Child well-being is the standard. Everything else is the means.

The most important stakeholder in our work rarely sits in our meetings. Yet they are the reason we exist.

A year ago, when I took on the role of leading Programme Strategy, Quality and Impact at World Vision Ethiopia, I wrote myself a simple reminder: Let the children we serve be the compass. Let the work follow.

Today, 27 January 2026, marks one year in this role. And as we developed our new strategy over the past year, that reminder became more than personal. It became the decision discipline we built everything around.

Last Thursday, we launched our new five-year strategy and made our goal public, and our commitment clear: to not just reach, but meaningfully impact the lives of 15 million children in Ethiopia by 2030.

And when we say “impact,” we mean children who are more resilient, nourished, safe, and educated experiencing hope for a better future, the joy of childhood, and peace in their communities.

Because children are not only the adults of tomorrow. They are people of today. Some carry what no child should carry: fear, hunger, stress, trauma, and responsibilities that belong to adults. Yet they also carry curiosity, talent, faith, and hope now.

Childhood is not a waiting room for real life. It IS real life.

But a hopeful now, and a better tomorrow for children cannot be built by a single actor. Government, communities, donors, local organisations, faith actors, the private sector, and NGOs all hold essential building blocks. The work is not proving whose block is the biggest. The work is making sure the blocks fit, complement, and reinforce each other and reach the millions of vulnerable children in Ethiopia, in ways that hold.

That is why we anchored the strategy to a decision discipline that is intentionally demanding: Children at the centre of every decision.
Every decision, investment, and partnership is judged by whether it improves real child wellbeing outcomes.

When priorities compete, when resources are tight, when the context shifts again, do our choices still protect childhood in real life? Do they still move us toward resilience, nourishment, safety, learning, peace, and joy for children?

One year in, I trust this standard because it keeps us honest about what ultimately matters, not activity, not intentions, but what children actually experience in real life.

Child well-being is the standard. Everything else is the means.

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By Mireta Petraj , Program Strategy, Quality and Impact Director, World Vision Ethiopia