"[Humanity] owes the child the best that it has to give..."
Our founder, Eglantyne Jebb wrote these words in the introduction to the very first version of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1923.
Over a century later, the world is still struggling to give children everything they need, including supporting them to fully access the rights Jebb laid out in the Declaration, along with its later version, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
This World Children’s Day, we are sharing the unique stories and experiences of three children who are living through conflict and crisis – to help you learn more about what we must do to support them and their futures.
* Names changes to protect identities
“I was happy that children also had a voice in a place where adults were present.” – Nelishan*, 12, Türkiye
-walks-to-her-container-ch11162271.webp/e86brht752kxowv2ut34hk18sdba1s62.jpg?g=0.5x0.33&w=2562&format=webp&itok=EP2fAUvN "CH11162271_Neslihan(12) walks to her container")
Neslihan attended this MHPSS activity to mark International Day of the Girl. Neslihan*, 12, and her family relocated to the container city following the devastating earthquakes in February 2023. Through Save the Children's Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) activities, she received the emotional and mental support she needed, and she also learned about child rights. She was elected to present the group's proposals to the leadership committee of the container city including creating a bike lane to prevent accidents, and establishing new sports courses.
Neslihan,12, and her family relocated to the container city following the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye in February 2023.
As she continues her studies as a 7th grader, Neslihan is also preparing for the high school entrance exams, loves painting, hanging out with her friends, balancing her academic life with efforts to rebuild a sense of normalcy in the aftermath of the earthquakes.
One of the key factors contributing to her resilience has been her involvement in Save the Children’s Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) activities. Through these sessions, Neslihan not only received the emotional and mental support needed during such challenging times, but she also found a space to enhance her well-being and strengthen her coping mechanisms.
Neslihan attended an 8-session MHPSS activities, including one particularly impactful session on child rights. During the discussions, it became apparent that many of the children, including Neslihan, had limited understanding of their right to have a say in decisions that affect them. This led to an extended initiative where, over the course of four additional sessions about child participation, children voluntarily participated in discussions about governance and decision-making processes.
“I felt happy during this process because I was glad to see that my ideas were valued as a child and that I was being listened [to],” Neslihan says.
This initiative has shown the children that they are not just passive observers but active contributors to their community, with the power to influence change. For Neslihan, being heard and respected as a young leader was a vital step in her post-disaster recovery, helping her regain a sense of control and purpose in her life.
“I believe the voice of the children should reach... officials because children suffer the most.” – Asaad, 13, Sudan
13-year old Asaad is an advocate for children affected by climate change all around the world. And he has a very personal motivation to make a difference. In 2021, devastating floods washed through Asaad’s home in Sudan, causing injuries, deaths and stopping children like him from going to school. As a result, Asaad’s family felt they had no choice but to leave Sudan for Cairo, Egypt where he now lives . With Save the Children’s support, Asaad travelled to COP 27 to tell his story and call on world leaders to take urgent climate action for children. Although sharing his story wasn’t easy, Asaad felt he had to tell it so that leaders find solutions so that children don’t suffer. Now, he wants to go back to COP again to continue standing up for children. Asaad is also looking forward to the future and is working hard to achieve his dreams of becoming a footballer like Kylian Mbappé, and studying hard so he can also be an engineer, doctor or pilot when he grows up.
Asaad, 13, is an advocate for children affected by climate change all around the world. And he has a very personal motivation to make a difference. In 2021, devastating floods washed through Asaad’s home in Sudan, causing injuries, deaths and stopping children like him from going to school. Because of the floods, Asaad’s family felt they had no choice but to leave Sudan for Cairo, Egypt where he now lives.
With Save the Children’s support, Asaad travelled to COP 27 to tell his story and call on world leaders to take urgent climate action for children. Although sharing his story wasn’t easy, Asaad felt he had to tell it so that leaders find solutions so that children don’t suffer. Now, he wants to go back to COP again to continue standing up for children.
“If I were a leader, I would listen attentively to the decisions of the children. I would give the children their full rights, and allow them to participate in everything, and I would organize activities for them,” Asaad says. “Because many children suffer from depression because of many things such as not going to school, not having hospitals, and not being able to play.”
Asaad is looking forward to the future and is working hard to achieve his dreams of becoming a footballer like Kylian Mbappé and studying hard so he can also be an engineer, doctor or pilot when he grows up.
