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A chance to learn, a chance in life

2012: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Children in Crisis206-208 Stewart’s Road London SW8 4UB

Telephone+44 (0)20 7627 1040Fax+44 (0)20 7627 1050

E-mail info@childrenincrisis.orgWebsitewww.childrenincrisis.org

Founder and Life PresidentSarah, Duchess of York

Registered office as address

UK Reg Charity No. 1020488

Company No. 2815817

2013 will be Children in Crisis’ 20th Anniversary Year. As we approach this incredible landmark I find myself reflecting on just how much we have achieved over these past twenty years.

When we founded the charity in March 1993 it was in reaction to the awful conditions and standards of care that we witnessed whilst visiting a Polish children’s hospital. We raised money from concerned, generous donors in the UK and established a recovery centre where children being treated for leukaemia could rest and recuperate. Our determination was to reach out to give support to the most vulnerable and I’m proud to say that focus has never shifted.

Look for Children in Crisis in 2013 and you will find us working in the hardest to reach, most difficult environments. You will find us working alongside local partners and communities, striving to ensure that their children are at least afforded the opportunity to step into a primary school classroom. Because at the heart of everything Children in Crisis now does is education, using what we know is the best tool out there to inspire and protect some of the world’s most vulnerable children.

I could never have dreamt in 1993 that our work would reach the 1.2 million children

that we have. To our incredible supporters I say thank you for being with us throughout the years. It is your charity that brings help, partnership and hope where it is needed most.

Thank you.

The Duchess of York Founder and Life President

A message from our Founder and Life President

It is an incredible privilege to have been elected Chairman of Children in Crisis. I am very excited about the year ahead, especially as 2013 marks

the Charity’s 20th anniversary. This is a time when we must take advantage of this milestone and use it to further transform the lives of the world’s most vulnerable children.

In times of global financial stress and continued political and civil unrest, it has never been more important to recognise and

do everything we possibly can in the belief that every child, wherever they are in the world, has a right to an education.

I know that I have a great deal to learn as I take on the responsibility of Chairman, but the highly talented team led by Koy Thomson will undoubtedly make this task easier. I have never been frightened of a challenge and I am certainly up for this one!

Alasdair Haynes Chairman

In early November in northern Burundi I stood by a roadside trench sliced through the entire length of central Africa. Waist deep, it was laid with fibre optic

cable. On the other side of the road was a cluster of Batwa dwellings – the smallest, roughest looking shelters I have ever seen in Africa. The Batwa or ‘pygmies’ were possibly the first people of Africa, and now they are undoubtedly the last: last in health, wellbeing, status, and hope. Perhaps half of Batwa children die before their fifth birthday.

The contrast with the information superhighway was, an understated colleague said, “peculiar”. We had returned to Burundi to continue the development of a new

programme. Burundians were surprised we had decided to work with the Batwa, calling them backward, beggars and simply unwilling to do anything for themselves.

The kindest said “that will be a challenge, but a good challenge”. Well, this is what our supporters expect us to do: to seek out those that others turn away from. Keep checking in with us throughout the year to see how the Batwa programme and other work develops. It is you, our supporters that enable us to take on the good challenges.

Thank you.

Koy Thomson Chief Executive

A message from our Chairman

A message from our Chief Executive

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2012 A year in numbers

3,366 miles were run, swam, walked,

climbed, kayaked and cycled by our big-hearted challengers,

who did incredible jobs raising money for Children in Crisis.

1,466teachers and head

teachers were trained to give children a quality

education.

39,497the number of children

being taught by the teachers we

trained in 2012.

14 U.K. staff members

made up a lean team, working to ensure that your support reaches

those who need it most.

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2012 A year in numbers

60%the proportion of the

schools that Children in Crisis has worked with in the

DR Congo now supported and funded by the

Congolese government.

79% the increase in school

enrolment after we built a new school and

trained teachers for Ngobi community in

the DR Congo.

946women taught the skills

and knowledge to set up their own businesses thanks to our vocational

training.

3is the number of new partner organisations

we started working with in 2012. Bringing local

know-how, passion and commitment to our

projects.

3external, independent

evaluations of our projects were conducted in 2012.

Helping us to ensure that the work that you support is as good as

it can be.

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Democratic Republic of Congo: 2012 Highlights and challenges

Teacher trainingIn a region that continues to experience isolation and under-investment, our teacher training programme is succeeding in providing teachers, head teachers, parent committees (PTAs) and communities with the skills and knowledge to ensure the children of the Plateau have access to quality basic education.

Teachers are now capable of delivering well-planned lessons using child friendly approaches, head teachers and PTAs collaborate to effectively manage schools and raise awareness of the importance of education in their communities, and

more and more parents are putting their children’s schooling as their top priority.

2012 has seen us focusing on the Minembwe /Itombwe and Marungu High Plateau areas with 432 teachers and 36 school directors trained by our teams this year.

Theatre in Education (TIE) & advocacy Pastor Antoine Munyiginya returned to the DR Congo in May following very successful treatment in the UK for his injuries sustained during the attacks. In the months since, the TIE team have worked

closely with community volunteers, Pastors, customary leaders and a

local theatre group to deliver advocacy sketches in their villages around themes such as children’s rights, girls’ education and women’s participation. This has proven to be an extremely effective way to enable men, women and children to discuss difficult issues openly, resulting in thought-provoking and lively debate.

Following last year’s tragic attacks on staff from our partner organisation Eben-Ezer Ministry International (EMI), this year has seen a remarkable recovery and return to schedule for our education programme on the Plateau region of South Kivu, eastern DR Congo. A key motivating factor in this recovery has been the appreciation of EMI’s work expressed by Plateau communities who, along with their condolences, have been asking EMI to keep on with their work. We would like to commend EMI for the way they have responded to the attack, to deliver such a comprehensive year of work so soon after such a devastating blow is testament to their dedication and belief in our shared cause.

A girl stands next to the toilet blocks at her new school. When building new schools in the DR Congo we ensure that we provide separate male and female toilets. Such simple, basic considerations can have a huge impact on school attendance and retention rates for girls.

