Our vision is for all young people—from infancy to adolescence to youth—to have the chance to reach their fullest potential. With the resources to transform their communities, societies and nations, they will build a better world for everyone.

To address the issues facing young people, we need a whole child approach.

READ OUR SOLUTIONS

A Generation at Stake

Amidst a confluence of global challenges, leading NGOs are calling for the U.S. government to prioritize children and youth. In foreign assistance, this means better coordination across issue areas and agencies. The health, wellbeing and economic security of an entire generation of young people is at stake.

By investing now in their most critical needs, we can build a better present and a better future for every child.

Investments in children and youth yield some of the highest returns—and make the biggest impacts on a person’s life. Unfortunately, the U.S. government often only focuses on one issue facing a young person at a time. To solve that problem, we need a whole child approach. A whole child approach engages a broad spectrum of support systems, including family, school, and community to ensure children and youth reach their full potential. It equally values all aspects of a child’s well-being—social, emotional, physical, intellectual, spiritual, and creative—to ensure they become active citizens and life-long learners. Watch this video to learn more.

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Our Vision

We want all young people—from infancy to adolescence to youth—to have the chance to reach their fullest potential. Having the resources needed to transform their communities, societies and nations will build a better world for everyone.

The Challenge

This generation of young people is the largest in human history and faces a confluence of global crises that have upended their lives and which threatens decades of progress in areas like health, education, and economic growth.

Despite the increase in challenges and the well-documented return on U.S. investments in young people’s well-being, U.S. foreign assistance funding on programs that benefit children and youth has been on a downward trend in recent years.

Our Solution

We call for a common-sense whole child approach to U.S. foreign assistance funding, policies and programs that recognizes children’s and youth’s critical and interconnected needs—no matter where they live. A whole child approach addresses all of their needs—such as education, nutrition, health, and livelihoods—throughout all their life stages. In practice, it would integrate U.S. government programs, policies, and funding and engage a wide range of actors and a support system, including family, school, and community, to help children and youth reach their full potential.

This holistic whole child strategy leaves no gaps in the kinds of support children and youth receive and ensures that investments are maximized and coordinated.

Existing U.S. Efforts

The good news is that the U.S. government isn’t starting from scratch and has already done decades of strong work to improve the lives of children and youth and to create higher levels of global prosperity and stability as a result.There is already a great foundation comprised of policies, strategies, and teams of committed experts who work on different life stages or sectoral issues.

The next step is to ensure policy cohesion within and across the agencies who work to improve the lives of young people’s lives—and to ensure that young people themselves are meaningfully included in processes.

Global Population

“Today, 16% of the global population—1.2 billion people—are 15 to 24 years old. By 2030, that number is expected to grow by 7%.” (Source UN)

Sexual Abuse

1 in 8 of the world’s children have been sexually abused, according to meta-analysis research. (Source Child Maltreatment)

7 Million Children

More than 7 million children have lost a parent or caregiver due to COVID-19. (Source Imperial College London)

Federal Budget

It is estimated that just 0.08% of the federal budget goes to children internationally. (Source First Focus)

Online Sexual Exploitation

Reports of suspected online sexual exploitation and abuse of children increased 73% from 2019 to 2021. (Source NCMEC)

A Shared Mission

We are a group of nongovernmental organizations with a shared mission: to improve children’s and youth’s lives around the world by investing in and prioritizing their critical needs.