Campaigning for change
We campaign because we’re outraged that millions of children are still denied proper healthcare, food, education and protection.
Latest: 20,000 people Make their Mark at Glastonbury
This weekend 20,000 festival goers at Glastonbury have made their mark in support of our biggest ever campaign to save children's lives.
They were joined by celebrities, like Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand, Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine, K T Tunstall (left), Jack Peñate, Tinchy Stryder, The View and Graham Coxon from Blur all gave us their thumbprints in support of our Make Your Mark petition. They were joined by Keith Allen, Jodie Harsh, Pixie Geldof and presenters Reggie Yates, Andrew Marr, Nick Grimshaw and Dick and Dom. Read more.
150,000 people across Africa and the UK join our global movement to stop children dying
On 16 June, the Day of the African Child, over 150,000 children, parents, teachers, students, MPs and presidents 'Made their Mark' to support our biggest-ever global campaign to stop children dying from easily preventable diseases. See some of the pictures below.
The band Athlete and TV Presenters Matt Willis and Lauren Laverne also 'Made their Mark' in support of the campaign. See their pictures and videos here.
Children from Witsieshoek primary school in Qwa Qwa, South Africa showing their support for the campaign.
Palesa, 13, part of the same class in Qwa Qwa, South Africa also makes her mark. She says communities should start vegetable gardens and food schemes at school, such as soup kitchens, with the support of the municipality and the government to make things better for children in South Africa.
Twins Nthabeleng and Nthabiseng, aged nine, in Qwa Qwa, South Africa, show their thumb prints, having already made their mark.
Lesedi, six, one of the youngest members of the class in in Qwa Qwa, South Africa.
Musu marches with hundreds of other children in Freetown, Sierra Leone asking the government to pay for doctors and nurses.
"Making my mark today is for remembering our friends who died," said Musu. "There are sick people in my community, sick from diseases like malaria. There is no clean drinking water. This needs to change."
"Making my mark today means being part of the Day of the African child," said Foday, 15, who joined Musu in making his mark in Sierra Leone. "I've heard the Minister’s speech and am telling him: 'Our water is poor. Please let us have pure water to drink. Tell the city council to clean our community so we can prevent sickness.'"
Mariama, 13, campaining with Foday and Musu in Sierra Leone said, "The biggest health problems in our county are typhoid and malaria. Making my mark today is about our rights, and being here empowers us to know our rights better."
Hundreds of children took part in a parade through the streets of Abuja, Nigeria to take their messages to the coutry's First Lady.
The First Lady of Nigeria pledged her ongoing commitment to reducing the number of child deaths in her country on the Day of the African child.
"I'm excited that the Nigerian government has acknowledged the campaign and I'm joyful to part of it," said Mathiew, 17, at the parade in Abuja, Nigeria. For him polio is one of the big health problems because many children have died from it. He thinks the Ministry of Health can help by providing good medical care across the country.
In London, Libby Rees, Save the Children's youth ambassador, makes her mark at the campaign launch in Victoria Gardens.
Libby Rees was joined by politicians from across the UK, who made their mark in support of the campaign. Left to right, Annette Brooke MP, Hillary Armstrong MP, Libby Rees, SC Youth Ambassador, and John Battle MP.
Law student Nkechi Kiki Oyemhen makes her mark with her local MP John Battle.
Even passing policemen left their fingerprints in support for the campaign!
Campaign successes
We took demands from children and young people all round the world straight to Gordon Brown. Jasmine Whitbread, our Chief Executive, introduced Gordon Brown to our fantastic Global Children's Charter. We need lots of you to sign up and show your support now. We want Gordon Brown to see that young people in the UK and around the world want leaders to build a fairer world.
At the beginning of February, the "Knit One, Save One" campaign was launched in Egypt with the distribution of 20,000 woolly hats knitted by people in the UK. The hats were distributed by health units in the poorest areas of Egypt. A small label was sewn into each hat with a message to mothers about the importance of breast feeding.
