• Overview
• Approach
• Projects

Children at Risk Programs

Working with children to transform futures

An estimated one billion of the world’s children live in poverty and face risks of physical and emotional hardship, as well as widespread neglect within their families, communities and wider society. Life is a daily struggle for many of the world’s children living in these at-risk environments. Many live on the streets and are exposed to abuse, performing hazardous labor, deprived of the loving care of a parent, abandoned due to disabilities or abducted into sexual slavery. 

World Learning is committed to halting the abuse, exploitation and marginalization of children worldwide. By designing and implementing powerful interventions to complement and enhance existing community support structures, we respond to the needs of society’s most vulnerable members and advocate for sustainable change and transformation.

World Learning focuses its Children at Risk operations, public policies and organizational resources on broad-based program models that improve the capacities of children, families and communities to prevent abuse and support children in times of crisis.

Featured Project – Guatemala: Increasing School Retention Rates through Culturally Relevant Education

Children in Guatemala stayed in school longer after a World Learning project introduced indigenous language instruction into first grade, trained classroom aides and used local leaders to help teach lessons on Mayan culture and traditions.

Children at Risk – Our Approach

There are tens of millions of children worldwide living on the streets, 150 million children living with disabilities (the majority without access to education or services), 2 million children enslaved in the global commercial sex trade and over 170 million children involved in exploitative or hazardous jobs.

Children are at a greater risk of suffering from severe effects of crisis situations than adults. Due to their evolving physical, psychological and emotional development, they have fewer capacities for self-protection and survival. Until interventions are put in place to respond to children in crisis, millions of children will be deprived of an opportunity to reach their full potential, which eventually will set countries decades back in their development.

In response, World Learning devotes significant resources to developing quality programs that serve children at risk. Abuse, neglect and malnutrition are common occurrences and often leave behind a legacy of long-lasting consequences on children’s overall development.  As a result, health and wellbeing, academic achievement and social and cognitive development all suffer.

World Learning works with communities and families to define and confront the diverse needs of children at risk. By developing comprehensive and holistic interventions these partnerships help create opportunities many children would otherwise not have.  Our programs bring safety and strength to children’s environments, helping to ensure fulfilling and healthy lives.

Featured Project – Uganda: Reintegrating Exploited Young Women Back into Their Communities

World Learning supported a community-driven program in Uganda to help develop plans for reintegrating young women and girls back into society who had been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army and forced into "marriage" with rebel commanders.

Children at Risk Projects

Improving the quality of life for children at risk is a difficult and challenging task. Children at risk face numerous obstacles to reintegration and full participation in mainstream society.

World Learning focuses on designing and implementing sustainable program models that support resilience in children and provide them the opportunity to lead productive and fulfilling lives.

Our projects center around five main areas of intervention: prevention of child abuse and exploitation; rehabilitation of children facing crisis situations; re-integration of marginalized and separated children with families and communities; sustainability of change through educational and vocational opportunities; advocacy at the local, national and regional level to address the issues and causes of child exploitation or abuse.

Each project aims to cultivate networks of care within communities to anticipate and respond to threats affecting the wellbeing of children and their families.

Featured Projects

In Ethiopia, one of the most conflict-torn countries in Africa, World Learning used a school-based program to provide psychosocial support and improve school responsiveness to children at risk of dropout.

World Learning provided support for agencies working to reintegrate young girls abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army and forced into "marriage" with rebel commanders in Northern Uganda back into society.

Current and Recent Projects

• Ethiopia – Community Government Partnership Program: Bringing Education Services to Child Laborers
• Guatemala – Access to Intercultural Bilingual Education
• Peru – EduFuturo:  Educating Artisinal Mining Chldren for a Dignified Future
• Romania – Civil Society Strengthening Program

Completed Projects

• Benin – The Community Action for Girls' Education
• Uganda – Girl Mothers Consensus Building Activity