We are War Child

What We Do: 

War Child works exclusively to improve the lives of children affected by armed conflict. We provide children living in areas affected by war and conflict with vital psychosocial support, education and protection.

Our ultimate goal is to ensure the improved psychosocial wellbeing of children forced to live with the effects of war.

Children are the primary focus of our programmes - but we also work with parents, caregivers, teachers and other important adults in children's lives. This support helps ensure children can build a better future - both for themselves and their communities.

Where We Work:

War Child is active in fourteen countries where children are forced to live with effects of armed conflict. We are present in countries experiencing active conflict as well as societies where the consequences of recent armed conflicts are still being felt. We also work directly with child refugees in Europe.

Our countries of operation are: Afghanistan: Burundi: Colombia: DR Congo: Iraq: Jordan: Lebanon: the occupied Palestinian territories: South Sudan: Sri Lanka: Sudan: the border regions of Syria: Uganda: and Yemen. We also work to support refugee children in the Netherlands – and are exploring ways we can work with refugees in Sweden.

How We Are Funded:

Our funding base is comprised of two types of income - restricted funds and unrestricted funds.

Restricted funds mainly come from institutional partners such as governments, charitable foundations and international organisations. Unrestricted funds typically come from two sources - our large base of Friends (structural donors) and the various fundraising events and activities undertaken by individuals, businesses and our primary sponsors.

Who We Work With:

War Child collaborates with organisations across the world to ensure that our work has maximum impact. We currently work with more than 50 implementing partners globally to carry out our programmes. Partnerships with both national NGOs and local organisations help us to execute relevant programmes and access children in hard-to-reach areas.

In order to help as many children as possible - and ensure that our work has maximum impact - War Child will increasingly collaborate with organisations across the world. This will help us achieve our ambition to become a Networked Expert Organisation.

Our Reach:

We reached 290,596 children and 83,783 adults through our work in 2017.

Our History:

War Child was founded in 1995 by Dutch social entrepreneur Willemijn Verloop. On assignment in the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian war, Willemijn witnessed musical workshops held in the bomb shelters to aid local children. She was convinced that this approach could benefit young survivors of conflict across the world.

War Child was soon born - a small organisation with a handful of volunteers working in a borrowed loft. Local fundraising drives soon grew rapidly in scale thanks to the support of major companies and private donors. Within four years we were present in twelve countries - including Sierra Leone and Kosovo.

Our Management Structure:

Tjipke Bergsma is the Managing Director of War Child Holland and responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organisation. Major decisions are taken in consultation with our International Management Team (IMT), comprised of managers representing all major departments and regions of War Child.

At our Amsterdam head office the Senior Management Team (SMT) is comprised of managers representing all major departments of War Child Holland. The SMT is responsible for monitoring the performance and progress of the organisation according to the goals and objectives set out in the global Strategic Plan and related Annual Plans and Budgets.

Independent oversight of the organisation and its management is provided by our Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board appoints the Managing Director and is responsible for supervising, monitoring the Managing Director. The Supervisory Board approves organisational strategy, budgets, our Annual Plans and Reports and also monitors major deviations from our strategic plans.

Our Care System:

We are currently busy developing the War Child Care System. This Care System will see the development of scientifically tested and evidence-based interventions and tools to guarantee the highest standards of quality. The system is made up of nine ‘Core Interventions’ incorporating our specialist areas of work - psychosocial support, protection and education.

These Core Interventions are interconnected for increased impact - and ensure we can provide targeted, effective support to serve the whole range of needs experienced by conflict-affected children.