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Children on the Edge work with slum communities in the suburbs of Jinja, Uganda, where children are at risk of abuse, trafficking, neglect and in extreme cases, child sacrifice. Since 2012 we have been working to make communities safer and eradicate the practice of child sacrifice, along with campaigning for a change in the law in Uganda to protect children from this awful crime.
Our work has been so transformative that we are now working to expand into new communities in Uganda to tackle child rights abuses and ensure vulnerable children are better protected and able to thrive. We have already started work with one new community, Mafubira, and want to replicate this successful model in three further communities (Busia, Karamoja and Namataala). Find out more and how you can help below.  On Friday 9th July, the Edward Cooke Family Law team set off from their office in Chilgrove, near Chichester, walking 42 miles across the South Downs Way, finishing at their office in Hove. The team of nine walked for 22 hours over the weekend reaching their Hove office on Sunday evening.
 After five years of civil society campaigning (seven-years for Annie), Children on the Edge is delighted to announce that The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Act 2021 was officially signed into law on the 14th July 2021. The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill 2020 was passed by Ugandan Parliament on the 4th May 2021. Before it could officially become Law, it needed to be prepared for 'assent' by the President of Uganda.
We are pleased to say that The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Act was assented on the 14th July 2021 and communities now have the backing of the law to protect their children. Read more about how a Bill becomes law in Uganda. The new law aims to curb rampant cases of human sacrifice in Uganda by addressing gaps in the existing legislation that do not adequately handle the appalling practice of child sacrifice and ritual murder as a specific crime. Children on the Edge, together with Annie Ikpa (media professional and the instigator of the concept of this Bill), Children on the Edge Africa and World Vision Uganda have been at the forefront of campaigning for a change in the law, leading up to this crucial decision. Ending Child Sacrifice: Watch the Inside Story of the Five Year Fight to Change the Law in Uganda11/7/2021
 On Monday 7th June we held a special virtual event, telling the inside story of our five-year fight (seven years for Annie) to change the law in Uganda and put an end to the horrific practice of child sacrifice. All members of our panel have dedicated themselves to the fight for change and we heard from them about the many highs and lows, what inspired the campaign, and how it all started with a group of local community volunteers working to protect their own children.
Our Panel included:
We’ve put together a video of our highlights from the evening for you to watch...  We are often stunned when we hear about the incredible achievements of some of our youngest supporters. Children who take on epic challenges to support children in challenging situations, so that they can learn, play, grow and be given the same opportunities in life, like access to education, that our young supporters have.
 Children on the Edge works in coalition with local communities in some of the toughest places in the world, transforming the lives of marginalised children by creating protective environments where they can safely live, play, learn and grow. It will come as no surprise that our focus in 2020-2021 has been responding to the coronavirus pandemic and it’s devastating effects in every area where we work.
OUR IMPACT1. CREATING PROTECTIVE ENVIRONMENTSChildren on the Edge works closely with the people and places that have the most impact on the child: the family, classroom, community and society. At every level, we engage with and actively involve the whole community to jointly create a protective environment where each child can thrive. Thanks to the unwavering support of our donors this year, we have been able to continue to do just this.
As government services ceased under lockdown, the Child Protection Teams increased door-to-door visits to keep an eye on children who were at risk. 79 loans were provided to households, supporting new businesses that help to provide enough income to feed families and pay for education. The campaign to protect children from child sacrifice at the national level through the passing of The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill 2020 continued, making significant progress.
To keep spirits high, hundreds of children celebrated a huge variety of festivals throughout the year including Holi Milan, Diwali, Raksha Bandhan and Durga Puja, keeping in line with current safety measures. As a result of widespread research, training, campaigning and tracking of trafficking cases through a new helpline, there was a direct increase in community vigilance. 80 Women’s Groups trained on saving and small business loans in order to provide for their children, and learned about parenting and preventing domestic abuse and child marriage.
Teachers in Kutupalong refugee camp used home-based classes as a crucial opportunity to check-in on children’s welfare, and observe any signs of hunger or abuse, which have been on the rise during lockdown. In August 2020, all staff were given training on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
2. EMERGENCY RELIEFOur partners have responded to an unparalleled situation this year with the utmost agility and ingenuity. They worked around coronavirus restrictions to deliver over 12,500 food parcels to severely affected households and saw how initiatives like micro-loans, savings groups and Child Protection Teams enabled thousands of households to withstand the worst circumstances.
Priority was given to those people with physical disabilities, women headed households, and those who had suffered a recent death in the family. Women’s Groups directly increased the resilience of nearly 1,000 families throughout lockdown, inspiring 490 new membership applications from friends and neighbours.
As soon as lockdown began, Kutupalong refugee camp was closed. Only staff from medical NGOs and the World Food Programme were allowed in. Thankfully, this has meant the one million refugees have received food supplies and had very little exposure to the outside world. We focused on creating awareness videos about preventing the spread of the virus, which together with teacher input helped to dispel myths about the pandemic.
