ChildPact receives official registration
ChildPact, a regional coalition of organizations for child protection representing more than 650 NGOs across 10 countries in the wider Black Sea Area, celebrated its first official birthday in January, 2015. After more than three years of preparation, the organization (formed out of a need to create uniform advocacy and government monitoring for child protection reform) received word that its application to register as an incorporated NGO federation had been approved.
The coalition, a brainchild and initiative of World Vision (funded by WV Australia and AusAid) was co-created with national level child protection coalitions to enable greater levels of unified advocacy by organizations large and small. Strategically registered in Romania, ChildPact enables the founding and partner organizations to influence the European Union and its Neighbourhood and Enlargement policies for greater reforms, funding and partnership with donors.
What does this mean for World Vision and specifically for the organization's work in the Middle East and Eastern European Region (MEER)?
1. Developing civil society. Gowing democracy and human rights requires growth of civil society. Each national office within the region has the opportunity to grow the depth and value of cooperation and engagement with national coalitions and ChildPact for the long-term goal of an active and organized civil society. One of ChildPact’s goals is to organize advocacy, maintain governance standards and build the capacity of its members, and organize partnerships between and with national coalitions. In this way, NOs build key partnerships for advocacy and unified approaches to policy development that build confident conversations with government stakeholders.
2. Partnership for grants. ChildPact was strategically registered in Romania to make it available to both regional and national offices for partnership in grant acquisition. As donors seek diversity and partnership in grant proposals, we see ChildPact as a key asset for World Vision's own grant acquisition and development. The aspiration is that both World Vision and ChildPact can mutually benefit from this new potential.
3. Partnership for advocacy. Collaboration with other NGOs and coalitions makes our message stronger and more relevant for government consumption. Partnership in advocacy can also shield World Vision from potential risks that arise due to difficult and necessary conversations with government to seek justice for those we serve. Standing alone in a tough conversation is not always the most strategic position, given our grassroots presence and partnership with government. It has also noted that the EU prefers working with coalitions, rather than individual organizations. ChildPact gives World Vision the opportunity to benefit from our participation and coordination with others.
4. Partnership for testing ideas. One of the goals of MEER’s programme leads is to test new approaches and scale ideas that work. ChildPact offers access to a range and variety of NGOs across 10 countries that are eager to capture good learning and implement that learning effectively and appropriately.
5. Extending MEER's reach. As events unfold across the region and development initiatives in other neighbouring countries become strategic and financially relevant, ChildPact is available to help broker new relationships for grant partnerships, extending the opportunity for World Vision to share our expertise across borders through good partnership.
If you have any questions or would like to find out more about ChildPact or this achievement, please don’t hesitate to contact Jocelyn Penner (jocelyn_penner@wvi.org).