Save the Children is a not-for-profit organisation and their activities are broadly summarised as providing better healthcare, higher quality education and ensuring protection from violence for all children. It aims to promote a brighter future where every child has a safe and enjoyable childhood. 

Eglantyne Jebb, a teacher and sociologist founded Save the Children in England in 1919. Known then as the International Save the Children Fund, the organisation’s first task, a highly controversial one for the time, was to supply food to starving children in Austria immediately after World War I.

Save the Children is a global child-focused, independent and secular, development organisation. As a not-for-profit it relies on donations. For every dollar of donations, 73 cents go directly to benefit children (2019). 

As a global organisation, Save the Children has reached more than 40 Million children in more than 100 countries. The countries span all over the globe including the Pacific Islands (including Australia and New Zealand), Africa, South East Asia, Middle East, and South-Central Asia. 

Research and reports are produced across topic areas ranging from child rights, education, gender equality and health. There are three main activities that the organisation focuses on. First, promoting better healthcare to all children. Second, they seek to provide a better education to every child. Their actions seek to ensure every child has the chance to learn. The last area focuses on protecting children from violence. Research shows that children all over the world suffer from violence and unfortunately a child dies every five minutes at the hands of violence. Children with disabilities and girls are the most vulnerable groups. Save the Children seeks to protect the most marginalised and vulnerable children.

Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

Programs are funded by income received from supporters, government funding and corporate sponsorships. Find out more