Welcome! Please introduce yourself here

HI I'm Amanda and really keen to discuss with other CSOs how we can use this shock to the AID system as an opportunity to do things differently and genuinely shift the power, decision-making and resources to local organisations and communities. Looking forward to engaging in inspiring conversations about alternative ways to fund local CSOs and how to build resilient organisations.

Hi, I'm Kristen, and I am a freelance consultant who is associated with Child Frontiers. I am currently based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada--the traditional lands of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples.

I am also a senior international development scholar focused on children and youth. I have always centred children and championed participatory, decolonial approaches in my work. I look forward to continuing (and furthering) that conversation here. In the meantime, please feel free to check out my publications (https://publicationslist.org/kristen.cheney) and connect on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristencheney/).

Hi all, good to be part.

My name is Dennis Ekwere, Executive Director of Children and Young People Living for Peace(CYPLP), a not for profit organization registered in Nigeria.

Decolonizing aid to me, will first of all mean decolonizing our mental slavery especially as African civil society player. It is time overdue, we look inward to our raw and abundant resources and leverage it for our public good. And stop this dependency as independent nations. 

If aid comes, it should be complimentary to our local resources and our interest must be prime than interest of aid donors. That way to my mind, we can decolonize the colonial masters-slave aid development structure to the tap root. I rest my point.

Hi, I am Jagriti from Guwahati, India. I am very happy to join thin group. I have been associated with children and care for protection from a very young age through illiteracy drives, voluntary organisations,groups, NGos, offices etc. Regards, 

Jagriti Acharyya Chowdhury

8133938523

[email protected]

Saludos. Soy Miguel Ángel López de CONACMI, en Guatemala. Trabajamos en procesos de protección a la niñez y adolescencia y fortalecimiento de las familias en condiciones de vulnerabilidad. 

Somos parte de Family desde hace varios años y es un gusto, coincidir con ustedes en este espacio. 

Un abrazo. 

Hi Im Verena. Im a Quality Development Manager at the child rights organisation Kindernothilfe (KNH). We keep discussing this topic internally and I am excited to hear what others think, how you address it and which changes you try to make.

My name is Iortyom Terngu Stephen, and I am a humanitarian worker with 10 years of experience in child protection, GBV, mental health, and community development. I am a Cameroonian based in the Southwest Region, where I currently serve as a Child Protection and Partnership Officer for Hope Spring for All Nations, a non-profit organization. My work focuses on supporting vulnerable children in emergency situations, including identifying unaccompanied children, carrying out family tracing and reunifications, and supporting children associated with armed forces and armed groups (CAAFAG). I also provide psycho-social support (PSS) and set up safe spaces for children to heal and thrive.

I decided to join this space to connect with other professionals and share experiences, insights, and strategies for addressing the complex challenges of GBV and child protection, particularly in conflict-affected regions. The ongoing crisis in Cameroon, with its devastating impact on vulnerable children and women, has heightened the need for collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

By being part of this community, I hope to deepen my understanding of new approaches in child protection and GBV interventions, strengthen my networks with like-minded organizations, and further improve the support I offer to the communities I work with.

Email: [email protected]

Whats: = +237653349525

Hi all

I am Omar Maliyanguvu, Founder and Legal Representative of PAXED, a Non-Governmental Humanitarian Organization under Burundian law. I am excited to join this community of practice and share my experiences with you.

With more than seven years of experience in the planning and management of humanitarian projects, I am committed to the implementation of durable solutions for vulnerable populations. Currently, PAXED is carrying out a crucial project to prevent and respond to sexual violence against children in three refugee camps in and around Burundi. This project aims to strengthen the protection of children and promote safe and inclusive environments for their development.

I am here to exchange ideas, learn from best practices, and collaborate with other professionals who share the same passion for child protection and community development. I also hope to contribute to this community by sharing my knowledge and experiences.

Thank you for welcoming me here.
 

Hi, I'm Bushra, Child Protection Advisor from Islamic Relief Worldwide. Hoping to use this space to learn and network.

Olá, sou Monica Alkmim, coordenadora executiva da Organização de Direitos Humanos Projeto Legal, no Brasil. Estamos na Family desde sua criação. O mundo vive um crescimento dos discursos de ódio e grupos anti-direitos, com isso temos como consequencia o aumento da extrema direita nos governos em países de todas as regiões. O coletivo da Family, com sua representatividade, deve fazer o necessário debate desse cenário e consequencias nos Direitos Humanos de Crianças, Adolescentes e suas famílias. Descolonizar é avaliar esse contexto e definir juntos estratégias de garantia de direitos em todas as nossas realidades. 

Hello everyone!

I'm Peta (she/her) and I am qualified as an Early Childhood Teacher. I work for an organisation that supports the Early Childhood sector in relation to home-based education and care for children from birth up to the end of primary school. I'm currently working as a recruitment officer and am always trying to learn more and about different perspectives across many areas of potential vulnerability for children, families and educators. I work in the DEI&J area and here in Australia I believe we have some excellent tools in our approved national learning frameworks - The EYLF: Early Years Learning Framework and MTOP: My Time Our Place Framework for School Age Children in Australia. These along with our National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, our Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics, listenings and learnings from other nations, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (and more) give us the 'who', the 'why' and the 'how' to work in our local communities towards Reconciliation between First Nations Peoples and non-indigenous Australians, and towards justice and equity for all children. I am keen to be a listener, learner and contributor in this collective space.

