Six leading child-focused organizations have signed a MoU to launch the Joining Forces Alliance, a bold commitment to protect and promote child rights across the country.

Brikena Zogaj and Lilian Mumbi, World Vision Technical Experts, emphasise that hunger is not just a food issue but a protection crisis, especially for children who face exploitation, early marriage, and displacement due to food insecurity. They highlight how integrating child protection into food aid programmes—such as those by World Vision—can safeguard children and improve long-term outcomes. The authors call on global actors to fund and prioritise child-focused, integrated approaches to ensure children are not only fed but also protected and empowered.

In many parts of Zambia, children continue to face significant challenges that threaten their safety, development, and future. Early marriages, teen pregnancies, and harmful cultural practices remain deeply rooted in some communities, often compounded by weak child protection systems and limited access to support services. These issues not only jeopardise the well-being of boys and girls but also hinder broader efforts toward sustainable development and social cohesion.

Is this truly a year of freedom for the poor and oppressed especially for the world’s children, who make up over a quarter of humanity

In humanitarian crises, food security is often treated as a standalone goal. But World Vision is helping shift that paradigm — proving that protecting children must be central to how we feed, recover, and rebuild. Together with the Child Protection Area of Responsibility, the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, Plan International, and the Food Security Cluster, World Vision is setting a new standard: one where child well-being is not an afterthought, but a core outcome of humanitarian response.

In the war-torn east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of children have been orphaned by ongoing massacres and left vulnerable to trauma and despair. Through faith-based initiatives like the Let the Children Come program, local heroes like Hélène offer shelter, psychosocial support, and Bible study groups that help heal deep emotional wounds. Stories like Isaac’s, who regained his voice after years of silence, show how hope and resilience are being rebuilt, even as the urgent needs of countless others remain.