Child Protection

Help protect exploited children — and prevent child marriage. 

Economic and social strain from global crises is deepening poverty and putting children at heightened risk of exploitation — including child marriage, child labor, and family violence. Your gift to the Child Protection Fund helps shield vulnerable girls and boys from harm and supports their recovery when exploitation has already occurred. 

Child marriage is one of the most harmful practices affecting girls today, robbing them of safety, choice, education, and opportunity. At the same time, child labor affects nearly 1 in 10 children worldwide — an estimated 160 million girls and boys, with 70 million working in hazardous conditions. Your support helps protect children from these and other forms of abuse, while building stronger systems that keep them safe. 

World Vision’s approach to ending violence against children — including ending child marriage — protects them today and empowers them for tomorrow. We equip children, families, communities, and local partners to address the root causes of exploitation and transform the environments that allow these practices to persist. 

Your gift will help protect children and support their recovery through resources like: 

• Education for families and communities on how to ensure child well-being 

• Training that empowers kids to protect themselves and one another 

• Counseling and recovery assistance for child survivors of abuse (healthcare, educational support, life skills training) 

• Building and strengthening community partnerships that safeguard against exploitation, abuse, and neglect 

• Equipping girls and boys with the knowledge and confidence to challenge harmful social norms 

• Helping families and communities adopt equitable practices for women and girls that prevent child marriage 

• Ensuring girls have access to quality education and livelihood opportunities 

• Supporting strong, enforced laws and policies that prevent child marriage 

Our approach to ending child marriage includes five pillars: Behavior change, education access, economic empowerment, reducing water- and sanitation-related barriers to girls’ education, and strengthening child protection systems. 

As a reflection of God’s love for all people, we work with entire communities — women and men, girls and boys — to transform harmful and discriminatory practices together. In our work to reduce child marriage rates, we affirm two core principles: 

1. Girls must be able to decide if, when, and whom to marry. 

2. Communities must have a protective and enabling environment that resists child marriage. 

By 2030, the Big Dream to End Child Marriage program aims to help end child marriage and harmful practices everywhere we work in Kenya and in parts of Bangladesh. 

Thank you for reflecting Jesus’ love for children by helping protect and restore hope for girls and boys in some of the world’s toughest places.