About ChildFund

About ChildFund

ChildFund New Zealand is one of New Zealand's most well respected child sponsorship charities. We strive to make the world a safer, healthier and happier place for poor children. ChildFund never discriminates and works wherever the need is greatest, irrespective of religion, ethnicity, gender or national origin.

Our development approach >>

10 reasons to join us today>>

ChildFund has a unique participatory approach that involves working directly with community leaders and the parents and families of sponsored children. We believe they are best placed to understand their own local needs. ChildFund supports communities to find their own solutions to the problems they face.

ChildFund New Zealand is part of the ChildFund Alliance, a worldwide organisation whose members provide assistance to more than 11 million impoverished children and families in more than 54 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

WHERE WE WORK

Where we work

The ChildFund Alliance network works where humanitarian aid is able to flow - without political, religious or bureaucratic obstacles. We implement sponsorship, community development projects and emergency response projects in more than 50 countries in Africa, the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific.

ChildFund works in the following countries:

Africa
Angola* Chad Ethiopia*
Guinea Kenya* Liberia
Mozambique Senegal* Sierra Leone*
South Africa The Gambia* Togo
Uganda* Zambia*  
Asia
Afganistan East Timor* India*
Indonesia* Philippines* Sri Lanka*
Vietnam    
The Americas
Bolivia* Brazil* Dominica*
Ecuador* Guatemala* Honduras*
Mexico* St. Vincent* USA
Eastern Europe
Albania Belarus Ukraine

* Sponsorship Programmes Available

OUR DEVELOPMENT APPROACH:

ChildFund’s development approach is based on the belief that impoverished people must design and shape the programs that will be carried out in their communities and countries. Although, ChildFund believes that no universal strategy exists to address all causes of poverty, ChildFund incorporates five key principles into all programs in order to provide sustainable assistance to vulnerable children as well as their families and communities.

ChildFund bases all development programs on the following five key principles. All ChildFund programs:

  1. Are Grounded and Connected – Programs are grounded in an understanding of the causes of child poverty, which is gained through rigorous reflection with communities, as well as engagement with development processes at national and international levels. Programs are connected to and integrated with the efforts of other organizations and build on the existing strengths and resources in communities. 
  2. Build Local Capacities – Programs seek to build a stronger, collaborative civil society which works to benefit children and families. Programs strengthen organizations and local capacities of poor children, youth, and adults to develop and manage their own development agendas. Programs are implemented through local bodies such as governments, NGOs, or Community Based Organizations (CBOs), thus enabling these groups to effectively implement solutions to the issues facing poor children and families.
  3. Achieve Long-Term Change – Programs are targeted at the highest potential avenues for poverty reduction, whether at the child, family, community, district, provincial, or national level. Programs move beyond addressing only the effects of poverty to identifying and taking action to combat the root causes. ChildFund enhances this impact wherever possible by partnering with other organizations, building the capacity of local people, and seizing opportunities to replicate program methods.
  4. Show Impact – ChildFund empowers the children and communities with which it works to assess the impacts of programs according to their own criteria and aspirations. At the same time, ChildFund aligns its impact evaluations with those of other international organizations in order to demonstrate its contributions to addressing internationally-accepted child poverty reduction targets, including the Millennium Development Goals.
  5. Involve Young People as Equal Partners – ChildFund programs are designed to facilitate the development of children in holistic ways and contribute to their development as productive citizens and adults. Consequently, children and youth help shape the direction of programs. Their participation as leaders in their own development and in the development of their communities and societies is central to program implementation.

10 REASONS TO JOIN US TODAY:

  1. Our focus is on the children. We know they suffer first, and worst, so that’s where your help always begins.
  2. We have 70 years experience helping children in crisis.
  3. As an international network, we work in 54 of the world’s poorest countries helping millions of children, and their families.
  4. Our Government uses us to deliver vital aid projects as part of our country’s international aid program.
  5. Your sponsorship and donations of $5 or more get a tax rebate.
  6. Our efficient processes guarantee the maximum amount of your donation reaches the project to which you give.
  7. We are a registered charity with the Charities Commission.
  8. We are committed to sending at least 80% of your sponsorship dollars overseas to help your sponsored child
  9. We are audited every year by the well known and reputable international accounting firm KPMG
  10. You can write to your sponsored child, and they will write back, and you can even visit your sponsored child.

 

Click on the following links to find out more:

80% Commitment »
How we work »
Pictorial History »
Annual Report »