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School constructionNgobi Primary School was inaugurated in June and has had an enormously positive impact on the whole community, not only seeing its enrolment increasing from 150 to 269 pupils, but also resulting in a burgeoning local construction industry, a more stable community and a centre for learning in a previously forgotten corner of the Plateau. Children from the area are now able to study in a positive learning environment; the six classrooms are spacious, light, furnished with good quality desks and a large blackboard. Teaching materials are kept safe in the Head Teacher’s office and staff and community members have a place to meet in the community room. A committee has been trained to manage a small grant that will ensure the upkeep and maintenance of the school for the foreseeable future.

Amy Parker Programme Manager

2012 in numbers:432 teachers and 36 head teachers trained to give a quality education.

16,000 children will receive a better quality education as a result of our teacher training in 2012.

1 permanent, weather-proof, durable school built to give 269 children a place to sit and learn in.

318 parents supporting and managing their community schools thanks to our work with PTAs.

If we hadn’t

constructed the school, our village would have

disappeared in search of a good school. EMI’s work has given

value to our area. People are arriving and building and investing.

Stability is here and we are proud.

Pastor Kibuye, Ngobi, on the construction of their new community school.

Proud parents explore Ngobi’s new school on the day of its inauguration. With six bright, spacious classrooms, desks, blackboards and a water-tight roof, the school will nurture Ngobi community for years to come.

Children from Ngobi community. Since their new school was built, enrolment has increased by 79%.

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Focus on Reaching the hardest to reach Children in Crisis and our partners pride ourselves not only on delivering world-class projects to help vulnerable children, but also on reaching the most remote and isolated. But why would we actively choose to work in such difficult places?

In the DR Congo we’re working in the remote high plateau region of South Kivu in the east of the country, where isolated mountain villages are cut-off from basic services, caught between warring rebel factions. In Afghanistan, we work in the face of equally chronic instability and conflict, focusing on

communities most-affected by the devastation and destruction of Afghanistan’s ongoing wars. In Liberia and Sierra Leone, which are now thankfully at peace, we reach out into the furthest and most remote regions such as Kambia in Sierra Leone and River Cess in Liberia, working with ‘forgotten communities’ which were torn apart by conflict and are often cut off from post-conflict recovery and development efforts.

Many of the communities we are working with are so remote and inaccessible no NGO, let alone their under-resourced governments, has ever reached them before. A community member in River Cess, Liberia,

summed it up well when he told us: “no NGO has ever reached us before. We are so happy. Thank you for finding us.”

With no roads leading up to their remote community, Congolese parents carry construction materials by hand to help ensure that a school is built for their children.

Children from the remote Congolese community of Bibokboko, Children in Crisis intends to build a new primary school for these children in 2013.

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Education for allWorking in these settings is extremely challenging, and requires huge commitment and determination. A significant investment of time, resources and energy is given by Children in Crisis and our local partner staff. But it’s not just that we’re willing to go the extra mile to reach these hard to reach communities. We’re adamant we must reach them. Children in Crisis believes that every child has the right to education and protection, no matter where they are. We are committed to ensuring all children receive the education they need for their flourishing and wellbeing and to help transform their lives. Where resources are few, where education is needed to heal the nation, and where it is too remote for others, we are determined to support children to read, write, think, pursue their life goals and contribute positively to their communities and their countries – and this means ALL children, not just those who are easy to reach.

Peace buildingEquitable access to development opportunities is essential for achieving and maintaining peace. Conflict and instability are triggered and exacerbated by inequality, exclusion and discrimination, whether this is in terms of power, participation, voice and recognition, or access to resources and services. This is why we work with those who are hard to reach and who are being excluded and marginalised – not only to ensure fair access to basic rights and services, but also to mitigate the threat and impact of conflict and to promote lasting peace.

The greatest returnsWe also do it because when we get there, the passion and commitment of the community members we meet make the

long and often perilous journey worth every step. Their determination, passion and commitment to make the most of every opportunity or resource provided and work tirelessly to give their children a brighter future means that any investment we make is magnified and has a massive impact. By implementing low-cost, community-led, replicable and scalable approaches in these remote areas, we’re empowering communities to transform their passion and commitment into real and lasting change for their children. So, even if the investment of time, effort and resource we have to make is slightly higher to reach the hardest to reach, the return on that investment is so huge, and the impact on children so great, it’s worth it.

As we move towards a post-2015 (post-Millennium Development Goals) agenda, the focus of the international community is shifting away from reaching as many as can be reached (which often results in agencies targeting those easier to reach with short-term interventions to achieve targets), towards interventions which address inequality and reach the excluded and marginalised. Because development must be inclusive if it is to achieve real and lasting change. Children in Crisis is poised and ready to take on this challenge, and ensure that our interventions create lasting, sustainable change for all children, no matter where they are.

Charlotte Morgan-Fallah Programme Manager

A project vehicle on one of the typical mud roads which must be skilfully negotiated in order to reach communities in the DR Congo, Liberia & Sierra Leone.

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In 2012, we continued to work in collaboration with our experienced and dedicated local partner, FAWE Liberia, to reach remote communities in the rural south eastern county of River Cess. We ventured through forests and across rivers to ensure that even the hardest to reach children receive quality education, and to empower young women who missed out on education by teaching them new skills.

Training teachersTraining teachers is vital to ensure that children are accessing quality education. In post-conflict Liberia, many teachers have little or no formal training and some have not even completed school themselves, so teachers are not always aware of the best teaching methods or how to deliver engaging, child-friendly lessons.

To combat this we are delivering intensive 3-week training to build their teaching skills, followed by mentoring visits to support these teachers in translating their learning into real change in the classroom. During 2012, we continued to mentor the 73 teachers that we trained in 2011, and provided new training to 84 additional teachers. We also trained school principals in how to support their staff and make school a safe place for children. After the training, one of the pupils told us “they teach very well now and treat us as their children.”

Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs)

To ensure the success and sustainability of our work with schools, it is essential to mobilise and build the capacity of PTAs to take a leading role in

improving education for children. In 2012, we trained 345

PTA members from 23 schools in how to plan and deliver

positive changes in their schools and communities. We are especially focusing on empowering female PTA members to become

Liberia: 2012 Highlights and challenges

Now I know that women can make decisions

and play key roles in the PTA. I am going with new knowledge to lead other women in working

to improve the school.

