Five things I like about War Child's priorities and approach

War Child help children affected by conflict. They provide things like psychosocial support for families caught up in the Ukraine war, reintegration of child soldiers in the DRC and the Central African Republic, and help to unaccompanied and separated children in Gaza.

I got involved because a music promoter asked me to do an online concert and be part of their annual campaign (link below), where they offer opportunities to artists who raise the most money.

So - here are five things I like about War Child’s priorities and approach.

1 - They focus on the psychological harms to children. War and displacement can damage children’s mental health, causing fear, withdrawal, and difficulty feeling safe. War Child funds groups that use play, movement, and positive relationships to support emotional wellbeing and build skills like respect, friendship, and understanding of how to manage stress, for example in Congolese refugee camps.

2 - A lot of their work is focused on getting children back into education and reintegrating them into their communities after being part of armies or militias - so they can build other skills and sources of self-worth.

3 - They don’t just help children in places that get a lot of headlines, but also places that don’t, like Sudan, Afghanistan, Colombia, and the DRC.

4 - They train local partner groups to take forward their work. For example, they trained three local partner organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo when millions of people were displaced due to conflict, flooding, landslides in 2024. They made it possible for nearly 15,000 children to have a good education in a safe place and offered catch-up courses to help children reintegrate into formal education. 60 girls who survived sexual violence received training on employment opportunities and psychological support.

5 - They base their interventions on evidence about what works. They create and test different ways to make sure their work is effective, and their Research and Development team publish academic articles about their findings so that others can benefit from this evidence base.

Each year the music promoter HotVox organises a campaign, War Child rising, to raise as much money for War Child as possible.

If you’d like to know more about War Child, please do look at their 2024 Annual Report.