Keeping children safe

Our child protection work

Protecting children is an important part of our work to uphold child rights and give children a life free from violence and abuse. All over the world, we have programs dedicated to keeping children safe.

We help children who don't have appropriate care. These may be children who are neglected or abused, children in institutions, or children who are on the move – refugees, trafficked children or migrants.

During emergencies, we focus our response on the needs of children. In disasters and conflict, girls and boys can become separated from their families and are more exposed to sexual violence and child marriage, or even recruited as child soldiers.

We make sure children can safely go to school and play – especially in places that are prone to disasters or ongoing conflict. And we work with governments to change policies and strengthen child protection systems.

Our child protection programs

Our commitment to ending all forms of violence against children informs our how we approach our program work. Child protection is integrated into all of our programs but we also have many programs especially dedicated to child protection.

In Bangladesh, we help families and communities protect children who are living with HIV or AIDS. In Cambodia, we make sure children are safe from violence by strengthening community support and local child protection systems.

Take a look at how our child protection work is keeping children safe in Cambodia

In Indonesia we are working to reform institutional care and bring children home to their families. And in Australia, we offer a parenting support program to reduce the risk of child abuse and neglect, and protect children and mothers who have experienced family violence.

Child protection is everyone’s business

We are all responsible to take action if we suspect a child is being abused. Every person in the neighbourhood, from relatives to neighbours and local government, can play an essential part in protecting children from abuse. Here are four steps we can take towards keeping children safe.

Reporting child protection concerns

If you’re faced with an immediate concern for the safety or wellbeing of a child or young person, please choose from our list of services and take action. You can also find out how important crucial child protection is to our work by reading Save the Children’s Child Safeguarding policy.