provide lasting improvements in life

Millions of children around the world are denied access to healthcare, education and protection from harm.

Save the Children’s programs focus on health, education and child protection, aiming to find ways to help the poorest and most vulnerable children around the world.

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

For example, the Primary Health Care Project in the Sayaboury Province of Laos has been operating for 15 years. It has reduced the maternal and infant mortality rates by 80 per cent, which is well below the national average. The organisation was awarded the United Nations Development Award in 2007 and is developing a similar project in the neighbouring province of Luang Prabang.

The Youth Outreach Project in the Solomon Islands informs young people about protection from harm. They learn about HIV and AIDS, violence at home, sexual health and reproduction, and abuse and exploitation. The project is also operating in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

The Child Friendly Schools Project gives children in Cambodia’s remote areas access to education. Children with learning difficulties receive home-based learning support and children whose parents cannot afford to send them to school - particularly girls – are awarded with scholarships. The project has been so successful that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport in Cambodia has adopted elements of the Child Friendly Schools approach as national policy.