In 2023, children and young people have faced substantial and growing challenges, and the enforcement of their rights has further declined worldwide. In response, Terre des Hommes intensified its efforts: together with 886 partner organisations, we supported almost 7,000,000 children and young people, their families and communities in 68 countries, through innovative programmes, advocacy and campaigns -and notably by ensuring fruitful collaborative initiatives with children and youth.

Starting with the environmental crisis, 2023 being the hottest year on record, it underscored the urgent need for action to protect the planet for current and future generations and the importance of joining forces with and empowering children and young people in these efforts. Terre des Hommes supported children, their families and communities in countries significantly affected such as Thailand, the Philippines, India, Nepal, Peru and Zimbabwe. We also played a pivotal role in the adoption of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment 26 (GC26), emphasising children’s right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. We coordinated a process that enabled over 16,000 children from 121 countries to contribute to its development – one of the most inclusive child participation processes in the United Nation’s history – and we developed a child-friendly version of GC26 in multiple languages.

Combatting all forms of violence against children and young people, including abuse and exploitation, has also been a priority of the Federation.

In 2023, we delivered innovative programmes to support children involved in forced labour and their families in Asia and Latin America. We also called for legislation to protect children’s rights in this regard. And we successfully advocated for a proposed EU regulation to ban products made with forced labour on the EU market, to include legal obligations for economic actors not only to end forced labour including for children, but also to provide remedies for all workers concerned.

Violence against children online increased significantly in 2023. Almost 106 million suspected child sexual abuse images and videos were reported, a significant increase from the previous year, and more than 60% were uploaded to servers in Europe. Terre des Hommes ran projects worldwide to prevent and address online children sexual abuse and exploitation, misinformation and cyberbullying. Together with 50 partner organisations, we also launched a campaign, “Child Safety On!”, to support the adoption of a new EU regulation to prevent and fight child sexual abuse online.

450 million children were also gravely affected by new and protracted armed conflict in 2023. In addition, International Humanitarian Law has often been gravely and repeatedly breached by parties to conflict, violating children’s rights, risking their lives, and preventing access to life-saving protection and aid. This has led to unprecedented numbers of children and young people killed, maimed, orphaned and traumatised, particularly in the Occupied Palestinian Territories/Israel.

Terre des Hommes supported emergency responses to several conflicts, including in Gaza, where we redoubled efforts to provide essential assistance to children and young people. We also made urgent calls for International Law to be respected and for the rights of civilians to be upheld and protected. We supported over 14 million children and their families affected by the war in Ukraine – both in the country and in states hosting people forced to flee.

The past decade has seen a growing number of children leaving their homes for a variety of reasons and the number of forcibly displaced has doubled -in 2023, two in five forcibly persons worldwide were children. Yet, despite increasing numbers and protection needs, migration policies have become more restrictive and harmful in 2023, further exacerbating risks.

Terre des Hommes continued to offer direct support to children on the move across the world and we influenced governments to uphold their rights. As Co-Chair of the Initiative for Child Rights in the UN Global Compacts on Migration and for Refugees, we played an active role in the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, developing and coordinating an official multistakeholder pledge on child rights, which led to over 90 commitments for refugee children by governments and other stakeholders.

We successfully advocated for refugee children to be part of the process and the forum itself for the first time.

Ensuring child and youth participation in processes and decisions that affect them was a core part of our advocacy and we welcomed other important milestones in this regard in 2023: we are proud to have supported and contributed to the establishment of the European Union (EU) Child Participation Platform and the EU Youth Dialogue Platform.

Moving forward, Terre des Hommes International Federation commits to pursue and reinforce its action to defend and further advance children and young people’s rights and to create a world where every child can thrive and live in safety and with hope.

We extend our deepest gratitude to our partners, supporters, and the resilient children and young people we serve, whose courage, strength and engagement inspire us every day. Together, we will continue to champion their rights and well-being.