ChildFund works in the most difficult contexts in the poorest and remotest communities, because we believe that every child, no matter where they live, deserves to grow up healthy, educated, skilled and safe.
The organization has been working in Zambia since 1983 reaching over 800,000 children, youth and care givers.
Through our sponsorship programming and external grant funding, we have long-standing relationships with partner Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and the government at the District and National level through units working directly in and around the well-being of children, youth, and women.
Our Work Is:
Children are at the heart of everything we do. We see them not just as beneficiaries, but as active participants in shaping a better future. Every child is unique, and their voice is crucial in building the world we all envision. Our work prioritizes child protection and advocates for children’s rights, ensuring they are heard, valued, and protected. We work with communities, district and national governments, the private sector, and other like-minded organizations to champion the rights of children at every level—community, district, national, and global.
Community development is a central part of how ChildFund collaborates to improve children’s well-being. We engage local communities to identify their unique challenges and co-create solutions. By working with communities, we ensure that the interventions are relevant, sustainable, and impactful.
We begin work in a community by selecting a local grassroots organization that supports children in its vicinity. We then provide funding, guidance and resources for that local partner and enrolled children who need extra support in our programs. All enrolled children are eligible for sponsorship, in which they are matched one-to-one with a caring person from somewhere in the world who makes a monthly donation to support their community and can also write letters of encouragement, send financial gifts for special occasions and become a lifelong friend and source of support. Contributions from these generous sponsors support the programs that all enrolled children, whether sponsored or not, have access to.
A Holistic Approach
But it’s not just sponsored or enrolled children who benefit from our programs: It’s every child who lives in a particular community. Our programs are designed to be inclusive of all children in the communities where we work, whether we are constructing a school, drilling a borehole to ensure that all the children are drinking clean water, providing learning materials to schools or educating parents and caregivers on responsive parenting to support healthier relationships within all the children’s families.
Sponsorship funds – as well as funds from other sources like major donors, corporate partners and grantmaking institutions – fuel the programs we develop for and with children. These programs are designed not only to meet children’s needs in the short term, but also to improve access to critical resources and strengthen relationships between people so that the entire community can better meet children’s needs in the long term.
When a community becomes more self-sufficient, we shift our support to another that is less so. Child by child, community by community, our supporters help cocreate societies where every child can realize their rights.
Our success is built on strong partnerships with local organizations. These partners bring invaluable insights and connections, enabling us to tailor our programs to the specific needs of each community. Together, we implement projects that address early childhood development, education, health, nutrition, child protection, youth and livelihood development.
ChildFund Zambia is currently working with 5 local partner organizations to implement various child-focused programs in 21 districts.
Our Impact
We can say we keep children healthy, educated, skilled and safe. We can talk about how we keep them safe at home, on the street, in school and online, or that we work with families to create the conditions their children need to thrive from birth to young adulthood. But how we help children experience these outcomes depends on our program results. Achieving these outcomes relies on the effectiveness of our programs, which we continuously measure and evaluate.
How We Define “Impact”
We validate our impact with children and families in Zambia in four important ways:
- 01. Our global monitoring of key indicators and our programming evidence.
- 02. Feedback from our children, families and partners on the difference our programs make in their lives and communities.
- 03. How well we apply learning about what works well or not to strengthen our strategies and approaches.
- 04. How we contribute toward global, collective outcomes for children and families — the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Our work contributes toward 12 of the 17 SDGs:
By rigorously measuring our impact and involving the community and other key stakeholders in the process, we ensure that our efforts lead to meaningful and lasting change.
Project Spotlight:Trapped in an abusive marriage at 14 — How Agnes found hope again
Forced into marriage at 14 after becoming pregnant, Agnes faced many challenges, including abuse. With ChildFund’s support, she found a way out and returned to school. ChildFund, working with communities and various local partners organizations, is taking a leading role in reducing early pregnancies and ensuring girls have the opportunity to build a better future through education. Watch her story and see the impact of helping young girls to empower themselves.
Thanks to ChildFund, our community now has a deeper understanding of the importance of protecting children and promoting their rights. As traditional leaders, we have worked hand in hand with ChildFund to raise awareness, stop child marriages, and keep our children—especially girls—in school. This partnership has brought positive change. ChildFund has not imposed solutions, but rather walked alongside us, supporting our efforts and strengthening our role in building a safer, more hopeful future for every child in Kasonkoma and the surrounding villages.”
Kenneth Mulusa, Village Headman, Kasonkoma Village, Chongwe District.