The name that I have selected is "Save the Children" and its link is http://www.savethechildren.org
Description of organization focus
Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating
lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and
around the world. Recognized for our commitment to accountability,
innovation and collaboration, our work takes us into the heart of
communities, where we help children and families help themselves. We
work with other organizations, governments, non-profits and a variety of
local partners while maintaining our own independence without political
agenda or religious orientation.
When disaster strikes around the world, Save the Children is there to
save lives with food, medical care and education and remains to help
communities rebuild through long-term recovery programs. As quickly and
as effectively as Save the Children responds to tsunamis and civil
conflict, it works to resolve the ongoing struggles children face every
day — poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease — and replaces them with
hope for the future.
Their Values
Each and every staff member and volunteer of Save the Children shares
the values that, either individually or through teamwork, drive our
breakthroughs for children.
- Accountability: We take personal responsibility
for using our resources efficiently, achieving measurable results and
being accountable to supporters, partners, and most of all, children.
- Ambition:
We demand the best of ourselves and our colleagues, set high goals and
firmly commit to improving the quality of everything we do for children.
- Collaboration:
We respect and value each other, thrive on our diversity and work with
partners to leverage our global strength in making a difference for
children.
- Creativity: We are open to new ideas, embrace change and take disciplined risks to develop sustainable solutions for and with children.
- Integrity:
We aspire to live to the highest standards of personal honesty and
behavior; we never compromise our reputation and always act in the best
interests of children.
Their Focus
Save the children protect children from abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence in all regions of the world. Their programs focus on the most vulnerable children while aiming for the safety and well being of all children. Working with governments, international organizations, and local
community partners, we strive to create lasting change with improvements
in policy and services that protect children whether in a natural
disaster, conflict, or development setting. In 2012, we helped 3.4
million children through our child protection programs. Some examples of our child protection program activities include creating
Child Friendly Spaces in emergencies, reunifying separated and
unaccompanied children with their families in emergencies, developing
public awareness campaigns against child trafficking, piloting training
programs for social workers to provide supportive care to families and
children and advocating for more effective national protection policies
and child welfare reform. An important part of all of Save the
Children’s child protection work, however, is the participation and
leadership of the children themselves. To this end, we actively support
child clubs and other child-led activities that educate children on how
to protect themselves, and empower them to call for action in their
communities.
Issue from newsletter that caught my attention
WESTPORT, Conn. (July 11, 2013) — Almost
50 million children living in conflict-affected countries are being
denied the chance to go to school, while the number of reported attacks
on education is rising, Save the Children has said.
The number of reported incidents of children being stopped from
accessing education, physically attacked or recruited by armed groups
has increased sharply over the past year, after monitoring efforts were
stepped up in the face of the deteriorating situation in Syria and
concerns over girls' access to education in parts of South Asia and
sub-Saharan Africa.
In a new
report
published today, Save the Children documents the impact of conflict on
education, and includes new research done for Save the Children by
UNESCO's Education for All Global Monitoring Report (EFAGMR) that finds
48.5 million children living in conflict areas are currently out of
school, more than half of them at primary school age.
The conflict in Syria has contributed to the sharp increase in the
number of reported incidents, according to Save the Children. Of more
than 3,600 incidents recorded in 2012, more than 70 percent were in
Syria.
The new research comes as Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai
addresses the UN General Assembly on July 12 in her first public speech
since she was attacked by gunmen on her way to school in Pakistan last
October.
The report finds:
- Of the nearly 50 million children aged between six and 15 out of
school in conflict-affected countries in 2011, 28.5 million were
primary school children, more than half of them girls.
- In 2012,
there were 3,600 documented attacks on education, including violence,
torture and intimidation against children and teachers, resulting in
death or grave injuries, the shelling and bombing of schools and the
recruitment of school-aged children by armed groups.
- Since the
start of the Syria conflict, 3,900 schools have either been destroyed,
damaged or are being occupied for purposes other than education.
In addition to the research, Save the Children has gathered
first-hand testimonies of children caught up in attacks on education:
- I am in ninth grade but this war stopped me from graduating.
I should have graduated and gone to high school, to start building my
future but no… my future is destroyed. – Motassem, 13, Syria
- The
day the rebels came, they destroyed the school. They went into the
headmaster's office and destroyed everything; they destroyed the
students' papers. – Salif, 13, Mali
- Young people in
the village are approached by guerrillas to recruit them. My cousin was
tricked into going with them four months ago and I haven't heard from
her in a month. – Paula, 15, Colombia
"Education offers children in some of the toughest parts of the world
the chance at a brighter future. The attacks highlighted in our report
are an attack on that future, robbing children of the chance to learn
and fulfill their potential. The classroom should be a place of safety
and security, not a battleground where children suffer the most
appalling crimes. Children who are targeted in this way will pay the
price for the rest of their lives," said Carolyn Miles, president and
CEO of Save the Children.
"Conflict is holding back progress, preventing millions of children
from going to school every year. Our new analysis shows that children
out of school in conflict-affected countries are being forgotten. Many
of the affected children will never resume their education, and will be
scarred physically and psychologically for life," said Pauline Rose,
Director of the Global Monitoring Report.
Despite the high levels of children out of school and the sharp
increase in attacks, levels of funding for education in humanitarian
emergencies remain shockingly low. Education funding has continued to
fall from 2 percent of overall humanitarian funding in 2011 to only 1.4
percent of overall humanitarian funding in 2012, below the 4 percent
that the global community has been calling for since 2010.
Save the Children is
the leading independent organization for children in need, with
programs in more than 120 countries, including the United States. We aim
to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to
achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives by improving their
health, education and economic opportunities. In times of acute crisis,
we mobilize rapid assistance to help children recover from the effects
of war, conflict and natural disasters. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Notes to editors:
- In 2011 there were 28.5 million children aged between 6 and 11
out of school in conflict areas, compared to 28 million in 2008. The
report for the first time includes the number of teenagers between ages
12 and 15 out of secondary school in conflict areas, totaling 20
million, giving a combined total of 48.5 million.
- The Education For All Global Monitoring Report (EFAGMR) is developed annually by an independent team and published by UNESCO.
- The
analysis provided by the EFA GMR for this partnership with Save the
Children is an update of calculations found in the 2011 EFA GMR, The hidden crisis: armed conflict and education.
- In
2012, the UN Secretary General presented an annual report "Children and
Armed Conflict" to the UN Security Council. Save the Children
referenced this report and counted 3,643 attacks on education.
- Since
the start of the Syria conflict, 3,900 schools have either been
destroyed, damaged or are being occupied for purposes other than in
education. This number is based on figures reported by UNICEF in January
2013, which includes revised figures provided by the Syrian Ministry of
Education in December 2012 and new figures obtained through ongoing
education needs assessments carried out by UNICEF and partners in various parts of the country.
Upon reading this news letter, I can definitely see the crisis that young children living in that volatile area has to go through along with their families and educators. It is rather devastated to have found out such information.
