Millions of Children in Need
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OVER 150 MILLION ORPHANS
Children are the most vulnerable individuals getting the negative impacts from crisis and conflicts happening around the world. Child population makes up 2.2 billion of 7 billion world populations. And 143 to 210 million of child population are orphaned. and many more children are lacking access to basic needs, such as a caring and loving home, nutritious food and healthcare, and good education. Asia is home to the largest number of orphaned children in the world; 60 million, at last count (UNICEF).
It is every child’s right to live, get education, healthcare, shelter and protection against physical and psychological abuse.
We believe the ideal outcome for every child is to know the love and nurture of a permanent family, and that more efforts are needed to preserve and reunite families. The reality however is that there are millions of orphaned, abandoned and neglected children in our world today who deserve nothing less than our greatest efforts. They are the most vulnerable and marginalised group throughout all our society.
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GIVING A REAL HOME IS KEY
Each year around 15 million children grow up as orphans and having to leave the institutions by age sixteen, with each day 38,493 orphans to age out. Studies have shown that 10% – 15% of these children commit suicide before they reach age eighteen. These studies also show that a large number of the girls become prostitutes and an alarming number of the boys become hardened criminals and end up in prison within three years.
Therefore, there is a real need for genuine organisations that are truly caring for these children. These organisation must provide professional care and the support required to allow these children to develop into responsible and capable young adults. Likewise, these organisations must be equipped with a solid funding base, so that they can carry out their services in a sustainable manner.
Many of these organisations however are not yet equipped with the right capabilities. And that’s where Little Heroes’ Dreams comes in to help. Our mission is to build up capabilities for these organisation that empower them to provide the best care and service possible for children in need.
Find out who we help and how we help.
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EMPOWERED FAMILIES
Once local organisations are empowered to provide great care and support for children in need, they can take the next step and reach out to their communities to help address fundamental issues that leaves children neglected and abandoned.
One area is family preservation – Children can be prevented from becoming orphans through sustainable community development targeted at improving the overall health standards, food security and livelihoods of individuals and communities. This includes offering opportunities and support that enable these families to remain safely intact, and also providing the community and other resources to help them thrive.
Another area is family reunification – Whenever it can be done safely and responsibly, we must work to re-join in a timely manner families that have been sundered by war, natural disaster, poverty or other crises, including situations where children have been temporarily placed in residential/ congregate care. Efforts must be made to ensure that children are properly rehabilitated and that their transition back into their community is safe and carried out with ongoing supervision.
And finally expanding families. When birth parents have died, or are unwilling or unable to provide adequate care even with outside support, we must work to place orphans in permanent, loving families—and provide the community and other resources to help these families thrive.