War Child USA

War threatens childhood. A startling 1 in 10 of the world's children - more than 230 million – currently live in countries affected by armed conflict. Children are the least responsible for what happens in conflict, yet are the most vulnerable. Conflict obliterates homes and villages, tears families apart, disrupts education, destroys opportunities for economic development, ravages justice systems and creates an atmosphere of fear and instability. No child can thrive in this environment, but children are resilient, and with the right support can thrive. War Child focuses on three key program areas, Education, economic Opportunity and Justice, to help children and families recover from the devastation of war and build sustainable communities. Education: War Child offers a range of programs from early childhood education and “catch-up” learning for youth who have missed years of school, to radio-based learning. We also build schools; train teachers, distribute school supplies and textbooks; train and engage PTAs; and teach women literacy and numeracy so that they can better care for their families and participate in our Opportunity programs. Opportunity: War Child offers vocational training and support, including micro-loans and business-specific starter kits, so women and youth can launch and run their own enterprises, as well as agricultural training and support that ensures better and expanded access to adequate amounts of nutritious food (food security) and to markets to sell the food. The majority of the participants in these programs are vulnerable women, who can now feed, clothe and educate their children. Justice: When a country is at war, legal structures break down and a culture of impunity grows. War Child rebuilds and improves ravaged justice systems and provides legal representation to children and women to ensure that they are safe from abuse and are defended against sexual and gender based violence (SGBV). We train legal and justice officials like lawyers, judges and police and do extensive outreach via community meetings, radio panel discussions to ensure that people are aware of their rights. War Child respects the experience of local partners and communities and invests in them. 95% of our 200 plus strong field staff are local people who have a deep understanding of the cultural concerns and workings of the places in which we work, helping to build trust among the people who need us most.