Category: Safety

Challenging a Culture of Online Abuse

The scourge of online sexual exploitation continues to attack children in nefarious ways. Philippine Children’s Ministries Network (PCMN), Viva’s partner network in the Philippines, is about to embark on a programme to combat digital abuse in Dasmariñas City, near Manila – focusing on the potential of youth advocates. Dasmariñas City has the highest number of …

App Calls Out Abuse

BY JAIME TERCERO A brand new mobile app has been launched by our partner network Red Viva Nicaragua allowing users to report instances of abuse or bullying to local authorities anonymously, writes Jaime Tercero. Six out of ten children in Nicaragua have experienced domestic violence at home and 75 per cent reported witnessing violence at …

Protecting at risk children in Lusaka

BY VICTORIA PRICE Children in Zambia are in greater danger of social exclusion and exploitation than ever before, with the risks of abuse numerous and looming heavily within local communities. The Samalani Children At Risk Network (SCAR) formed in September 2017 and, very excitingly, is the newest network to partner with Viva. Today (Thursday 7 …

Heartbreak and hope

BY LIZ CROSS Four children were playing on the streets of Guatemala City when they were approached by a man who offered them food to coax them into his house. Three of the children regularly attended workshops run by Viva’s partner network, Viva Guatemala, and knew not to trust the man. But the other boy, …

Proactive child protection

Hong Kong is an international city with well-developed law and education systems. However, behind the prosperity, children here are not as happy as the city’s success portrays. Sadly, in the past six months, 15 students – the majority aged between 13 and 16 – have passed away due to suicide. This tragic statistic reflects something …

Training to create a safer city for children

BY KANICE HO Viva Hong Kong conducted a proactive child protection training on 20 February, attracting around 40 participants. Attendees represented churches, schools and various children learning centres and, put altogether, they reach more than 6,000 children in the city. In the training, delegates were provided knowledge on child abuse, as well as the importance …

Empowering Patna’s girls

  BY ANDREW DUBOCK It leaves a lump in my throat and a knot in my stomach. Poverty at its most raw: unstable shelters deep in stagnant water, malnourished babies, hundreds of people accessing one well of unclean water, children with leprosy. It’s particularly hard to hear about the situation for girls, who are most …

Making peace in Syria

The stories in the news from Syria in recent weeks and months make difficult reading; it can be hard to know how to engage with a situation which seem so difficult and almost hopeless. It is in these most difficult circumstances that Viva is partnering with three teams of young leaders who are running ‘child …

Global Goals week: Progress through partnership

As he fights for justice, James Bond is the ultimate action hero. But, no matter how hard he tries, he can’t do it independently – he needs the guile of Q, the wisdom of M and the all-round support of Miss Moneypenny back home to achieve his numerous overseas missions.

Kezia’s diary: three weeks in Lebanon

Kezia M’Clelland, Viva’s Children in Emergencies Specialist, has just arrived in Lebanon to spend another three weeks supporting local partners on the ground, equipping them with knowledge and skills to keep Syrian refugee children safe. We’ve put together a diary of her key dates with the hope that you can use it to pray for …