Martha – Parent Teacher Association member.

Members of one of our girls’ clubs supporting each other with their studies. The clubs meet weekly and provide opportunities for girls to discuss and address issues which might force them out of school.

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agents for change in their communities and serve as positive role models for girls.

Empowering girls To encourage girls to stay in school, we are training Girls Club Supervisors and supporting them to establish Girls Clubs within their schools. The clubs meet weekly and provide opportunities for girls to discuss issues such as sexual violence, early pregnancy or pressure to leave school for early marriage – all of which are, sadly, common challenges for girls in Liberia. In 2012, we continued to support 11 Girls Clubs established in 2011, as well as training more Supervisors who established 11 new Girls Clubs.

Vocational training

As well as supporting children to access education, we are also helping women who missed out on education by

teaching them new skills. This year 337 women took part in our Vocational Training Programme, learning new skills such as tailoring, baking and hairdressing, as well as benefitting

from literacy, numeracy and small business skills training. Graduates

received business start-up kits and regular follow-up visits to support them in

using their new skills to improve their lives.

This year has also seen exciting new developments within the project. Based on a detailed Market Analysis conducted in early 2012, we have developed new courses in soap-making and fabric dyeing. We also piloted innovative new outreach courses, taking vocational training directly to women in remote rural communities. Following great success with this pilot (with 60 trainees graduating) we have since rolled out our outreach training to five communities, with 194 women currently in outreach training.

School buildingIn 2012, construction work began on an impressive 9-classroom school in Logan Town, complete with teachers’ lounge, kitchen, library, storeroom, separate latrines for boys and girls and a water point. The new school, due to be completed in early 2013, will provide a child-friendly learning environment for over 400 children.

Charlotte Morgan-Fallah Programme Manager

2012 in numbers:85 teachers were trained to give 3,815 children a quality education.

337 women took part in our Vocational Training Programme.

25 schools were supported by our work.

I sew my

clothes and I make money and if there’s no

food in the house I can provide for the family and I feel proud.

Patience, graduate of our VTC tailoring course, now earning money as a tailor.

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Focus on Community-led projectsPeople improve their own lives. It is not something that you ‘do to them’ or for them. You can give them a hand-up, help them to stand on their own feet, but the lion’s share of the work is done by them, not by others.

A hand-up starts with giving people space to stand back from their busy lives and analyse their own problems. They then use their own knowledge to find solutions that they themselves can deliver. Sometimes this is with, and sometimes without the additional resources you may bring. But people who have thought about their own problems, have set priorities and have achieved something together, are far more confident and inspired to demand their entitlements from local and national government, such as good teachers, schools, health care and support.

Equals not recipientsThe community leads this process because you cannot ask the world’s most vulnerable

and poor people to pursue solutions to problems they have not even identified as priorities; you cannot expect them to take on new risks if they don’t really own the course of action; you cannot ask them to allocate scarce time and resources unless you are prepared to let them negotiate with you for the resources they cannot provide themselves.

You may be familiar with the proverb ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’. Children in Crisis would add ‘if fishing is important, do you have ideas for making it better?’ It could well be that they know perfectly well how to fish but their water is being polluted by mining. Support with campaigning would be the solution.

This is a relationship in which Children in Crisis see ourselves as a resource to the community for the skills, knowledge and support they need to solve their problems. It is a dignified approach that does not treat people as supplicants but as equals,

A family in Kambia, Sierra Leone. Our community-led projects in Kambia get villages working collectively to help the poorer households.

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with valid ideas and suggestions. The result is both practical benefits such as better schools, cleaner water, better nutrition and so on, but also greater resilience, confidence and social relationships to flourish in other challenging contexts and to bring about long-lasting change.

This approach worksChildren in Crisis has engaged one of the world’s leading experts in community-led village planning, Francois Karake of Rwanda, to help our local partner in Sierra Leone to embed this approach within our project work. Francois’ approach involves training two people from the community to lead the planning. They know and are trusted by their neighbours. They are coached to challenge and cajole people to dig down deeply to the causes of their problems. They draw up maps of the village and categorise each household and individual in the household according to their own definitions of poverty. They challenge people to think how they can move away from poverty – because surely if others in the village are doing better, what is it that is stopping them?

They debate and argue over what households need to do to move up the wellbeing ladder, and what the community as a whole needs to do to solve collective problems – like good education for all of their children. The Project Officer of one of our partners in Sierra Leone provides a good example of this. Joseph recently told us that his parents could not read or write and his family struggled to eat one meal a day, whilst other parents in his village were able to send their children to school and to feed them well. Joseph soon realised that the difference between his own family and others was education, and strove to work hard in school to create a better life for himself and his family.

The analysis then enables communities to plan action around the priorities identified. Even in their infancy, our projects in Sierra Leone are demonstrating huge impact. A community group in a village called Laminaya, for example, has mobilised resources to construct a new classroom at the school, without any financial input from Children in Crisis. Other community groups have started vegetable gardens to grow food for school-children and to sell at a profit, which is reinvested into the school, whilst others have cleared playgrounds and attended to essential maintenance work on the school building. The next step is for Children in Crisis to provide further resources which will scale up this impressive collective action.

We are now taking what we’ve learnt in Sierra Leone and applying it to the other countries in which we work. Our new programme in Burundi will be furthering these approaches and we’re excited about the ideas that come from communities there, so watch this space.

When all is said and done, supporting communities to lead the way isn’t just jargon, a ‘new approach to development’, it is treating poor people as human beings, offering them the same respect and dignity as we would anyone else, and appreciating the wealth of knowledge and experience that they bring to the table. We share the same aspirations – a world of opportunity for all. Supporting poor people to find their own voice is our attempt to create an equitable world by treating people equitably.

Co-written by Amanda Jones (Programme Manager) & Koy Thomson (Chief Executive)

A community meets in Kambia to work on solving their collective problems.

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Sierra Leone: 2012 Highlights and challenges 2012 has been an exciting year of new beginnings for Children in Crisis in Sierra Leone.

