ChildFund International is a global nonprofit organization with a mission to connect children in low-income communities with the people, resources and institutions they need to live at their potential throughout their lives. Founded in 1938 and funded primarily through child sponsorships, ChildFund now partners with dozens of local organizations in 23 countries to address conditions that prevent children from achieving their potential.

According to ChildFund’s 2020 Impact Report, the organization’s multisectoral approach has facilitated global increases in perceived community safety for children, basic literacy and completion of business and skills training that were noted in scores of programs implemented between 2017-19 in countries across Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

To highlight ChildFund’s work in addressing education reform in Africa, we spoke with Chege Ngugi, Africa Regional Director for ChildFund International, on the core operations, critical priorities and milestones achieved by the organization in the realm of education.

1. How does ChildFund International work with partners to address education needs for children? What kinds of solutions are provided by ChildFund?

To start with, we have a new global strategy which projects that ChildFund will reach 100 million vulnerable children and families by 2030, to help children grow up healthy, educated, skilled and safe. To achieve this bold goal, we have to work with a number of partners with different capacities. Having said that, we also look at other organizations that have set agendas, in the context of Africa.

The African Union’s 2063 agenda is a blueprint to transform Africa into a global superpower by utilizing Africa’s own human capital. For us to achieve that goal, we require collaboration from all areas through our partners in Africa. The other area we also look at are Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 4 – ensuring inclusive quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all. When we look at such agendas, we realize that partnership is a critical role. We are looking for strategic, technical and operational partners in two critical areas: one is the strategy level, where they work with governments, stakeholders and donors to inform policies which can deliver education in an equitable manner. The second is the operational level, where we work with partners to implement a number of programs. We involve teachers, parents and surrounding communities, including student councils themselves, that contribute to the safe and secure operations of their learning environments. We also look at improving learning infrastructure, and this includes construction of classrooms – though brick-and-mortar projects is an area we are trying to move away from, as we believe other partners are doing that well already.

Read the full article about ChildFund by Aneesh Chatterjee at Global Washington.