Intervention strategy

War Child works through three mutually-supportive intervention strategies to realise lasting positive change in the lives of children and young people.

  1. Direct support
    Children and young people actively participate in activities and projects. Creative workshops and life skills courses help them overcome the consequences of armed conflict. Through sports children learn to cooperate, on stage they are able to express their feelings, through e-learning they guide their own education, in a child parliament they explain how their situation should be changed. 
  2. Capacity building
    We build the capacity of parents, teachers, social workers, communities, and national and international organisations and institutions to take up their responsibilities towards children. Parents gain the skills to better cope with the problems their children face as a result of armed conflict. Teachers are trained in child-friendly and creative teaching methods. Community members are trained to prevent and respond to child rights violations. 
  3. Advocacy
    National and international decision makers are targeted to ensure that laws, policies and practices fully support children’s safe and healthy development. Television campaigns appeal to employers to stop using children in harmful work. Policy makers at district and national level are targeted to follow up the Child Right Act in legislation. Lobbying members of parliament in Brussels increases the pressure on countries not adhering to international child protection measures.

Photo: Performing for Peace, Colombia. Copyright: Marco van Hal