January saw the launch of a new three-year project funded by UK aid from the UK Government, working alongside 45 communities in three of the most under-resourced chiefdoms in Kambia District. Working with our long-term partner, Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), the project focuses on strengthening the capacity of communities to provide effective education to their children.

Teacher training & community actionIn the first year of the project we have already trained 159 teachers from 24 schools with an intensive 3-week course covering topics such as effective classroom management, child-centred teaching techniques, the use of syllabus materials and more. Furthermore, 12 community

education support (CES) groups have been established, which are mobilising support and resources for their schools from within their communities. A number of these CES groups have implemented actions plans to establish vegetable gardens, the produce of which will be used for the children’s school meals, whilst others have undertaken essential repair and maintenance of school buildings. Notably, one CES group mobilised resources to construct a new classroom for the school, without any financial input from the project or external bodies.

Several adult literacy groups have been formed, which will support parents to learn to read and write, in turn enabling them to understand and support their children’s school work. We are already starting to observe an increase in school enrolment rates and a more in-depth review will take place in 2013 to fully understand the impact our activities are having.

ABCAs well as our work with FAWE, 2012 has

seen Children in Crisis establish an exciting new partnership with ABC

for Development, a well-respected organisation in Kambia. Our work with ABC is initially focusing on four communities in the district, supporting the communities to identify problems they face and

then forming their own plans on how to address them (see pgs. 10-11 for more detail on this community-led approach).

Already, community management committees set up through this approach have each managed a

Zainab Sankoh practices her handwriting. Before coming to our literacy groups Zainab, a mother of four, could not read or write.

Why should

I only help my children with food?

Zainab Sankoh on her motivation for attending our

adult literacy groups.

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financial grant from the project. The grants are being used by the communities to put their plans into action e.g. by paying for repair and maintenance of their schools, buying school uniforms and also establishing small community shops. Profits from the shops will be used to support the schools further and to implement community work in general.

Disability studyThe disability study that was conducted in partnership with Vision for the Blind, Powerful Information and Welfare Society for the Disabled (WESOFOD) in 2011 has been completed. Now that recent national elections have concluded we will shortly be conducting a launch of the report, asking the newly elected officials to pledge action based on our findings.

ChallengesChallenges continue to persist, especially those which are often found when working in remote rural locations. Mobile and internet coverage is sparse and inconsistent, making communication with the project team difficult, whilst other logistical costs, such as fuel rates, continue to fluctuate. Starting a

new partnership in Sierra Leone has brought about welcome challenges, such as those generally associated with establishing a new way of working, which can be seen more as opportunities to learn than barriers to progress.

All in all, this has been a very positive year for Children in Crisis Sierra Leone, as it has for Sierra Leone itself. 2012 saw the country peacefully elect a president and new government. For a nation so recently scarred by civil conflict this is a huge step towards the stability and development that Children in Crisis believes to be the ultimate goal of our work. We will continue to do our upmost to contribute to Sierra Leone’s bright future.

Amanda Jones Programme Manager

Funded by:

2012 in numbers:159 teachers trained to give 6,992 children a quality education.

360 parents joined adult literacy groups, learning to read, write and support their children’s school work.

28 schools were supported by our work.

School children from a community in Kambia being supported by Children in Crisis / FAWE.

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Children in Crisis work with partners in the firm and certain knowledge that together we are stronger.

Many development organisations work with local partners, but the models and approach to partnership vary considerably. The Collins dictionary definition of partnership cited above sits exceptionally well with how Children in Crisis interpret and approach our work in partnership with local organisations and communities from across the globe. Partnership for Children in Crisis is about working collaboratively with others to tackle the complex face of poverty, and to find solutions to some of the most pressing problems affecting the lives and life opportunities of children living in exceptionally tough circumstances. By working with local partners, Children in Crisis does so not as the organisation that holds the monopoly of power and expertise (here to tell partners ‘how it should be done’), but as an organisation that celebrates the unique role, experience and expertise that each

partner brings. We know that by tackling and exploring issues together, the impact of our collective endeavours will be greater than the sum of the parts.

It is a partnership approach that has been especially appreciated by our colleagues from the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) in Liberia and Sierra Leone this year, and it has been hugely motivating and deeply humbling to receive the kind of positive, unsolicited feedback we have from them throughout 2012:

“Since I started working with FAWE I’ve been struck by the different model of partnership Children in Crisis has with us. You hardly find this in any other organisations. Children in Crisis does not only partner with FAWE and come once in a while asking for reports but we realise that we are all doing it together. We are working as a team. This model is very much different – I really admire seeing it at work.”Joseph A. Kamara, Project Officer, FAWE Sierra Leone.

Focus on Working in partnership

part·ner·ship noun'

1. A cooperative relationship between

people or groups who agree to share responsibility for achieving a specific goal;

2. Companionship, connection, cooperation,

fellowship, interest, participation, sharing;

A photo snapped by Children in Crisis’ Amanda Jones of our partners from FAWE Sierra Leone.

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“Right now, I look at this partnership like a marriage, the real meaning of husband and wife. If you want a good marriage, you must have an open and clear line of communication and never leave your partner in doubt – that is what Children in Crisis and FAWE Liberia have.”Winifred Deline, National Coordinator, FAWE Liberia.

It is a partnership approach that is particularly necessary given the complex and challenging countries in which we are working. Aside from the cost and efficiency savings that are made by working with local partners, as opposed to choosing to open offices within countries ourselves (and the associated infrastructure costs that come with that), our partners on the ground have spent years researching the local context. They have an intricate knowledge of the issues and of the communities with whom we work. Their knowledge, experience and understanding are absolutely essential to the design and implementation of programmes that are locally meaningful and relevant. Ultimately, there is a very clear case for working with and alongside local partners. Children in Crisis does it because

it’s about empowering local communities not disempowering them; it’s about working together to meet goals, and there should not be any assumption of Western organisations doing work for people and communities in developing countries – rather it is about doing work with people, communities and locally-based organisations.

