Global Alliance for Children

In July 2013, after a ten month planning phase, a core group of partners founded the Global Alliance for Children, passed by-laws, elected a chair, and established a Leaders Council to oversee the Alliance’s governance and development. Global partners include the GHR Foundation, Wellspring Advisers, US Agency for International Development, US Department of Labor, Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (observer), World Bank, EIM Group, World Childhood Foundation, and Save the Children. The Alliance resides in the New Venture Fund, a non-profit entity that enables donors to leverage resources and mount effective global advocacy efforts and intervention programs that lead to more measurable results for children. The Alliance mobilizes targeted investments in childhood as a core component of a nation’s social and economic progress. The Global Alliance for Children mobilizes targeted investments in childhood as a core component of a nations social and economic progress. Build Strong Beginnings Increasing the number of children who reach their full potential. Put Family Care First Decrease the number of children living outside of family care—in institutions or on the streets. Protect Children Decrease the incidence of violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect of children. The Alliance helps support the development of country ownership, information systems, national and international cooperation, science and learning. In a world with many challenges—poverty, security, violence, inequality, food security, pandemics, and many more proposed solutions, the greatest challenge and singularly the most important solution is our children and the kinds of childhoods that they have. With fragmented and partial responses to each one of these challenges, their belief is that a good childhood for all children is the unifying thread, the cross cutting solution, and a way forward—a way to replace what divides people with what unites people as a world, people and institutions. Focus, Strategy and Activities In response to the global and national conditions of children in extreme adversity, a group of foundation, bilateral, multilateral, NGO and private sector partners founded the Global Alliance for Children: Ensuring the Future. Through a donor advised fund, joint programs and coordinated funding, the Alliance seeks to achieve three core objectives in six countries over the course of five years. The three core goals/outcomes are: 1. Build Strong Beginnings: Reduce the number of children less than five years of age not meeting key developmental milestones. Key focus: nutrition-stunting, social care and early childhood development. 2. Put Family Care First: Reduce the number of children living outside of family care. Key focus: economic household level strengthening, positive parenting, de-institutionalization and permanent family care. 3. Protect Children: Reduce the number of children who experience violence, exploitation, and abuse. Key focus: anti-exploitive child labor, domestic violence and safe schools programs. SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES Science tells that these outcome areas are key investments or pathways out of adversity for children growing up in conditions of severe deprivation or danger. When linked to core health and education programs, this new approach will lead to significant long-term benefits for millions of children and participating nations The Alliance embraces three supporting objectives designed to bolster the prospects for the success of the three core objectives. The first is to support the strengthening of child welfare and projection systems so that children will have access to essential services, such as birth registration and social protection programs. The second is the promotion of evidence-based policies and programs that emphasize sound measurement methods and quantifiable results. Finally, Alliance members commit to collaborate with each other by coordinating funding and sharing information, expertise and best practices in order to achieve the desired outcomes noted immediately above.