A girl stands with arms crossed and smiling in front of classmates

Help protect children

We protect girls and boys against child abuse, exploitation and violence

The need to keep children safe

As a child protection charity, we are dedicated to ending violence against children so they are protected today and empowered for tomorrow. We do this by equipping children, families, faith leaders, schools and various levels of government, with the tools to address the root causes of violence against children.

We speak out on issues like child marriage, child soldiers, child labour, violence and abuse by raising awareness, influencing laws and amplifying children's voices. With your support, we work in the most dangerous places, with communities and local and national government at all levels. Empowered communities are able to build a safety net of loving and caring people to protect children and young people, prevent harm, and ensure that those who are harmed receive the help they need to recover.

Child marriage

At least 12 million girls are forced into child marriage every year

Child labour

Around 160 million children are in child labour

Child soldiers

Between 2005 and 2022, over 105,000 children were recruited by armed groups

How we secure children's safety

We speak out on issues like child marriage, child labour, child soldiers and FGM.

Girl from Bangladesh looks outside through a window

Protecting girls from child marriage

Where and why child marriage happens, and how we're working with communities to end it.

Girl in Bangladesh sews in a room, wearing a head scarf to hide her face

Fighting the practice of child labour

Keeping children out of hazardous work through education and support.

People stand in line behind a child wearing army camouflage and a beret in South Sudan

Stopping child soldier recruitment

Tackling the root causes that lead to children becoming child soldiers.

Seven-year-old Kenyan girl stands outside her home smiling

Ending female genital mutilation

Working with communities to end FGM.

Silhouette of a girl from South Sudan sat facing to the side

Ending violence against women and girls

Offering girls and women the protection they need

Girl in hijab faces away from camera, covering her face with her hand, against a backdrop of a home in South Sudan

Ending child sexual abuse and violence

Campaigning for a world free from child sexual abuse and exploitation.

47% of our work is in low income and conflict affected countries, where children are most in need of protection.

Protected today and empowered for tomorrow

You can support our child protection work in the world’s most dangerous places.

I want to protect children

A girl standing in a doorway and smiling now she has escaped child marriage thank to World Vision

Empowering children to understand their rights

Sumaiya’s fight for her future

When Sumaiya, 17, from Bangladesh was young, her parents moved to Dhaka to earn an income, leaving Sumaiya’s grandparents, and uncle and aunt to care for her and her younger brother. When she was 16, her uncle and aunt arranged for Sumaiya to marry a man she had never met in exchange for a dowry. Sumaiya remembers having tears in her eyes as she realised child marriage meant the end to her dreams.

But Sumaiya didn’t give up hope and took the brave step to seek help from an Adolescent Club, an initiative implemented by World Vision to raise awareness of children’s rights. “The club taught me about what marriage at a young age does to a person’s physical and mental health,” she explains. Once she had decided not to marry early, World Vision staff visited Sumaiya’s family and persuaded them call off the marriage. Now, she has not only stopped her own wedding, but she’s also using what she’s learnt to empower other girls to help stop child marriage.

Send girls like Sumaiya to school, not down the aisle

You can help us to safeguard children against abuse, child sexual abuse, and neglect, reduce their risk of harm and support children to have a brighter future.

I'll help children like Sumaiya

How we protect children

Transforming school culture

Supporting teachers and children’s clubs to teach children’s rights

Strengthening families and communities

Supporting community prevention of child marriages, trafficking and abductions

Campaigning for change and holding to account

Campaigning for accountability, enforcement of laws and important global changes

We believe a world without violence against children is possible

With your support, we can be powerful advocates for girls' and boys' welfare. Together, we can help children amplify and harness the power of their voices to hold authorities to account and campaign for change.

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Discover more

Children in Afghanistan raise hands

Campaign with us

Change comes when we speak out and take action. Join us to help change the world for children.

Four children and an adult clapping and celebrating in front of their hut in Malawi

How you can help

Choose how you want to have an extraordinary, positive impact on vulnerable children's lives.

A World Vision member in a refugee camp in Lebanon wearing a mask kneels down to talk to a boy wearing pajamas

Our work to help children

Transforming the lives of vulnerable children, thanks to you.

Young refugee child in Afghanistan stands outside, washing their hands with a pink towel and a bottle of water

Standing up for children's rights

How children's rights are threatened, and how you can help to protect and empower children

Kenyan children looking into a classroom

Helping children in poverty

We support communities to tackle the root causes of poverty for lasting change.

Cambodian mother feeding her son from a bowl and spoon

Providing healthcare and nutrition

Fighting malnutrition and improving access to better healthcare for the most vulnerable.

A girl from Kenya in a school uniform writing in a notebook and smiling at the camera

Supporting access to education

Working with teachers, families and communities to provide education access for all children.

A community in Mali celebrates, dancing and raising arms skyward in front of a newly working borehole in Mali

Helping communities access clean water

Tackling drought, dirty water and lack of sanitation that affects vulnerable children.

Members of a Bee Keepers Group in Eswatini (Swaziland) join together to harvest the first hives that were provided to help diversify their family incomesMembers of a Bee Keepers Group in Eswatini (Swaziland) join together to harvest the first hives that were provided to help diversify their family incomes

Helping families earn a living

Helping poor families to secure sustainable incomes so children can thrive.

Somali mother holding her child while sat in front of a makeshift tent in an internally displaced persons camp

Responding to emergencies

When war and disasters happen, we respond with immediate relief and long-term rebuilding.

Staff members in masks and gloves carry boxes to distribute mini food kits

We go where others don’t, where the need is greatest. Learn about where we work and why.

World Vision Kenya staff member measuring children

Where your money goes

How your donations have changed children's lives for good.

A group of children from Zambia sit on the floor against a wall with a World Vision staff member wearing an orange and white tabard.

About Child Sponsorship

Everything you may want to know. How it works, what to expect, the difference you can make.