Terre des hommes in Europe

🔔 This Wednesday, 21 February, join us for a free webinar to get acquainted with our methodological toolbox for establishing, supporting and developing Children & Youth Advisory Boards in the context of Barnahus.

🙌 Learn more & register here: https://childhub.org/en/child-protection-webinars/childrens-collective-participation-and-child-advisory-boards-toolbox-context-barnahus

ℹ️ The webinar is part of the EU-funded project "JOURNEYS – Safe and Informed Journeys through Barnahus".

🤝 Child and Family Agency - Tusla, Rädda Barnen, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Marie Cederschiöld högskola, Bonigi, Linköping University, EU Justice and Consumers

🤩 Explore the profound impact of art, design, and technology on child development with Dorina Bencsics, Tdh Resilience Innovation Facilities (RIF) Officer in Hungary.

In this interview, Dorina shares insights from workshops like Tiny Home and Stop-Motion, revealing how innovative strategies are shaping the future for children aged 6-17.

👉 https://tdh-europe.org/en/innovative-approaches-child-empowerment-conversation-dorina-bencsics-tdh-rif-officer-hungary

🆒 Our Resilience Innovation Facilities combine developing children’s digital skills with improving their protection and psychological well-being.

📣 We call on world leaders to do everything in their power to accelerate efforts towards an immediate and durable ceasefire in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), as a prerequisite for a just and lasting peace that will enable all children in the OPT to fully enjoy their rights.

🔗 Read the open letter: https://www.tdh.org/en/media/statements/history-will-not-judge-inaction-favourably-terre-des-hommes-open-letter-on-the-urgent-situation-of

🌍 Urgent situation for children’s rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories 🚨

In over 100 days of conflict in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the situation for children has reached a critical point. The war has tragically claimed the lives of over 10,000 children. From Gaza to the West Bank: Palestinian children are under attack and no Palestinian child is safe. At Terre des Hommes, we've witnessed a disturbing escalation in human rights violations affecting countless Palestinian children and their families.

Terre des Hommes stands alongside these children and calls on world leaders to stop the war on children in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which jeopardizes the principle of humanity that lies at the heart of international law.
Our statement, sent to world leaders, is a call to action. We need your support in amplifying this message. Every share counts in our mission to protect these vulnerable lives.

👉 Stand with us. Read and share our full declaration to make a difference: https://www.tdh.org/en/media/statements/history-will-not-judge-inaction-favourably-terre-des-hommes-open-letter-on-the-urgent-situation-of

🔔 On 23 January 2024, 15:00-16:30 CET, join our webinar to explore how mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) can be adapted in emergency responses.

We will discuss implementation challenges based on Well-U project experience in Italy, Greece, Hungary, and Romania, as well as provide recommendations to shape national and EU-level policies for effective scalability of the MHPSS interventions in emergency contexts.

🎯 Learn more and register: https://childhub.org/en/child-protection-webinars/transforming-mhpss-emergency-responses-identifying-systematic-and-institutional-barriers-realistic-implementation-well-u-project

ℹ️ The Well-U project adapted, contextualised and implemented the ReachNow tool as well as TeamUp, the Movement, Games, Sports and Creativity (MGSC) and the Problem Management Plus (PM+) interventions to support refugee children and their caregivers, especially those displaced by the war on Ukraine, in Italy, Greece, Hungary and Romania.

🙌 The project is coordinated by SOS Villaggi dei Bambini - Italia and implemented in partnership with Terre des hommes Ηellas - Γη των ανθρώπων, Terre des hommes Hungary, Terre des hommes - Romania, War Child Holland, and SOS Children's Villages International, with the support of European Commission.

✅ On 10-11 January 2024, Terre des hommes participated in the International Conference “Re:think bridges” on the role of civil society organisations in facilitating the integration of refugee and asylum-seeking children and caregivers in Europe. The conference took place in Bucharest, Romania, and was organised by FONPC Romania, SERA Romania, CARE International, ICVA and Eurochild.

In this event that gathered local, national and international actors, our colleagues, Laura Sava Ghica, Country Director of Terre des hommes - Romania, and Olsi Dudumi, Regional Innovation and Youth Empowerment Advisor, shared our experience and good practices in facilitating the integration of refugee children and youth in Europe.

