. Street Child expanded our efforts to support the most marginalised communities.
In some of the most remote areas of Nepal, we reached over 250,000 people with COVID-19 prevention and preparedness information through community campaigns, print materials, and radio. We also provided food assistance to 4,000 of the most vulnerable households.
Keeping children safe in numbers
81,907
Children have been reached with protection services.
172,972
Children have been reached through programmes such as mental health support and psychosocial services.
17,986
Adults have received mental health or psychosocial support.