Strengthening our approach to child protection.
At ChildFund, we tailor our interventions to meet children’s evolving needs as they develop from infancy through young adulthood.
Our Life Stage Approach guides our programs, ensuring that children are able to realize a series of core outcomes in each chapter of childhood.
Life Stage 1: Infants and young children 0-5 years old
Our focus on parenting and early childhood development initiatives
We know that preventing abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence during the early years gives children the best start in life. By supporting and empowering parents and caregivers across all of our programs, ChildFund aims to give infants and young children the support they need for healthy development, while reducing their risk of being harmed.
Life Stage 2: Children and young adolescents 6-14 years old
our focus on preventing violence in schools and communities
We know that we need to address violence in school if we want children and young adolescents ages 6 to 14 years to become educated and confident. This means supporting students, teachers, and parents to create a safe learning environment that keeps children protected from harm, and promotes their emotional, physical, and psychological well-being.
Life Stage 3: Adolescents and youth 15-24 years old
Our focus on the safe transition from childhood to adulthood
We recognize that adolescents and youth are resourceful and resilient. We also know that the transition to adulthood represents a unique and challenging period for young people. To enable adolescents and youth to become skilled and involved in their families and communities, we must design specialized, age-appropriate interventions that meet their unique needs, including supporting youth-led safe spaces and clubs that provide a protective environment for young people as they grow into adulthood.
Working to support protective systems
Our focus on working at all levels of the child protection system
While our Life Stage Approach helps us to design programs tailored to the vulnerabilities of children, adolescents, and youth, we recognize the reality is more complex. There are many factors that converge and influence the childhood experience; however, some forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence — and some protective elements — cut across all age groups. If we are to significantly reduce children’s vulnerability to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence, we must target our efforts to all of the people, policies, and services that can protect children by working at all levels of the child protection system.