🆒 One such practice is creating Resilience Innovation Facilities for children and youth on the move in Europe, with a particular focus on those displaced from Ukraine. These safe, inclusive and digital innovation spaces offer tools, resources, services and community connections for children and youth, aiming towards successful inclusion and integration in the host societies. Here children and youth find hope and feeling of belonging to a community as well as learn about their rights and feel empowered to make their voices heard.

🇺🇦 Denys and Veronika are two clever and talented children who conquer hearts with their strength of spirit.

They grew up in a family where friendship and joy reigned, but the war on Ukraine suddenly changed their lives. In the first days of the full-scale invasion, Denis and Veronika lost their parents, after which, together with their grandmother, they left by evacuation train from Kherson to Shepetivka town in the West of the country. Here they got a new home and hope for a better future.

Within our project, we have created an educational space in the school where Denys and Veronika study and receive various services that help them to feel protected and discover their talents.

Veronika sings and studies computer technology. Denys found in himself a true love for sports and painting. Their grandmother says that the new educational space brings joy and thirst for new knowledge to her grandchildren. Here they found new true friends and have fun.

Stories like this motivate us to work even harder so that every child has a happy childhood. During the implementation of the project, 30 educational spaces were created in educational institutions of Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskyi and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.

ℹ️ The project “ProAction - Improving access to housing, education and quality social services for children and families in Ukraine" is implemented by five partner organisations - Terre des hommes - Україна, the NGO "Posmishka UA", NGO "Rehabilitation and Recovery Center", NGO "Zakhid Shans" and NGO "The World in Colors" public organization, financed by the Swiss Solidarity Foundation.

🧡 As this year comes to an end, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported our work and contributed to making a difference in children's lives. Thank you!

🎄 We hope you are having a lovely holiday season filled with warmth, laughter and kindness. Wishing you a fulfilling year ahead!

🙌🏽 In the new year, may our thoughts and actions come together to bring peace and happiness to all children!

🇷🇴🇺🇦 80 Ukrainian children living in Romania came together and shared their joy at the Christmas party we organised last week. They danced, created cards for their loved ones, had fun at a magic show and met Santa Claus.

🧡 Throughout the year, these children attended the activities of our Resilience and Innovation Centre in Bucharest, where they learned English and Romanian, and how to create objects with the 3D printer, to animate stop-motion and much more. Most importantly, we tried to build a community of support, so that children can more easily cope with the separation from home and the country in which they lived until recently.

🎄🎁 Enjoy the photos from the event!

🇲🇩 Between World Children’s Day, 20 November, and Human Rights Day, 10 December, the students of ten partner schools in Moldova carried out the “Zero Bullying” awareness raising campaign, encouraging the respect and protection of human rights for all.

🆙 Together with the students leading the campaign, we aimed to create awareness of bullying and its impact on children, and to help schools become a safe and inclusive space with zero tolerance for bullying.

😍 The campaign included various educational and creative activities, such as poster and drawing exhibitions, sharing cookies with positive and encouraging messages, role-playing/ theatre performances, creating and giving out friendship bracelets, playing board games and quizzes, and other.

💬 “I understood that bullying is a common phenomenon among peers. My colleagues and I are now better able to identify a bullying situation, intervene accordingly or speak up about it if we have experienced it,” shares Denis, an eleventh grader at the “Aristotle” Republican Theoretical Lyceum.

💬 “I held trainings with students on how to identify the phenomenon and how to act. I recommend teachers to act promptly in bullying situations, to offer help both to the one who is being abused and to the one who commits an act of abuse.” - Olga Pinzari, psychologist at “Orizont” Lyceum, Durlesti branch.

🇪🇺 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟴𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘂𝗺!

We are honoured to have been invited by European Commission Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs to participate in the 8th European Migration Forum on December 4-5, 2023. With this year’s topic being “Migration in Europe today: specific needs, skills and communication for stronger inclusion”, the dialogue focuses on changing the narrative on migration, identifying specific needs for vulnerable migrants and how to build sustainable integration through labour market integration.

