Africa fundraising initiative

Together we want to ensure that by 2030, every last child grows up healthy, educated and protected - join our shared vision.

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International Day of the Girl

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Africa is a continent that is growing fast, but parts of it are some of the most difficult places on earth to be a child. More than half of the world’s extreme poor live in sub-Saharan Africa, and children born here have the worst chances of survival anywhere in the world.

Millions of children in Africa are facing an extreme food crisis, and so many can’t access the education and healthcare they need.

On the other hand, there are an incredible number of wealthy individuals and organisations in Africa, with the potential to change the situation for good. Increasing challenges like a fast-growing population, climate change, political instability and conflict require us to come up with creative ways to make sure every last child in Africa grows up healthy, educated and safe from harm.

By working together, we can achieve our vision of a world in which every child can not only survive, but thrive.

Save the Children: 100 years of lifesaving support

Save the Children was founded by two sisters in 1919. They saw the devastation the First World War had caused for children caught up in the chaos and wanted to do whatever they could to help them.

We opened our first African programme, a child welfare centre in Addis Ababa, back in the early 1930s. Over the years we’ve worked with many of the most vulnerable communities across Africa – from responding to earthquakes and drought, to providing lifesaving healthcare, food and shelter to children in the poorest areas.

Today, Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children. Through innovative development programmes, vital emergency response work, bold campaigns and high-impact partnerships, we do whatever it takes to make sure children survive, get protection when they’re in danger, and have the chance to learn.

We bring together local and global experts to inform our high-quality programme work and achieve real, lasting change for children. 40.8 million children were directly reached by the Save the Children global movement in 2018.

We believe in the power of children. Together with our supporters, we stand side by side with children to help them reach their potential and build a better future. As we mark 100 years of Save the Children in 2019, we’re committed to focusing on three of the biggest areas for development in Africa:

Health and nutrition: tackling pneumonia and malnutrition, which together kill millions of children each year
Protecting children: working in the most dangerous conflict zones to keep children safe
Education: Ensuring all children get the best start in life

To achieve our vision we have the support of our Africa Advisory Board. This is a board of passionate supporters of Save the Children who shape our outreach and make introductions to supporters from the African diaspora in the UK and across the continent.

Members of the board help us to reach, engage and bring prospective supporters closer to our work. We know we cannot transform the lives of children without the support of the advisory board which is central to the success of our strategy.

Members of The Africa Advisory Board

Evaline Momanyi, Senior Manager- Strategic Partnerships/ DFS, Safaricom – Board chair

Florence ‘Cuppy’ Otedola, Nigerian Female DJ and Founder, Cuppy Foundation – Board Ambassador

Nick Ashcroft, Partner, Addleshaw Goddard –Board member

Temi Marcella Awogboro, Founder, Kairos Angels – Board member

Francois-Xavier Bautmans, Director, Banque Internationale Luxembourg (DIFC). – Board member

Scott Cowan, Co-Founder & CEO, Africa Legal – Board member

Sophie J Lamb QC, Litigation Partner, Latham & Watkins – Board member

Owen Lawrence, CEO, International Arbitration Centre – Board member

Habila Malgwi, Regional Director, Arton Capital – Board member

Paul Martensyn, Managing Director, Vannin Capital - Board member

Togolani Mavura, Private Secretary to the Former President His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete – Board member

Misbah Mir, CEO, OMAC Africa – Board member

Andrew Sekandi, Partner, De Charles LLP and Alpha Sierra Advisory - Board member

David Tudor, Group General Counsel, Naspers – Board member

Working with African philanthropists is exciting and offers tremendous opportunities for Save the Children.

We hope you will consider helping to make The Africa Fundraising Initiative a success and invite you to contact us in case of further questions.

Together we want to ensure that by 2030, every last child grows up healthy, educated and protected.

International Day of the Girl

11th October 2020

"My message to all girls on the International Day of the Girl is for the girls to continue to raise their voices and demand an equal future. Ensure that they participate at all platforms and forum where decisions that affect their lives will be made. I encourage the girls to delay their marriages and do whatever it takes to fulfil their dreams. I implore the decision makers to give the girls an opportunity to strive”. - Maryam Ahmed, Youth Ambassador

OUR WORK IN AFRICA

Child protection

We help children like Peter* achieve their dreams. Just over a year ago, Peter was living as a child soldier in South Sudan. “They gave us weapons for shooting,” he says. “They were teaching us skills – how to hide ourselves or run.”

It was Peter’s belief in education that gave him the strength to escape – he fled to Uganda in the hope of going back to school. Now that he’s learning again, Peter has big ambitions: “when I finish my studies and graduate, I want to become the President of the Republic of South Sudan.”

Education against the odds

More than half of the children who have not enrolled in primary school worldwide live in sub-Saharan Africa. We’re fighting to make sure more children can get a basic education – no matter who they are, where they live or what is happening around them.

Fatima* is fifteen and is from North East Nigeria. “We have problems of armed groups. Because armed groups kill. They look for female students and take them. Parents don’t want to take children to school because girls will be abducted and married off. They prefer to get them married instead. They prefer boys going to school. They don’t regard girls’ education in the same way.”

In North East Nigeria, millions of children have not been in school since the beginning of the conflict. We’re making sure all children – especially girls like Fatima and children affected by conflict – have access to education. We’ve set up 12,000 management committees in schools that have improved learning opportunities for five million children in Nigeria.

Health and nutrition

The Horn of Africa is experiencing first-hand the complex interplay between the global climate crisis and conflict. Families have had to leave their homes; children are facing critical levels of hunger and many are forced to drop out of school.

Baby Fatima became weak and sick with malnutrition. Their mother, Amina*, took Fatima to a Save the Children supported stabilisation centre. There she received nutritional milk, food and medicine. After ten days, Fatima regained her strength.

“Fatima* is my younger sibling and I love her.” Fatima’s sister, Fatun*, age seven. “We are very happy she is doing well.”

In Somalia, our mobile health teams and staff at healthcare centres have helped over 37,000 children. Throughout the region, we’ve diagnosed and treated tens of thousands of malnourished children. Across Africa, we’re also creating community-based disastermanagement committees, training farmers in sustainable farming techniques and distributing tools and seeds, to build local resilience against climate change.