Our mission

We are War Child

We are the small ones that dare to dream big.
War Child has a dream that every child lives in peace.

We believe that no child should be part of war. Ever.
And we are daring enough to believe dreams can come true.

We know that war has a power that can make or break you.
War doesn’t have to be the only thing defining you or the next generations.

We dream that the need for War Child won’t exist anymore.
Yet, as long as there is war, there will be a need for War Child to help.

Supporting children to keep their hope in the darkest moments of their lives.
Inspiring them to remember their joy, happiness, and freedom.

We may never be able to take away all the pain that comes with war.
But we can create space, where children heal.

We believe in the power of listening, empathy and consolation to save children’s lives
We believe in conversation and learning.
In music and play.
In giving hope.

But we don’t believe in anything blindly.
We test our beliefs and practices rigorously.
Putting into action what works.

We know that even if we can get the child out of the war, it takes daily acts of heroism to take the war out of the child.

Truth is, there are many more children in need than War Child alone can support.
We know that we can’t do this on our own.

Our deep desire is to share our passion, knowledge and actions.
And to do this right, we need each other.

Because no child should be part of war. Ever.

Our dream is that all children can live the life they want.
Free to play. Free to grow. Free to be.

Improve resilience and wellbeing

War Child works exclusively to improve the resilience and wellbeing of children living with violence and armed conflict. We empower children in everything we do. We work to unleash their inner strength through our creative and engaging approach.

We deliver vital child protection, education and psychosocial support. We are present in countries where violence and armed conflict are a fact of life. We work together with caregivers and communities - as well as other NGOs - to strengthen the resilience and psychosocial wellbeing of conflict-affected children.

A lasting impact for conflict-affected children

We undertake research and development to demonstrate the effectiveness of all our interventions. Our goal is that every one of our programmes will be backed by rigorous evidence. Our in-house R&D team is also working to develop proven intervention models that can be adopted by partner organisations and other NGOs around the world. This will allow us to reach millions more children affected by violence and armed conflict.

Everything we do has a lasting impact and helps children build a better future - both for themselves and their communities.

Our Strategy

The number of children affected by war and violence is reaching new highs - and the available funds to meet their needs are nowhere near enough. The nature of armed conflict is becoming increasingly unpredictable. And the challenges we face as an organisation are growing in scale and complexity.
War Child reaches many thousands of children and youth every year - yet there are a record 230 million children living directly with the effects of violence and armed conflict. We will never reach them all by ourselves - which is why our strategic goal is to become the networked expert organisation for children affected by conflict.

• Networked: This strategy sees us work together with organisations across the world to ensure our work has maximum reach and impact.
• Expert: We continue to develop robust interventions - backed by evidence and research to meet the highest standards of quality - and share them through a network of partner organisations.

These two key strategic ambitions will see us reach increasing numbers of children every year with evidence-based interventions relevant to their needs - all delivered through a global network of local and international organisations.

Our overall goal is that increasing numbers of children and youth will access quality interventions - incorporating vital child protection, education and psychosocial support - and as a result enjoy improved psychosocial wellbeing.

Because no child should be part of war. Ever.