As a long-standing partner in the implementation of migration-related projects in Europe, Terre des hommes, represented by Olsi Dudumi, Regional Innovation and Youth Empowerment Advisor, shared the achievements of our EU-funded MINT project and contributed with other good practices from our experience.

MINT project supported refugee and migrant children along European youth to engage in new integration activities, through a peer-to-peer mentoring programme. We have also invited Waad to share her experience as a mentor and participant in the project, which was implemented in Romania, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland.

The methodology of the programme is freely available and can be used by other organisations: https://childhub.org/en/child-protection-online-library/revised-mentoring-methodological-framework-mint-project

During the roundtable discussions at the Forum, we spoke about our previous initiatives on changing the narrative on migration with the participation of migrant youth, as well as our current work in the Resilience Innovation Facilities focusing on building young people’s skills for the digital world.

“The best gift is a peaceful sky above our heads, joy and happiness. I want to convey this mood to everyone on Earth with my drawing.” - Maria, 11, from Ukraine living in Romania

“Our dream is to have a house, just like everyone else.” - Altina and Ardijan, Kosovo

“I want a dog because it is human’s best friend. Life is fun with a dog.” - Ecaterina , 11, Moldova

“Time to be with family, friends, and loved ones." - Enja, 16, Albania

💝 This year, to mark , we asked children we work with in Europe and across the world, to make a drawing of their dream or most desired gift.

Discover more in this album & don't forget to read the captions.

💭💝 What is your dream? What is the best gift you could receive? This is what we asked the children we work with across the world.
Every week of November, we shared some of the the powerful drawings that these children of all ages made to represent their dream.

🆙 Today, 20 November, is the World Children's Day! On this day, in 1959, UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Also, on this day, in 1989, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

❗️ All children around the world have the right to safety, the right to health, the right to education, the right to express themselves and all the other rights enshrined in the Convention.

✊ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬?
🔸 Refresh your knowledge about child rights and the responsibilities of governments, (re)read the Convention: https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/convention-text-childrens-version
🔸 Ask your government to fully implement the Convention.
🔸 Respect and fulfill children's rights yourselves. Each one of us is responsible for the protection of the rights of children we are in contact with.
🔸 Inform children about their rights.
🔸 Raise awareness around you - in your family, community, at your workplace, on your social media etc., including by sharing this post.
🔸 Join a group defending children's rights.
🔸 Donate to child rights organisations like Terre des hommes.

🧡 Let's all work together for a better present and future for every child!

🆙 Tune in tomorrow, 16 November, at 10:00 CET, to learn about our experience in developing safeguarding practices in schools and summer camps in Albania and Greece.

Our colleagues, Alketa Lasku, Regional Child Protection and Safeguarding Adviser for Europe, and Eleftheria Aravidou, Head of Psychosocial Support Programs in Greece, will be presenting at the Child Safeguarding in Education and Childcare Global Summit that is taking place online and is free to attend.

👉 Book your place now: https://child-safeguarding-in-education.heysummit.com/

🇺🇦 We are looking for a Head of Delegation in Ukraine to lead our dedicated team and leverage our current operations in the East, South and West of the country.

With more than 50 staff members, Terre des hommes - Україна provides diverse services to children, youth and families affected by the war.

Learn more about the position & apply: https://tdh-en.jobs.net/en-GB/job/head-of-delegation/J3R5HS6G1XS9W0SXVFQ

🧡 Please share to help us reach more potential candidates.

🙋‍♀️ We are delighted to announce our participation at the Child Safeguarding in Education and Childcare Global Summit, organised by Keeping Children Safe, during 14-16 November.

📌 On 16 November, at 09:00 GMT/ 10:00 CET, we will share our "know-how" in this field based on our work in Greece and Albania. Join us, admission is free!

The speakers on behalf of Terre des hommes are:
🔸 Alketa Lasku, Regional Child Protection and Safeguarding Adviser for Europe
🔸 Eleftheria Aravidou, Head of Psychosocial Support Programs in Greece

ℹ️ Learn more about the Summit & book your place: https://child-safeguarding-in-education.heysummit.com/

Terre des hommes - Magyarország Terre des hommes Ηellas - Γη των ανθρώπων Terre des hommes - Albania

On 1-2 November 2023, the fourth edition of the Western Balkans Summit Against Racial Discrimination was held in Pristina, Kosovo.

