How We Began
Childaid is run by a 5 man board of directors, of all of whom are volunteers. Childaid was founded by members of the Irish Defence Forces and friends who had first hand experience of the dire conditions experienced by children in the slums of East Africa, especially Kenya & Rwanda.
On their return to Ireland, these individuals collectively decided that they wanted to ‘get off the fence’ and do something constructive to help those who most need assistance.
In order to bring focus their efforts, and to ensure transparency and accountability, Child Aid Ltd. was registered on 8th February 2001 and was listed as a charity with the Revenue Commissioners in Ireland.
Our Mission
Childaid’s mission is the eradication of extreme poverty, disease and hunger for children in the developing world, while ensuring that each child has the essential means to a productive life.
Goals and Objectives
The Goals & Objectives of Childaid are aligned strongly with the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the set of internationally agreed upon targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women by 2015.
The Millennium Development Goals are:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Childaid believes strongly in all the MDG’s. However, Childaid’s Mission implies that our work is focused on Goals 1, 2,4,5 & 6.
By aligning our development initiatives with the MDG’s we can ensure that we make best use of our donors money in addressing the real needs of the developing world in a way consistent with international best-practise.
If the world achieves the MDGs, more than 500 million people will be lifted out of poverty. A further 250 million will no longer suffer from hunger. 30 million children and two million mothers who might reasonably have been expected to die will be saved.
The world has made significant progress in achieving many of the Goals. Between 1990 and 2002 average overall incomes increased by approximately 21 percent. The number of people in extreme poverty declined by an estimated 130 million!. Child mortality rates fell from 103 deaths per 1,000 live births a year to 88. Life expectancy rose from 63 years to nearly 65 years. An additional 8 percent of the developing world’s people received access to water. And an additional 15 percentacquired access to improved sanitation services.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the epicentre of crisis, with continuing food insecurity, a rise of extreme poverty, stunningly high child and maternal mortality, and large numbers of people living in slums, and a widespread shortfall for most of the MDGs.
OUR ETHOS AND VALUES
The following principles guide us in our efforts:
• The Millennium Development Goals form the foundation of our objectives.
• We seek to co-ordinate our activities with other reputable and experienced agencies to ensure efficient and effective delivery of aid.
• Development is a long-term process.
• Aid and charity is NOT the long-term answer for the Developing World. We believe in creating a long-term self-sufficiency in our donor countries.
• We must address the causes, as well as the symptoms, of extreme hunger, poverty and disease.
HOW WE ARE FUNDED
To date, the majority of donations are raised by volunteer trekkers who take part in sponsored treks organised to Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania & Mt. Everest Base Camp in Nepal. Annually, Childaid organises 4 – 5 such treks.
In addition, many supporters of Childaid freely give their time and energy to organise and run local fundraising initiatives such as sponsored cycles, race nights, pub-quizzes and sponsored Sky-dives!
Through the Irish Government’s overseas Development Fund programme, Childaid has received co-funding for a number of our projects.