Global Network Online Forum - November 2025
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our November Global Network Online Forum. It was a valuable opportunity to share updates on Viva’s future direction, and to hear your practical experiences and reflections around the World Weekend of Prayer and Good Treatment Campaign.
We started by hearing a progress update from Phil about Viva’s “direction of travel.” You should already have received a follow-up email summarising what Phil shared, but I am also re-sharing that information below.
Planning the future together
The three questions we are asking as we shape our plans for the future are:
What is Viva’s role in…
…facilitating a global network of networks?
…catalysing new city-based collective action for children?
…collaborating with partner networks on programmes?
These three priorities are very much connected with Viva’s past — but we believe that each will look different in the future, to ensure that we are relevant and effective in a rapidly changing world.
Connected networks: What is our role in facilitating a global network of networks?
It will be less about what individual networks ‘get’ from Viva, and more about what networks ‘give’ and ‘get’ from one another. Viva’s role will be focused on making connections, sharing learning and resources, helping to facilitate thematic working groups and building the ‘brand’ of the Viva Network. We’ve heard from you that you want it to ‘mean something’ when you tell your governments or potential funders that you are part of Viva. We want to create an ecosystem where networks thrive, are interdependent on one another, and are not dependent on Viva. Some of the questions we would like to discuss are:
Who can be part of the network of networks? How do we decide?
Viva’s facilitation role – where do you want us to prioritise? And how can we better help to encourage networks to connect with one another?
Brand association: What do you want the ‘Viva Network’ to be known for?
New networks: What is our role in catalysing new collaborative action for children around the world?
With networks investing more of your time in supporting and learning from one another, it enables us to put more capacity into helping new, child-focused networks of churches and organisations launch in cities (or communities/countries) around the world and to work with you where you are planning to develop new networks. This includes supporting existing networks of churches that currently lack a strategy for working together for children. The intention is to create a five-year process that takes a network from zero to fully thriving. Several of you have shared how you are looking to support the launch of networks in other cities in your countries, and others have spoken about how you’d love to be part of supporting new networks in neighbouring countries. Some of the questions we’d like to discuss are:
What are you, our existing partner networks, already thinking/doing when it comes to new networks?
Which of you consider yourselves to be in the ‘new network stage’?
What are the key elements that need to be in place to support a network to grow in its early stages, to ensure it will grow into a thriving network?
Active networks: What is our role in collaborating with networks on programmes?
We believe the ‘network effect’ adds value and therefore increases impact. This year, we have begun recalibrating our focus to ensure that we’re primarily collaborating with groups of partner networks when it comes to funded programmes. There have been times in the past where the approach has been too top-down (Viva gets funding and makes plans for how networks can deliver programmes without first getting input from networks.) In the future, we want to ensure that it begins with networks working together on priority issues — and then there might be a role for Viva to help access funding. In the future, it may well be that Viva often simply connects funding organisations directly to networks. And there may be many collaborations between networks happening that Viva is not directly involved in — and that will be something to celebrate. Some of the questions we’d like to discuss are:
What are the key issues you are seeing in your context, that you would value working together with other networks on?
What can Viva do to support and encourage collaboration between networks? Is Viva always needed to initiate and support these working groups?
Where there are many issues and ideas suggested, how should Viva prioritise which ones to work with networks on? ick here
To listen to Phil’s presentation or download the slides, please click here:
Multi-language (English, Spanish, Portuguese)
We look forward to spending time with you all at our regional consultation sessions coming up over the next few weeks, as we work with you to shape Viva’s strategy. Please get in touch with your Viva coach if you have not seen an invitation to one of these sessions.
Global Campaigns
After hearing from Phil, we spent some time in breakout rooms, reflecting on the World Weekend of Prayer and Good Treatment Campaign events that you have held this year. Specifically, we asked what worked well this year, what challenges you faced and how you overcame them, and what advice you would give to someone running a campaign for the first time. We hope that this was a constructive and helpful conversation.
Elin also introduced plans for next year’s World Weekend of Prayer, with the theme “The Whole World in His Hands”. We would love to form a working group of networks that would like to work together to co-create ideas and materials for next year’s event. If you are interested, please complete this quick form.
We look forward to seeing you at the regional consultation sessions, the next Global Prayer Call on Wednesday, 26th November, or our next Forum on Wednesday, 10th December.