Every day millions of children are exposed to violence, abuse and exploitation. We work in some of the world’s most oppressed areas. We are part of a global Viva network and support partners with strong local rooting and expertise in children’s rights. The objective of our work is to ensure children a safe and healthy upbringing with access to basic rights. We don’t only work for children and youth – we also work with them. We engage them as role models and change agents with the opportunity to create their own future.
Our work builds on three areas of initiative:
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals help create a framework for our projects around the world. Based on our capacity and know-how, we have chosen primarily to work with goal 16, which focuses on supporting peaceful and inclusive communities and providing global access to legal rights, and developing effective, accountable and engaging institutions on all levels. At Viva, we primarily work to end abuse, exploitation, human trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children.
If you would like to find out more about how we work in our three areas of initiative, you can read more about the work in our partner countries below.
Working together, we can improve conditions for children and youth.
Viva Denmark fights abuse and exploitation in our three partner countries: Honduras, Zimbabwe, and the Philippines. We achieve this through a combination of awareness campaigns and grassroots efforts, as well as providing support to victims and collaborating with authorities. In the Philippines, there is a particular focus on Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Children (OSEAC), where this type of abuse is especially prevalent. Our initiatives aim to educate communities, empower individuals, and strengthen systems to protect children from harm. By working closely with local organizations and government agencies, we strive to create safe environments where children can thrive and build a better future.
In Honduras and Zimbabwe, many children and young people spend their lives on the streets because they have no other alternatives. For more than 10 years, Viva has been using football as a tool to help these children and young people off the streets and into a healthy community. Viva Sport is a preventive effort for vulnerable children and young people growing up in slums, where the risk of becoming involved in crime, gangs, and drug abuse is high. Through football training, matches, and integrated education, the children have the opportunity to experience the joy and community of football, while the football field becomes a classroom where they learn about justice, respect, cooperation, and friendship. The coaches’ most important role is to transfer the values that exist in the world of football to the real world. Values that are far from what the children encounter in life on the streets and in the slums. Football gives the children a new direction in life, a healthy alternative to street gangs and crime, and hope for a better future.
The UN estimates that ¼ of all children under 5 years old worldwide are not registered, which means that they do not exist on paper. In Zimbabwe, as many as 52% of all children under 5 years old live without a birth certificate (Source: UNICEF). Without a certificate, it is difficult, if not impossible, to access the healthcare system and education. This means that the children face a life where formal employment conditions in the job market are not an option, and many children end up in child labor or prostitution. Registering children is the first step towards ensuring them access to basic rights, and therefore we fight for children’s right to an identity by working to strengthen the registration system and by empowering the children who have lived without a birth certificate, so they have the opportunity to create their own future.
Please contact us if you have any questions or enquires
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