90 years of saving children

Save the Children has been fighting for children’s rights since 1919.  

Save the Children is the world’s largest independent child rights development organisation, making a difference to children’s lives in more than 100 countries.  From emergency relief to long-term development, Save the Children secures a child’s right to health, education and protection.

Save the Children Australia manages and implements programs in Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. We also support development programs through our global network in selected countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Our Vision

Save the Children works for

• world which respects and values each child
• a world which listens to children and learns
• a world where all children have hope and opportunity.

Our Purpose

Save the Children fights for children's rights. We deliver immediate and lasting improvements to children’s lives worldwide.

Our History

In May 1919, Eglantyne Jebb founded an organisation called Save the Children. Ninety years later, Save the Children has grown to become the world’s largest independent child rights development organisation, making a difference to children’s lives in over 100 countries.  

Born into a wealthy family in Shropshire, England in 1876, Eglantyne Jebb was a tomboyish child and a bright student who defied the expectations of women in the nineteenth-century by going on to study at Oxford University. 

In 1908, Eglantyne accompanied her ailing mother through Europe. They say travel broadens the mind. It also opens the eyes. So when asked to deliver money to the Macedonian Relief Fund during a break in the Balkan War, Eglantyne didn’t hesitate. This was remarkable for two reasons; not only did women rarely travel alone, it was unthinkable one would ever willingly venture into a conflict zone.

When the war finally ended, things only grew worse. A harsh blockade imposed on Germany, Austro-Hungary and Turkey by the Allies left tens of thousands of people suffering. So in 1919, Eglantyne and her sister Dorothy, gathered together a group of influential friends to form the Fight the Famine Council, pressuring the British government to lift the blockade. But pressure groups don’t fill starving bellies. In order to provide real aid to children across Europe, the Jebb sisters convinced the Council to form a new, separate group: Save the Children.

Despite the successful launch of Save the Children, the allied blockade remained in force and as a result, millions across Europe were slowly starving to death. Eglantyne was never one to back away from a fight. This time she had come armed with a powerful weapon of persuasion – a photograph collected by her sister, Dorothy, while in Vienna. The six year old girl featured was so shockingly malnourished, she was barely the size of a two year old.

Printed on leaflets, the photo had not been cleared by the Defence of the Realm Act, a small detail that in no way deterred Eglantyne. As she had hoped, controversy erupted, resulting in her arrest for distributing the leaflets. Her court case only further attracted publicity to the devastating effects of the blockade. All the while, donations to Save the Children continued to flow. So compelling was Eglantyne’s argument that a substantial contribution even came from the lead prosecutor in the case against her.

Thanks in no small part to the efforts of Save the Children, conditions in post-war Europe were slowly improving. Unfortunately, the same could not be said in Russia. Devastating crop failure had thrown them into one of the greatest famines in history.

Again facing criticism, this time for sympathising with ‘communist enemies’, in 1920 Eglantyne led her largest relief program to date. Amazingly, in the midst of a famine, Save the Children’s feeding centres provided 157 million meals for over 300,000 Russian children. Even the Australian arm of Save the Children, established a year earlier, played a part by shipping milk, wool and other supplies. Almost as big a task was convincing Russian officials to let Save the Children establish and run their own programs within Russia. It was a pivotal moment, turning Save the Children into a fully operational aid organisation, responsible for on-the-ground relief rather than simply handing out funds.

By now, Eglantyne’s work had given Save the Children an international profile. The on-going efforts in Europe and Russia offered indisputable proof that the organisation was making a real difference in people’s lives. But so far it had always been in response to a crisis.
Eglantyne had been searching for a long-term solution to child welfare when she arrived in Geneva in 1923. It was there, whilst hiking up Mount Saleve on a Sunday morning, that her most enduring legacy was penned. Pausing to rest halfway up the mountain, she jotted down five directives she believed were the fundamental rights of every child.

Determined that her vision would become a reality, Eglantyne lobbied the League of Nations until they adopted these rights in 1924. From there, they would form the basis of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959.

In her 52 years on this earth, Eglantyne Jebb managed to launch an international aid organisation; feed and clothe millions of children regardless of their race, creed or colour; completely redefine how welfare organisations should operate and write a piece of social policy so significant it was adopted by the United Nations. Not bad for a woman in an era when women didn’t even have the right to vote.

This is an extract from our book Lessons in Leadership from a spinster in a brown cardigan [pdf, 6MB].