“It’s very difficult to understand that my whole childhood was there...” – Sofia*, 16, Ukraine
16-year-old Sofia* can remember when the armed conflict was happening in her Eastern Ukraine village eight years ago. After hiding in shelters for several days last February, Sofia* asked volunteers to extract her as well as other children from the same village due to consistent shelling. At first, the group traveled to Kharkiv. Soon after, they fled to a village in Western Ukraine. Currently, this is where Sofia* lives in a house with her primary caregiver – her grandmother – and a cat. They share the only heated room in the house due to the cold weather. In May, Sofia* found out that her family’s house in Eastern Ukraine had been destroyed. She received photos of a pile of rubble – no walls and only stones. Afterwards, Sofia* was told that her father had been killed when the family’s house had been hit. The next day, she found out that – although he had been injured in the explosion – her father was alive. Sofia*s mother, however, has been missing for eight months. As a result, the 16-year-old teenager filed a document with the police stating that her mother is a missing person. In Western Ukraine, Sofia* helps internally displaced people at a humanitarian aid point. She works at a registration desk handing out humanitarian aid such as hygiene items and household goods. In addition, she attends school as an eleventh grader. At first, Sofia* didn’t want to make friends at school in Western Ukraine. She thought that nobody would understand everything that she had gone through. Eventually, however, she made friends and hangs out with them often. In her spare time, Sofia* enjoys doing make-up for girls as well as practicing fire shows. Both activities relieve stress for Sofia*, providing a sense of calmness when the 16-year-old teenager is anxious or worried. Sofia* will be taking her graduation exams this year. Looking forward, she wants to go to university of journalism. More than anything, however, Sofia* wants to locate her mother. She wants to know that her mother is alive. Sofia* participated in our School Safety Committees project that Save the Children organised with the support of our partners in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The children living and studying close to the contact line worked in groups to develop projects to improve their schools. Alongside her classmates, Sofia* implemented a successful project and installed cameras in their school to increase its safety. They had much more planned ahead, however, due to the escalation of the war, they weren’t able to finalise some projects. For example, the project on the installation of a fence and sports ground. Several months before the escalation, Sofia* along with other active children from the School Safety Committees attended our two-day Advocacy training. The purpose of said training was to create a pool of children advocates for further cooperation with Save the Children in Ukraine, including the collaborative work on our Advocacy Strategy / Advocacy Plan. During this training, Sofia* and other children discussed examples of child participation and opportunities for advocacy. Throughout this process, they shared their own problems and talked about the problems of children from other countries. Further on, Sofia* had a chance to implement her knowledge in practice. She took part in consultations with the United States government on gender-based violence and helped to influence the United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence. Sofia* spoke up about psychological violence and its impacts on mental health. Recently, Sofia* was registered for our cash assistance. She and her grandmother will use this cash assistance to pay for the utilities of the house that they’re living in. This will be helpful as during the winter months utility prices are particularly high. In addition, Sofia* would benefit from buying clothes using this cash assistance because everything she owned was destroyed with her house. Sofia* and her grandmother would benefit from buying some medications and food as well.
Sofia, 16, can remember when the armed conflict was happening in her Eastern Ukraine village eight years ago. After hiding in shelters for several days last February, Sofia asked volunteers to help her – as well as other children from the same village – leave the area, due to the consistent shelling. Now Sofia lives in a village in Western Ukraine, with her grandmother and her cat, where she and her grandmother share the only heated room in the house due to the cold weather.
Everyday Sofia helps other internally displaced people at a humanitarian aid point, working at a registration desk to hand out humanitarian aid such as hygiene items and household goods. Additionally, she attends school as an eleventh grader, where at first, she didn’t want to make friends, believing that no one would understand what she is going through.
Prior to the escalation in the conflict, Sofia participated in Save the Children’s School Safety Committees project that Save the Children organized with the support of our partners in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
Sofia also had a chance to implement her knowledge in practice when she took part in consultations with the United States government on gender-based violence.
“Be yourself and do what you like, not what you are forced to do. If you like to draw, draw. If you like something else – do it,” Sofia says. “[I]t seems to me, even in this war, it’ll be very useful. Those children who draw can be great architects, who will be able to rebuild everything after this war.”
Help support children like Neslihan, Asaad, and Sofia who are living through conflict and crisis. Donate today.