To quote a very sage and accomplished associate of Children in Crisis, whose help in supporting the development of our work in Sierra Leone this year has been invaluable:

Sarah Rowse Director of Programmes

part·ner·ship noun'

1. A cooperative relationship between

people or groups who agree to share responsibility for achieving a specific goal;

2. Companionship, connection, cooperation,

fellowship, interest, participation, sharing;

Tell me, and I will forget.

Show me, and I may remember.

Involve me, and I will understand.

Francois Karake

Children in Crisis’ Sarah Jones working alongside Francois Karake and members of ABC for Development, one of our partner organisations in Sierra Leone.

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Out of school childrenChildren in Afghanistan have responsibilities.Young boys are expected to work to supplement their families’ income, young girls are responsible for all household chores. Education is therefore an unlikely prospect for many young people growing up in Afghanistan. 40% of the country’s school-age children remain out of school.

This year, Children in Crisis has made changes to our successful community education programme by committing to work with the

same communities for three years. There are currently over 300 children attending accelerated learning classes in five centres (CBECs) in Kabul, receiving a full

primary school education in three years before being integrated into government school. We are taking a whole community approach to educational provision by also providing the mothers and older sisters of CBEC pupils with literacy and tailoring classes, encouragingly attended by 997 women in 2012.

Protecting the rights of childrenAfghanistan has been in a state of conflict for the past three decades. This persistent exposure to violence has pervaded all levels of society. Schools are no exception; teachers and older children frequently use violent methods to discipline. During 2012, Children in Crisis trained 443 teachers and 74 police officers in child rights in the context of Islam and positive discipline, and is now focussing on raising awareness within the community

from mothers to religious and community leaders.

An external evaluation of this project was conducted in October. It found that ‘the training is appreciated by the overwhelming majority of participants’, and that the training, ‘is for many participants a new and different perspective view of children’.

Afghanistan: 2012 Highlights and challengesKeeping true to our commitment to bring long-lasting, sustainable change to communities, our work in Afghanistan in 2012 has focussed on developing community-level change across ten provinces of the country. After fifteen years of work in Afghanistan, we have developed government-level relationships at a provincial and national level, but this work is only ever as good as the change it brings to the day-to-day lives of children within their families and communities.

Students of Tani Kot CBEC in Kabul. Our new 3-year commitment to communities means that CBEC students will now get a full primary school education through accelerated learning.

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Protecting the most vulnerable childrenThis year we conducted a nationwide assessment of residential care. This research was born out of our belief that the best place for a child to be raised is at home, and that wherever possible and where safe for a child, a solution to any problems they face should be found within a child’s community. The study focussed on forty-four state and private orphanages across six provinces where a total of 7,235 children are attending or residing. The results of this assessment are currently being compiled and a report will be available to share in early 2013.

In addition to this research project, Children in Crisis has held consultations in six provinces to allow community members to identify child protection issues and work together to address them. The most commonly raised issues were early marriage and the treatment of children in conflict with the law. At present there are over 200 children residing in the juvenile rehabilitation centre in Kabul, a facility designed for just

60. Within these communities we have also been working with community members and juvenile justice professionals to get their opinions on suitable punishments for common minor crimes committed by children. This will provide judges with

alternative sentences, helping to avoid the needless and damaging detention of children.

Behind the international news

headlines on Afghanistan, our staff are working day-in, day-out making small changes in children’s lives that bring big changes to the nation of Afghanistan. We believe in a positive future for Afghanistan and want to be there to help shape it.

Bethan Williams Programme Manager

A girl stands at the front of the class at her CBEC.

Our work in Afghanistan also supports older girls and women, giving them literacy and tailoring classes. Usually the first education or training they will have ever received.

Project funded by the European Union

2012 in numbers:5 new community based education centres (CBECs) opened.

300 children enrolled in CBECs to receive a full primary school education in 3 years.

997 women, most of who had never been to school, attended literacy and tailoring classes at our CBECs.

443 teachers and 74 police officers trained in child protection and child rights.

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The DR Congo, Afghanistan, Liberia and Sierra Leone are all embroiled in, or emerging from extreme violence and extensive upheaval due to long-term warfare. In all four cases, the primary victims of conflict are civilians; men, women, boys and girls. Hundreds and thousands have lost loved ones, seen unimaginable horrors, been forced to take part in violent acts and have had to flee their homes to save their lives. Such experiences have long-term, devastating effects on their lives and those of their friends and families; innocence is lost, stigma is rife, dignity is no more and violence is normalised.

Ethnic conflictEthnic prejudices are at the root of conflict in both DR Congo and Afghanistan. In DR Congo, the tension between ethnic communities is a result of decades of a ‘divide and rule’ approach adopted by high ranking politicians, and a society rooted in rumours and speculation. The brutality of government, foreign and tribal militia forces, and the use of pillaging, rape, torture and killing as weapons to humiliate and control people by all sides has led not only to the normalisation of violence, but also to the erasing of the line between ‘protector’ and ‘enemy’. Consequently, a tribally rich area is characterised by the different ethnic groups isolating themselves in single-community villages, harbouring deep mistrust and resentment for their neighbours.

Classrooms, school children, peace-buildersChildren in Crisis works hard to draw communities together to collaborate for the benefit of their children. Schools are built to serve mixed tribal areas and all members of

the community contribute time and effort to the construction process; teachers from all ethnicities are trained together and for many this is the first time they have sat next to and eaten with colleagues from different backgrounds; teachers are taught games to play with children to encourage boys and girls from all communities to spend time together. In Afghanistan, teachers taking part in our Child Rights Project have admitted to previously discriminating between children from different ethnic groups; now they are considerate to all children. Another real achievement for our projects is how our partner staff, who come from many different communities, work together and discuss issues relating to conflict together in an open environment and help each other out with unknown language and customs. The examples that they set are witnessed by the children and communities that we work with.

To be a girlWithin all the countries that we work, the impact of conflict on women and girls is compounded by very traditional and conservative patriarchal cultures resulting in them finding themselves in a state of continual disempowerment; uneducated,

Focus on Breaking the cycle of violence

We can achieve

peace by chasing the soldiers away, bringing in actions of development and creating a climate of

love and acceptance.

Denise Neemah, 11 years, Gitigarawa Primary School,

eastern DR Congo.