More than 100 participants from the region gathered to discuss social justice for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians, including the Anti-Gypsy topic, aiming to improve legislation and institutions. This year, under the theme "Unity in Diversity", the Summit not only focused on challenges but also on success stories and best practices, whether from institutions or communities.

The Summit was organized by the Office for Good Governance, Human Rights, Equal Opportunities, and Non-Discrimination, the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, with the support of a consortium consisting of VoRAE, HEKS, Terre des hommes - Kosovo, with funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

🇺🇦 In Ukraine, our mobile teams conduct positive parenting sessions with parents and other caregivers. Parenting, especially in difficult conditions such as war, can be very challenging and stressful, whereas children need supportive adults.

During our sessions, parents and caregivers learn about:
🔸 Self-help techniques - how to take care of themselves and their mental health, because only a healthy and balanced parent can provide the best support to their child;
🔸 How to communicate and behave properly if their child has a disability - this is an important aspect that will help maintain mutual understanding and empower the child;
🔸 How to prevent and manage emotional burnout.

🤲🏽 Our project CARING aims to decrease gender-based violence (GBV) in 32 schools in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Greece, by equipping 1200 facilitators, school staff and management, parents, as well as youth with increased awareness of harmful social and gender norms and behaviours, knowledge on how to challenge them and promoting positive ones.

📌 Within the project, we are organising a webinar on 7 November, at 16:00 CET, where you can get acquainted with the Curricula on preventing GBV by addressing the existing social and gender norms. We will also present the key results of the rapid needs assessment carried out in the participating schools.

➡️ Learn more and sign up: https://childhub.org/en/child-protection-webinars/curricula-gender-based-violence-prevention-addressing-norms-webinar

Terre des hommes - Romania, Terre des hommes - Magyarország, Terre des hommes Ηellas - Γη των ανθρώπων, Hrabri telefon, ИСДП (SAPI), Асоциация Родители/ Association Roditeli, EU Justice and Consumers

🇷🇴 We are proud to announce that Laura Sava-Ghica, Terre des hommes Country Director in Romania, is now the President of the Romanian Federation of Non-Governmental Organisations for Development - FOND.

FOND is a representative platform of 33 non-governmental organisations, recognized at national and international level, which contributes to the development and implementation of a coherent Romanian policy in the field of international cooperation for development and humanitarian assistance, by representing and empowering member organizations and by educating the general public on global solidarity and sustainable development.

FOND is also an official partner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania in implementing the Romanian international cooperation for development and humanitarian aid policy.

🇺🇦 Supporting families with children in Ukraine by using an eco-friendly means of transportation!

🚲 We have provided 14 communities in Ivano-Frankivsk oblast with electric bicycles, which will facilitate the work of social workers who visit and deliver food and other products to socially vulnerable families with children.

💚 These e-bikes last 30 km per battery charge and can be fully charged in just an hour! In addition, they are equipped with a basket that has a load capacity of up to 30 kg and can reach a speed of 35 km per hour.

💬 “We came up with this idea last year, but we have been looking for funding for a long time. I was moved by the story of a social worker who went to a remote mountain village in the morning to deliver help to children and returned home only the next day. The distance between settlements is quite large, and we wanted to help the communities a little,” says Anton Bilyuk, Project Manager at Terre des hommes - Україна.

📢 More than 100 NGOs, including Terre des hommes, are calling EU Member States and the European Parliament to not go lower and reject the use of legal loopholes in EU asylum law reforms.

‼️ If adopted, the proposal would have a significant harmful effect on the fundamental rights of people seeking protection in Europe as it will result in:

➡ Reduced access to asylum through delayed registration, restricted legal access and increased risk of push-backs;
➡More people having their asylum applications managed in second-rate border procedures rather than in the regular asylum procedure;
➡Increased detention of people at the border including unaccompanied children and families;
➡Substandard reception conditions and material and health care provisions.

📣 Read the full statement: https://ecre.org/joint-statement-ngos-call-on-member-states-and-european-parliament-go-no-lower-reject-the-use-of-legal-loopholes-in-eu-asylum-law-reforms/