BRIEFING PAPER for Members of Parliament World Vision UK © 2015 Alina Rajbhandary Shrestha/World Vision Nepal Children playing at a World Vision Area Programme in Nepal Today’s children’s are future stars, leaders of the country. I came to know we can change our country in future. Shirisha aged 9, Children’s Club Member, Nepal World Vision is the world’s largest international children’s charity. We are dedicated to working with children, families and communities in around 100 countries to end extreme poverty and injustice. World Vision UK’s impact for children In 2014, we impacted the lives of 8.5m people, including 5m children - many living in the world’s toughest places. Our priorities: 3. programming Approaches • Empowering children and communities to get the services they need - and hold their own governments to account • Strengthening child protection systems to keep children safe • Improving Maternal, Newborn and Child Health programmes to ensure children have the best start in life 2. Advocacy Themes Child Protection Based on our field experience, we advocate to end child marriage, tackle child labour, prevent violence against women and girls and support children affected by armed conflict. We hope you will stand with us to end these issues which deny children their childhoods, their rights and, too often, their lives. We provide financial and technical support for World Vision programmes that empower children to protect themselves. We also work with their families, communities and governments to strengthen the systems which are there to support children and keep them safe. Humanitarian response At World Vision, we are currently responding to a staggering 13 humanitarian emergencies across the globe. These include: emergencies caused by conflict - including South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria; natural disasters like Cyclone Pam and the earthquake in Nepal; and epidemics such as the Ebola crisis in West Africa. In any humanitarian emergency | continued overleaf © 2015 Robert Neufeld/World Vision children are always the most vulnerable group and are often called upon to be the generation that rebuilds their communities. At World Vision, we strive to ensure that these communities are re-built, and able to adapt to their circumstances through resilience programming. We ensure that children can access services which enable them to be healthy and protected during times of crisis, and that effective long term funding and a well coordinated humanitarian response is in place to enable this. 1. international process Sustainable Development Goals for the world will be decided in September 2015. This will set out the global priorities for international development until 2030. The UK government should be a real leader in shaping this. Building on from the progress made by the Millennium Development Goals, Sustainable Development Goals agenda (SDGs - often referred as Post 2015 Process) is once-in-a-generation opportunity to influence the future of international development. The United Nations General Assembly this September should be a key turning point for the world’s poorest children and you will be in a position to influence their futures. We need to ensure that children – including the most vulnerable - are front-and-centre of this new goal framework. Syrian refugee girl crawls in Azraq camp, Jordan World Vision will ‘Stop at Nothing’ to put the children we serve at the heart of these goals. We must aim to get the new development framework to end extreme poverty, fight inequalities, ensure healthy children and families and create safe and peaceful societies - so that any child, wherever they are in the world can survive and thrive to reach their full potential. Our Mandate Our mandate is to ensure that every child, wherever they are, live free from this fear - and can enjoy their right to a safe, happy and fulfilled childhood. To achieve this World Vision has a network of 46,000 staff working alongside children, their families in thousands of communities across the globe to help change the world they live in for good. 97% of our staff are in country, in the communities working directly with those in need. This means we already know communities well. Our global reach means we are often already on the ground when conflict starts and natural disasters hit. We were in the Philippines when Typhoon Haiyan hit; we were in Lebanon when the Syrian crisis started. We stay the course, working with communities typically for 15 years to enable and empower them. We plan for the day we leave the communities - and for this to be celebrated. We also use our influence and global reach to ensure that children are represented at every level of decision-making from the community right through to national parliaments. Last year, World Vision UK’s annual income was £72.1m. The majority of our income comes from people in the UK choosing to support us. We also partner with the UK government, Foundations and others to reach the children most in need. Working with our network of in-country offices we enable programmes across all sectors including health, nutrition, water and sanitation, child protection, social accountability. Working together We are keen to work with you to progress the above agenda and can provide any help you might need in the process. Should you have any queries please contact Rob Henderson or Sarah Klassen, World Vision UK’s Advocacy and Public Affairs Officers, on 0207 802 3578/3475 or rob.henderson@worldvision.org.uk/sarah.klassen@worldvision.org.uk www.worldvision.org.uk @WorldVisionUK www.facebook.com/WorldVisionUK World Vision is a registered charity no. 285908, a company limited by guarantee and registered in England no. 1675552. Registered office as above