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voiceless and at risk of being subjected to violence on every level. In Sierra Leone and Liberia, the ancient cultural rituals of initiation into womanhood are embodied in the brutal practice of female genital cutting and learning to be a proper woman; submissive, obedient and at home. On the Plateau region of eastern DR Congo, the complexity of the conflict-poverty context and communities’ response can be seen in the nature of early and forced marriages; if a girl is raped, then parents will often force her to marry her attacker since she is now regarded as tarnished and un-marriageable. Because of a misguided belief that mainly unmarried virgin girls are targeted by armed groups, parents arrange marriage as soon as girls reach adolescence, taking them out of school and into womanhood before they’ve had a chance to learn, grow and show their inner potential.

From the top downAll of Children in Crisis’ programmes fight against these denials of opportunities and life chances. We are advocating on behalf of girls and their right to stay in school, we are making

schools safer for those girls who are already studying and we are promoting vocational learning for those women who were denied an education. All the while we are talking with men and boys about respect for and the rights of women and girls, and by working with religious and customary leaders we ensure that our initiatives are accepted and promoted by the most influential members of the communities with whom we work.

The men, women and children we work with are so often caught up in cycles of violence – where experience of physical and emotional trauma leads to bleak future prospects and a greater likelihood of continued violence. Working together with communities to help them self-diagnose, prioritise and access opportunities – education, gainful employment and rights – creates the foundation needed to break these cycles of violence and to build a positive, peaceful future for generations to come.

Amy Parker Programmes Manager

In Afghanistan we work with teachers, community leaders and parents, promoting non-harmful means of disciplining children. This work is based on teachings from the Koran, making the messages more relevant and acceptable.

Our focus on bringing girls into school means that from an early age girls and boys work together and learn to value and respect each other.

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Here, our sister organisation gives an update on their work in 2012, including a soon to be completed school building project in which Children in Crisis Italy & UK are collaborating.

Liberia: reaching out to the most remote communities. Following a joint Children in Crisis Italy – Children in Crisis UK programme visit to Liberia in 2011, Children in Crisis Italy committed to supporting the school reconstruction programme in this country. We organised our first fundraising campaign at national level within Italy, with text message donations collected from over 25,000 supporters. These funds are being used for the construction of a new school at Logan Town, River Cess County, in partnership with Children in Crisis UK and FAWE Liberia. The new school will be completed in early 2013 and will offer a sound learning environment for pre-school, primary and lower secondary school children. The school will serve six communities in one of the poorest and most remote areas of the country.

Tanzania: opportunities for the most vulnerable. Girls growing up in rural areas of Tanzania are the most marginalised from educational opportunities.

In a country in which 67.9% of the population lives below the poverty line (1.25 $ PPP), girls in particular face extremely difficult futures. Despite primary school attendance rates close to 100%, secondary school attendance is generally very low with only 23% reaching the end of the O level cycle and as few as 5% accessing A levels, of these, only 37% are girls.

Whilst the unsatisfactory state of school structures is limiting, economic difficulties and cultural traditions represent the major barriers to education. Disadvantages tend to be cumulative and, in particular, it is girls in conditions of poverty in rural areas who are the most excluded. The programme of our local partner, FAWE Tanzania, is directed particularly at them.

In 2012, our bursary programme offered 155 girls the opportunity to study at secondary school, covering all expenses, from tuition

Children in Crisis Italy

A Science demonstration at JJ Mungai Secondary School COE, Tanzania. Girls are encouraged to study Maths, Science and Technology to promote equality.

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fees to boarding costs. We also intervened in three schools, vastly improving the living and studying environment. A new water well with electric-driven pump was constructed at Mgugu Secondary School providing running water for the first time. PCs and books were also supplied for all of the school’s students. At Lufilyo secondary school, sanitary facilities were built and the construction of a dining-hall is currently underway. The building of a school library at JJ Mungai Secondary School has commenced, and will soon offer the first-ever library service in the town of Mafinga, to benefit schools in the area as well as the local community.

Access to books is a specific request from the students as they cannot possibly afford spending the shillings necessary for their purchase and are forced to share as little as a single textbook within a whole class. The improvements carried out in the three schools are having a direct impact on the education of 2,100 students.

Ecuador: breaking family violence and child exploitation. The on-going support of Children in Crisis Italy to the street-working children programme of local NGO Fundación Juconi in Ecuador has continued in 2012, thanks to the generosity of our child-sponsors. Fundación Juconi works in the barrios of Guayaquil providing innovative, therapeutic services to working children and their families, with the ultimate goal of eradicating child labour and violence within the family. We have supported over 200 children with 46 currently within our child sponsorship scheme lasting on average 4 years.

Italy: music as a universal language for social integration. Playing music as a group within a symphony orchestra has an extraordinary capacity to involve young people and promote participation, integration and teamwork. This is amply demonstrated by the Venezuelan system of youth orchestras El Sistema originally created in the 1970s, currently involving 250,000 youths all over the country. Children in Crisis Italy’s programme Pepita Youth Orchestra, is inspired by El Sistema and involves youths from 9 to 18 years of age from deprived suburban areas of Milan. The programme has been running for three years, with on average 90 participants per year.

The programmes of Children in Crisis Italy are entirely financed by the donations of our supporters ; fund-raising events have been an important part of our work. We are particularly proud of the events organised in 2012, which have included exclusive visits to two extraordinary art museums in Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera and Gallerie d’Italia, participation in the Milan City marathon and our first national mobile text message campaign with television and radio coverage. We would like to thank all of our supporters and corporate sponsors for their generosity.

Children in Crisis Italy onlus Presidente: Barbara Bianchi Bonomi Vicepresidente: Silvana Lauria

Students at Lufilyo Secondary School COE. In rural contexts in Tanzania, secondary school enrolment for girls is only 7% with only 1% completing O levels.

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We couldn’t do it without them.The work of Children in Crisis is boosted immeasurably by volunteers and pro-bono work. Here we’d like to thank some of the incredibly generous people and organisations who gave their time, skills and energy, helping Children in Crisis achieve that much more in 2012.

