30 years of helping children to thrive!
The year was 1990...
MC Hammer was topping the charts, the first episode of The Simpsons aired on prime-time television, and ChildFund New Zealand began partnering with Kiwis to change the lives of children, youth and families in need through child sponsorship.
At that time, CCF (our former name) had been operational around the world for more than 50 years, and the global CCF network had grown to be the largest independent child care and development organisation in the world, reaching more than 650,000 children each year.
The past 30 years have brought about significant changes around the world. We may not be driving around in flying cars, but we literally now have the world at our fingertips. Most people have mobile smartphones, and the rise of social media has given us the ability to be connected with our loved ones, even if they are thousands of kilometres away.
And ChildFund has changed a lot, too. While we continue to focus on helping the world’s most vulnerable, excluded and deprived children and youth to thrive, we are approaching it in new and exciting ways.
Here in New Zealand, we challenge the status quo by innovating and transforming the way we work, while we maintain our high standards for programme development, monitoring and evaluation. Globally, the ChildFund Alliance now reaches nearly 23 million people with life-changing programmes in education, health and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, livelihoods and disaster risk reduction.
We couldn’t do it without your support! Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO READ OUR 2020 ANNUAL REPORT
In the past year, more than 50,000 kind Kiwis supported ChildFund’s work, helping us to elevate outcomes for the dedicated communities that we partner with: Emali, Kenya; Batticaloa, Sri Lanka; Cao Bang, Vietnam; Luangwa, Zambia; Timor-Leste; and the Pacific Island nations of Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.
But 2020 has presented much more than just a milestone year for ChildFund New Zealand. Along with the rest of the world, we watched as the COVID-19 pandemic began impacting our communities, both locally and abroad. The way we lived, worked, shopped and interacted with our loved ones changed immediately, and indefinitely.
As the world locked down, ChildFund jumped into action. With our Alliance partners, we developed a comprehensive COVID-19 response plan, with a focus on stopping the spread of COVID-19, ensuring children are fed and kept safe from violence, and helping them to continue their learning.
We are so thankful for the committed support of New Zealanders. It’s incredible to see the positive changes that have been made over the past 30 years, and we look forward to the exciting ways your support will transform communities into the future!
This article was written as part of our 2020 Annual Report. Click here to read the report today!