What does it take to help children thrive?

Our vision is a world in which all children and youth thrive, enjoy their rights, and achieve their full potential. 

But what does it really take for us to achieve this kind of change in the communities where we work? How do we know if children are thriving? 

Our work is firmly rooted in the belief that the only way for sustainable change to happen is by building meaningful relationships within the communities where we work. That's why, in recent years, we've narrowed our scope, focusing on a few dedicated communities. 

In order for children in these dedicated communities to thrive, we work with local community-based organisations to ensure children are educated, nourished and their families have secure livelihoods. This is typically done through a variety of holistic programmes and projects that are a mix of water and sanitation, education, child protection, healthcare and nutrition, resilience-building, livelihoods and advocacy. 

We also understand that for children to thrive, they must be protected from harm and have a sense of wellbeing. 

We are committed to measuring the progress that we are making towards our goal of helping children to thrive. That's why we've developed programme Road Maps (plans which outline the activities to be undertaken in the next 5 to 10 years) in each of our dedicated communities, with the ultimate aim: for every community to reach a point of self-reliance, where local organisations and families no longer need the support of New Zealanders through ChildFund and can achieve progress independently.