ANVIL provided us with pro-bono support to install a Travel Risk Information System (TRIS) and Employee Travel Monitoring System. TRIS sends us travel and security alerts, helping to keep our staff safe and secure when they’re visiting our projects.

Our City and Get Quizzical volunteer committees gave hours of their time after work and in the evenings to help organise fantastic fundraising events for Children in Crisis.

Michael Toyne and Kevin O’Leary aka Risk Angels, gave Children in Crisis free security training, improving the safety and security of our staff on the ground.

New Digital Partnership gave Children in Crisis pro-bono website hosting, design and development services. They have now given us 3 beautiful websites since 2008.

Professor James Thompson of In Place of War continued, as he has since 2010, to provide Children in Crisis and EMI with free training support and advice on the use of community theatre in our projects. His knowledge and expertise immeasurably strengthens our advocacy work which focuses on empowering girls and women in the DR Congo.

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This page represents just a sample of the wonderful people who gave their energy and support to Children in Crisis in 2012. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who gave a helping hand. If you feel that you could help us with voluntary or pro-bono support in 2013, please get in touch: info@childrenincrisis.org / 020 7627 1040. Or, take a look at the next couple of pages...

BMI Alexandra Hospital provided pioneering surgery and post-operative care free of charge to Antoine, a dear friend and colleague whose elbow had been shattered by gun-shot wounds during the devastating attack on our partner staff in the DR Congo. Our thanks once again to Waseem Sayeed, Adam Watts, Philip O’Ehley, Holly Coad and all staff at BMI Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle for their amazing generosity and care of Antoine.

Four interns brought energy, ideas and enthusiasm to our London office. Our thanks to Chris, Jess, Melita and Aasima, we know that they all have bright futures ahead of them.

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All of the work that you have read about in this annual review was only possible thanks to the thoughtful, generous donations that Children in Crisis received in 2011/12.

To everyone who donated regular gifts and those who gave online, over the telephone or by a cheque in the post. To all of the guests who attended our special events, and the celebrities who helped us raise our voice. To the teachers and students of the schools across the country who reached out to help school children thousands of miles away. To our incredible teams of runners and cyclists, and the stars who just got out there with a collection tin or a cake sale. To all of the businesses, trusts and foundations who partnered with us in our work. To everyone who gave what they could.

Thank you.

To our supporters

The full Annual Report and Financial Statements are available from www.childrenincrisis.org/about-us/financial-information

Donations £685,190 30%

Events £185,141 8%

Challenges £171,314 7%

Grants £623,305 27%

Contracts £655,871 28%

£2,320,821

Cost of generating funds £498,154 23%

Afghanistan £646,741 30%

Other programmes £105,001 5%

Democratic Republic of Congo £443,505 21%

Liberia £289,813 13%

Sierra Leone £132,331 6%

Governance £35,817 2%

£2,151,362

How you gave in 2011/12ExpenditureIncome

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A M Perry Charitable Foundation

Allergan International Foundation

Argus Media Ltd

Barclays Bank PLC

Baring Foundation

BGC Partners

Bliss Family Charity

Bloomberg

Blue Door Foundation

BP Foundation

British and Foreign School Society

Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust

Ceniarth Foundation

Child Protection UK Ltd

Chillag Family Charitable Trust

Chi-X Europe LTD

Clark Charitable Trust

Claviga

CMS Cameron McKenna

Comic Relief

Concept Business Group

Dennis Alan Yardy Charitable Trust

Donald Forrester Trust

Dorothy Howard Charitable Trust

Environmental Business Products

Equiduct Systems Ltd

European Council on Refugees and Exiles

European Union

Evan Cornish Foundation

Fulmer Charitable Trust

German Embassy, Kabul

GICM Limited

Gilbert and Eileen Edgar Foundation

Grendon Design Agency Ltd

Harbour & Jones

Hugh (Robin) Stevens Charity

Ian Askew Trust

Instinet Europe Ltd

Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales

Institute of Physics

J.P. Morgan

Jersey Overseas Aid Commission

John Ellerman Foundation

Lewis Ward Trust

Linda Norgrove Foundation

M.A.C Energy Building Services

M3 Consulting

Madeline Mabey Trust

Maidenwell Charitable Trust

Marr-Munning Trust

Mary Heap Charitable Trust

Medicor Foundation

Ministry of Youth and Sports, Government of Liberia

Miss E M Sage Charitable trust

Miss J K Stirrup Charity Trust

Mondo Visione Exchange Forum

N J Thornton Foundation

Navnat Vanik Association of the UK

Oakdale Trust

Ogier

Paget Trust

Pamela Barlow Charitable Trust

Pearson Management Services Limited

Peter Foden Family Trust

Planet Wheeler Foundation

PomeGreat

Reed Elsevier

Reed Foundation

Reuben Foundation

Rhododendron Trust

RPMI (Railway Pensions)

S L F Charitable Trust

Sanne Charitable Trust

Sants Charitable Trust

Sarina Russo Job Access

Sir James Roll Charitable Trust

St Martin de Porres Foundation

Streets Consulting

TDM Group

Thames Wharf Charity Ltd

Turing Foundation

UBS Optimus Foundation

UK AID

UNICEF

Usborne Publishing Ltd

Vitol Charitable Foundation

WGH Lowe Charitable Trust

World Bank

World Vision Afghanistan

Zochonis Charitable Trust

Children in Crisis would like to thank the businesses, charitable trusts, foundations and organisations who supported our work in 2011/12:

Some special mentions

Thank you!

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Our projects reach thousands of children and hundreds of communities a year, but we need to do more. Our model of working is proving to be incredibly successful, but we need to expand it. Our partnerships are training and supporting some of the most passionate local organisations, but we need to reach more of them. We know that our projects make a huge difference and we consider it our duty to bring our approach to as many of them as we can, because we are

in a position to help them get the education they deserve.

Of course we cannot continue our work without funding and are proud to receive support from a wide variety of sources, public and private, large and small. If you don’t currently support us, but are interested in the work we do please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. 2013 is going to be a great year for Children in Crisis and we would love you to be a part of that.

