GoPhilanthropic Foundation

India is home to the largest number of child laborers in the world.

Anuradha, founder of AVANI, is a former child laborer herself and has spent decades fighting for the protection and promotion of women and child rights. Anuradha is now a well-known advocate and force for social change in in the Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India where AVANI is based. AVANI is a prime example of how grassroots, community-centric work can solve some of India’s toughest problems, including child labor, child trafficking and female infanticide. AVANI’s primary focus is on high-risk industries like brickyard and sugarcane factories where migrant and child laborers are employed. Through courageous action and advocacy the AVANI team has been highly successful in motivating families and the brickyard owners to stop sending children to work, having now reduced child labor in the region’s brickyards by 95%.

Centro Maya has been working to promote the rights of people with special needs in Guatemala for over three decades. Providing basic services for the progress and development of citizens with disabilities is technically a responsibility of the Guatemalan government; in reality, these services unfortunately remain nonexistent, particularly in rural, indigenous areas. Centro Maya not only steps in to provide these integral services around the Lake Atitlan and surrounding areas, but advocates politically for disability rights and more widespread, government services.

Centro Maya provides holistic services for people with disabilities, addressing not only their physical abilities, but their nutrition, mental health, education, family life, empowerment, self-esteem, professional development, leadership, inclusion in society and overall well-being. In Guatemala, where even the most basic services for people living with disabilities are hard to come by, it’s astounding to come across such comprehensive, progressive support for this underserved population.

In 2019, there were 230 million boys under the age of 18 in India. Research showed that 116 million of these boys would grow up to be physically violent and 56 million to be sexually violent. ECF was established in 2009 with a mission to address this national epidemic and raise every boy in India to be gender equitable. They believe that if boys and men are given the tools, knowledge and space to learn and practice respectful positive behaviors, they can become powerful allies in the fight for gender equality.

ECF works not only within their own communities, but across the entire country. Their collaborative programs and emphasis on sharing with other CSOs is a unique approach in the NGO-world, where too often scarce resources mean that organizations feel in competition with each other or territorial about their work. ECF wholeheartedly shares their findings, resources, trainings, and even funding sources, because they know that collaboration is the best way to scale up their work and to enact sustainable, widespread change.

“Schools don’t teach kids, people do.” This is what PEPY (Promoting Education, emPowering Youth) founders, Daniela Papi and Greta Arnquist, learned after they raised funds to support a school-building project in Cambodia back in 2005. When the project was completed, they visited Cambodia to see the newly-built school, designed to house 500 students, only to find it empty and unused. From that point forward, they knew they must invest in people rather than facilities, in order to support the true development of education in Cambodia.

Now, PEPY aims not only to educate young Cambodians, but to provide them with opportunities and build their capacity to achieve their dreams – giving them the power to make the changes they wish to see in their own communities.

In 2015, PEPY Empowering Youth transitioned to become a registered Local Non-Governmental Organization (LNGO) run by Cambodians, for Cambodians.

When Blue Dragon assists a child in crisis, they make a long-term commitment to that child’s recovery, healing and overall well-being. For example, although trafficking rescues are high-risk and require intensive planning, the Blue Dragon team recognizes that the real work takes place post-rescue.

Blue Dragon offers highly comprehensive services thanks to having built a skilled and dedicated team of child protection professionals: social workers, lawyers, psychologists, educators, medics and child care workers. Strong, collaborative relationships with law enforcement and other agencies broaden their services and capacity even further. They aim to partner with each child, and their family whenever possible, to allow them to reach their full potential. The case management plan for each child is different, specifically tailored to that child’s unique needs, personality and goals for the future.

It is estimated that there are nearly 100,000 children trapped in forced labor in Nepal – typically working 15+ hour days in hazardous, deplorable conditions, with limited food, no protective gear, and often without pay. In addition, the trafficked children often suffer from physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Child Rescue Nepal (CRN) was created to counteract this extremely dark industry and fight for the rights and futures of all children in Nepal.

The courageous CRN team works tirelessly to rescue trafficked children, provide them with extensive counseling and rehabilitation services, and when possible and safe, reunify and reintegrate them with their families. Not only is CRN on the frontlines rescuing children, they are also actively working to prevent the high prevalence of trafficking by increasing children’s access to education. With 40% of Nepal’s population under the age of 18, CRN knows the best way to create a path for future development is to prioritize both the protection and education of children.