4. EDUCATION THROUGH LOCKDOWNPandemic or not, the children we work with face continual barriers to learning, so for us, this was just the next set of obstacles. More than 16,000 children were reconnected to quality education and support despite schools being closed for most, if not all of the past year. This took the form of radio lessons, phone lessons, lessons under trees, in tents, in teachers homes and in student’s homes. Backpacks were stuffed with colourful learning materials and carried to children in the most remote mountain areas. School bus drivers turned into delivery drivers, dropping hundreds of lesson packs to the doorways of refugee tents.
4. CHILDREN LEADING THE WAYWhen children are free to realise their rights, they are free to thrive. This year the children we support have led the way in their communities, identifying the most vulnerable households for support, educating peers on the increased threat of trafficking, conducting surveys on domestic violence, running community handwashing workshops and making videos about preventing the spread of the virus. These examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
The community at large has been facing high levels of stress and depression; but many of our children have become models of resilience, setting examples of how to support families with day-to-day necessiti. Anjali and Ansu, started small shops in their local areas which generated additional income to support their families. 12 year old Soni conducted her own safety awareness campaign, making masks for many people in her village.
Through Moja Kids, their own online platform, students create video updates to share back and forth with children outside the refugee camps where they live, giving them a place to express their talents and creativity, and tackle their sense of isolation.
Masese I Child Rights Club identified a 14-year-old girl who was sleeping out on her own and informed the Child Protection Team. They talked with both the girl and her parents, ensuring she was able to return home safely. The Child Rights Club reported a security guard at their nearby petrol station who sexually assaulted a 4-year-old girl. The Child Protection Team worked quickly with police to have the man arrested.
THE NUMBERSOur fundraising team works to raise funds in a number of different ways; engaging individual donors, soliciting gifts from foundations and trusts, a growing regular giving scheme, strategic corporate partnerships as well as community fundraising and challenge events. For every £1 donated to Children on the Edge, 89p is spent on our projects supporting marginalised children, and 11p is spent on fundraising the next £1. INCOME Our donors responded with huge generosity to the increased need created by the COVID pandemic. We grew our income by just over 5% on the previous year to £2,353,525 which enabled us to maintain programmes and respond directly to the needs of the crisis. We do not engage the services of ‘professional fundraising’ businesses; all our fundraising activity is delivered by our own fundraising team. We do work with commercial participators; when doing so conducting due diligence and reviewing agreements annually. EXPENDITURE Overall programme spending has increased by over just over 30% to £1,895,951. During the COVID pandemic we maintained 100% spending on overseas staff salaries. Some small savings were made on programme running costs but were negated by increased spending on our COVID response to either create new learning opportunities or to respond to the immediate needs of the crisis. Spending in Lebanon increased due to a grant from the People’s Postcode Lottery.
FUNDRAISING HIGHLIGHTS
Our objective for 2020 / 2021 was to raise £1,988,727 across a diverse base of funding. Despite a challenging year of pivoting our fundraising around COVID-19 restrictions we exceeded our expected income and maintained a broad base of funding as planned. As the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, at the start of our financial year, we focused our time and resources into building strong relationships with our supporters; and increasing the ways we could connect with them online. This approach enabled us to pivot so many face to face fundraising events into virtual events which helped us to raise an incredible £864,552 with our partnership with The Body Shop at Home. We are so grateful to our growing “Ambassador” programme within the partnership that helped to champion so much virtual fundraising in 2020. Without physical events, our supporters were creative in raising funds virtually, and most significantly we were delighted to have so many children supporting the charity in 2020 with virtual runs and walks. We are grateful to so many grant makers and individuals who generously responded to the COVID-19 crisis and donated to help us respond to the emergent and ever changing needs of the communities we support. We were delighted to be awarded a second grant from the Postcode Global Trust; a significant investment of £250,000. We are so thankful to players of the People’s Postcode Lottery which funds the Postcode Global Trust. Funds will support safe spaces and quality education for Syrian children and boost our Early Years education programme with Congolese refugee children in Kyaka II. We ran our second matched giving campaign with The Big Give in December 2020, investing in education for Dalit children in India. With thanks to matching funders; The Charles Jacob Charitable Trust, Pacific Star Charitable Trust and The Coles-Medlock Foundation, we were able to connect with new donors, inspire more than 150 donations and raise an incredible £44,432 during the campaign. THANK YOUTHANK YOU
Children on the Edge is in a strong position to serve the needs of the most marginalised and vulnerable children around the world despite the ongoing challenges created by the COVID pandemic. This is only possible because of the ongoing generosity of supporters, from one-off donors, to those who give every month, businesses of all sizes, trusts and institutional funders as well as those who give their time in the office or at events. We deeply appreciate every single one of you. Thank you. |
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