We need to do moreEvery year we learn from our experiences. Working in some of the most challenging environments in the world these lessons are often difficult, but they always make us stronger, and more able to help the communities we work with. Stronger project work means better results for the communities we work with, and that is our goal.

Children from a Batwa pygmy community in Burundi.

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Our plans for 2013In 2013 we will be continuing our work in Afghanistan, DR Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia, while also looking to begin working with the marginalised Batwa pygmy communities in Burundi.

In Afghanistan we will be continuing our holistic approach to improving children’s access to safe, effective education while ensuring that they cannot be exploited or abused. We are setting up social worker networks, delivering child rights training to police and teachers and running Community Based Education Centres, all geared towards making sure children are safe, educated and provided for. We are currently looking for funding partners to work with us on our ambitious plans for the next three years, a period of great change for Afghanistan.

Our commitment to the communities of the mid and high Plateau in eastern DR Congo will continue as we look to rebuild schools that have fallen into disrepair as a result of years of under investment and conflict. School building here has had a huge impact, not only to the education of the children who attend them, but also in attracting the attention of the government, showing them that the plateau is not a lost cause.

We will be continuing with our current programmes, improving the standard of education in some of the most remote and isolated communities of rural Sierra Leone and Liberia, where the majority of teachers are untrained and have no government support. We will also be looking to expand the operations out of our Vocational Training Centre in River Cess, Liberia, to cover the entire county, rolling out our incredibly successful vocational training outreach model, improving livelihoods and food security for thousands of women who are currently unable to send their children to school because of their situation.

In Burundi we will be looking to reach Batwa pygmy communities, who have found themselves marginalised and impoverished by government restrictions which have brought an end to their nomadic lifestyle. These changes have left them poorly housed, unable to earn a livelihood and therefore unable to support their children in their education. We are working with the communities to identify an appropriate response to their needs, ensuring that whatever the solution, they are at the heart of its design and implementation.

A sample of our targets for 2013:

Train 761 teachers in DR Congo, Sierra Leone & Liberia.

Build 3 schools in the remote South Kivu Plateau of DR Congo.

Bring 300 children through grades 3 & 4 in Afghanistan.

Launch a three-year project to teach vocational skills to 3,000 women in Liberia.

Work with 2,559 parents in Afghanistan as part of our social worker & child protection projects.

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Your challenge:As Children in Crisis’ Fundraising Team will tell you, there’s nothing quite like cheering on our marathon runners or cycle riders and witnessing the emotion and pride pour out of friends or family as their loved one passes mile 19, or sprints across the finish line. Whether as a lone ranger or as part of a team of friends & colleagues, the experience of completing a challenge for Children in Crisis is one that you won’t forget. Sign up and change lives.

Good company:Whether you’re an employee or business owner, you can get your company involved with our work. Rally your colleagues to form a challenge team or arrange for everyone to donate just an hour’s pay a month by payroll giving. Engage with your customers

and increase sales with a donation pledged for every product or service sold. Make a Christmas collection or help sponsor a whole project. However your organisation wants to help, we’ll make sure that you see the benefits at your workplace, with a better motivated team and some corporate responsibility to be truly proud of.

A gift given in kind:Increasingly we’re seeing selfless generosity from people who, rather than accepting gifts on special occasions such as birthdays, weddings or religious festivals instead ask for gifts to be given to Children in Crisis. Forego the flowers on the special day or save your loves ones the head-scratching over gift ideas and you’ll find people can be wonderfully generous in your name. Put Children in Crisis at the top of that list.

You in 2013

With our emphasis on ensuring that children receive a quality primary school education, Children in Crisis brings positive, sustainable change where it’s needed most. There’s so much more that we can do in 2013. Here’s how you can help...

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Your charitable trust:As you know, private charitable trusts and foundations vary enormously in size, from those whose donations fund entire school building projects, to those who help to provide the desk and chairs. Our approach means a gift of almost any size can play a significant part in improving access to quality education for the communities we work with. To learn more about the specific communities, projects or country programmes that you could support, contact our Trusts team: trusts@childrenincrisis.org.

Your Will:A small percentage left to Children in Crisis in your Will can make a huge difference to the children and communities we work with. With your legacy we can build new primary schools, train better teachers and give future generations an incomparably better start in life. Rest assured that we will respect your right to privacy in making such a personal decision, but will be happy to invite you in to our offices should you wish to learn more about the cause you would be supporting.

To find out more about these and the many other ways you can help Children in Crisis in 2013 Call our fundraising team on 020 7627 1040

Email us on info@childrenincrisis.org

www.childrenincrisis.org

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Children in Crisis UK206 - 208 Stewart’s Rd, London, SW8 4UBT: (+44) 020 7627 1040 E: info@childrenincrisis.orgwww.childrenincrisis.org

Children in Crisis ItalyForo Buonaparte 76, 20121 Milano, ItalyT: (+39) 0289096744 / 0272094645www.childrenincrisis.it

Founder and Life President: Sarah, Duchess of York / Registered office as above / Registered charity No. 1020488. / Company No. 2815817

Children in Crisis protects and educates children facing the toughest hardships in countries affected by conflict or political instability.

The Baring Foundation, in our joint programme with The John Ellerman Foundation, has twice provided Children in Crisis with funding to support their work in a very remote part of the eastern DR Congo. As a Foundation, we aim to support work that forges and strengthens partnerships between UK and African NGOs. Our programme of funding is heavily oversubscribed with around seven out of eight applicants sadly being declined funding from us. For an

organisation to receive funding twice, as Children in Crisis has, is a rare occurrence indeed.

There were a number of reasons that we decided to continue to support the work of Children in Crisis. Firstly they had produced strong, tangible improvements for the children, families, schools and communities of the eastern DR Congo. Secondly, we sensed the deep nature of their partnership with these local communities, even when tested by the greatest adversity imaginable. Thirdly, the independent external evaluation of their work which we funded, proved their strong commitment to learning and improving as an organisation.

David Cutler Director, The Baring Foundation

Why we support Children in Crisis

Children in Crisis Programme Manager Amy Parker chats with a boy from Tulambo in the eastern DR Congo. His community is one of the many which have benefited from our programme of teacher training, funded by The Baring Foundation.