On Tuesday (10 February), four youth campaigners delvered a giant birthday card to No.10 Downing Street representing the 14,000 fifth birthday cards we have collected from our supporters. The cards had personal messages from our campaigners demanding that Gordon Brown helps to stop millions of children dying before their fifth birthday. You can add your support to these messages by designing your very own fifth birthday card online today.
Thank you so much to all who joined our call for a lasting ceasefire and an immediate end to the suffering in Gaza. Over 200,000 of you added your voice to our campaign. Your actions really made a difference. Gordon Brown heard YOUR voices and he played a leading role in pushing for the ceasefire. The UK government also pledged £20 million in humanitarian aid. Campaigning plays a vital role in the work that we do to change children's lives. Please continue to add your voice to our campaigns.
50,000 knitters successfully inspired the Prime Minister with 700,000 hats and 40,000 messages asking him to make saving children's lives a top priority. The messages were handed in by Save the Children staff and volunteers to 10 Downing Street for the Knit One, Save One campaign. Browse the book we handed in. In response to the campaign Gordon Brown said "I was really moved by the messages... from all over the country" and "I share your concern about the number of child deaths in the developing world." Read his letter here.
Get on Track: Our campaign to get the UN on track had 106,966 people standing on tracks around the world over two weeks. They stood in line to get the UN in line with Millenium Development Goal 4 to cut child deaths by two-thirds by 2015. This campaign was successful across the world. At a Get on Track event in Afghanistan, the national Ministry of Health announced a fantastic new programme of action targeting child and maternal health. At a high level meeting at the UN in September the UK government announced an extra £450 million in aid for developing countries. The meeting was co-organised by Save the Children, and saw some fantastic commitments to tackle child and maternal deaths. Find out more.
Exactly thirty years ago, health ministers from 134 countries came together to promise health care for all by the year 2000. Save the Children went to Geneva to remind governments at the World Health Assembly of the promises they made way back in 1978. Along with campaigners from other organisations, we pushed health ministers to reaffirm their commitments. Over 50 countries, including the UK, signed a statement making action on health a priority for 2008. This is an important step towards getting more money invested in healthcare for the world's poorest.
See what it's like to live in the slum town of Kroo Bay, Sierra Leone. It's one of the toughest places to be a child; one in five won't even make it to their fifth birthday. A group of children's reporters from Kroo Bay interviewed the first lady of Sierra Leone about drastically rising food prices. Watch the video.
Our Rewrite the Future campaign has been getting children in conflict-affected areas across the world back into education. 3.4 million children in more than 20 countries affected by conflict benefited in the first year of the campaign. Since launching both Gordon Brown and Hillary Benn have set out their vision for delivering education to children affected by conflict or living in fragile states. Find out more.
- Get on Track events in Afghanistan saw the government anounce an extensive list of new programmes targeting child and maternal deaths. And at a UN meeting in New York, the UK goernment annouced an extra £450 million to tackle child and maternal health.
- In response to your fantastic response to the Knit One, Save One campaign, Gordon Brown said he was "really moved by the messages... from all over the country" and he "share[d] your concern about the number of child deaths in the developing world." Read his letter.
- Over 2,500 people have signed the Simple Solutions petition to Gordon Brown. We know that simple solutions could prevent the deaths of 10 million children under the age of five, every year. Add your voice to the petition.
- We're getting the Department for International Development (DFID) to pay more attention to child hunger and malnutrition. DFID Minister Gareth Thomas announced the establishment of a nutrition policy team. We'll be working with them to reduce child hunger.
- DFID wrote a response to two of our recent campaigns. Read more about how the government responded to Knit One, Save One, and Get on Track.
Campaigning - how do we do it?
- We use our worldwide experience to campaign for justice for all children.
- We challenge policy makers to adopt policies that create real and lasting change for the world's poorest children.
- We work with children and young people so that they can voice their concerns about issues which are important to them.
- We build alliances with other organisations to promote one, united voice on important issues, like End Child Poverty.
And that's where you come in - help us to get those arguments heard. Join our network of campaigners. Get your voice heard. Meet other people like you. And hear the latest news on events and hot issues. Get your friends to sign up too.
If you'd like more information about our campaigns, contact us: campaigns@savethechildren.org.uk