Hi everyone, my name is Natalija, 

I work for Ignite Philanthropy and we are not directly affected by the USAID freeze, however some of our partner organizations are, and as I am based in Belgrade, Serbia where majority of CSOs are directly affected. In fact, yesterday special government anti-corruption unit raided three major organizations responsible for resourcing civil society and for government accountability and transparency. They were held captive for entire day and all of their staff interrogated and documentation thoroughly examined. The Public Prosecutor's office stated that this was due to US government officials'  (Trump, Musk, Rubio) statements that the USAID financial support is being misused. I am wondering if there are any examples in other countries where apparently autocratic regime is using this as a tool to intimidate and punish those with different opinion that oppose government's doings? For context, we are in a huge political crisis where strikes and massive protest are happening for months now in an effort to hold government responsible for death of 15 people due to collapse of canopy on a newly renovated railway station, which was a major pet project of government costing a lot of money and obvious case of corruption, you can read more about it here  Let me know if you experienced USAID freeze being a tool for oppression in your contexts. Also, what worries me is that US Embassy nor local USAID office is not making any official statements regarding the incident. 

Dear Natalija Simovic  this is horrific and extremely distressing with continued infringement of human rights as matters worsen for local CSOs and communities on ground. We stand in solidarity. We are reviewing the latest findings from the survey for any such similar experience. 

Dear Natalija Simovic  , I wholeheartedly agree—this situation is deeply troubling and highlights the urgent need for support for civil society. It's alarming how these targeted actions threaten not only individual organizations but the broader fabric of accountability and transparency. Your insights are invaluable, and I hope we can collectively address these injustices. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Estimado Natalija Simovic 

En Colombia, Sur América,  se han dado situaciones donde se cuestionan las acciones realizadas por organizaciones y universidades que se han visto expuestas en publico y se cuestiona su trabajo y la inversión realizada. Sin analizar el contexto y el impacto de los procesos.  Es lamentable lo que se afronta y como esto afecta los procesos a grupos que se beneficiaban y a organizaciones que hoy se ven vulneradas e intimidadas. 

Solo nos queda generar otras formas de organización , participación, movilización de recursos y solidaridad. 

Mi nombre es Stella Duque Cuesta, soy miembro fundador y coordinadora ejecutiva del Centro de Desarrollo Psicosocial – Taller de Vida -, una organización ubicada en Colombia. Latinoamérica.

Somos una organización social creada en 1994 por un grupo de mujeres profesionales y líderes comunitarias de diferentes zonas del país que vivimos la violencia socio política. Contribuimos a transformar el impacto de la violencia en la vida de niños, niñas, jóvenes, familias y comunidades que afrontan la situación de desplazamiento forzado, la desaparición forzada y el involucramiento al conflicto armado, en zonas donde son sometidos a el abuso y la explotación sexual.  La apuesta por la dignidad humana desde un marco de acción psicosocial y de derechos ha orientado nuestro trabajo y fundamenta el desarrollo de una metodología innovadora desde el enfoque sistémico, los postulados de la resiliencia y las artes expresivas.

Creamos y desarrollamos programas y proyectos psicosociales que involucran y nos permiten interactuar directamente con niñas, niños, adolescentes, jóvenes, familias y comunidades indígenas, afrodescendientes, en diferentes zonas de Colombia.

Me entusiasma sumarme a esta comunidad de práctica y compartir nuestras experiencias con ustedes, además poder generar posibilidades de cambio y transformación a nivel global para lograr un cambio de poder y gestión de nuestros recursos y movimientos

Gracias  

Hello Fellow Changemakers from around the globe, 

Wonderful to connect with all of you here! 

My name is Paramita (just PB to most), and I deeply care for a gender-just world free from hierarchies and inequalities where all children enjoy equity, dignity, and inclusion. I live and work in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

I am the founder and chief functionary of a grassroots level nonprofit called DIKSHA (https://www.dikshaworld.org/). Our urban programmes focus on working with children of all genders living in red-light areas, with most of their mothers engaged in the sex trade. The focus is on enabling these children to write their own life-scripts by breaking the intergenerational cycle of FORCED dependence on the sex trade economy. In rural Bengal, we support girls' and young women's football teams to help them break the gender taboo that prevent them from nurturing their football dreams. 

As a grassroots level social transformer, I struggle continuously to communicate to donors the importance of putting community voices at the centre, and design interventions informed by the lived experiences of the young participants. The need to transform the dominant funding narrative that is variously colonised through traditional and new forms of imperial control has been a priority for several years now. However, the aid cut is a trigger that urges us to not lose not another moment. 

I look eagerly forward to meaningful engagements and idea exchanges here. 

In solidarity ...

pb

Hello everyone,

My name is Sangita Bhatia and I currently work for Hope and Homes for Children in India. I am a child rights professional with more than 25 years experience in the sector focusing largely on education and protection. 

Looking forward to meaningful engagements and learning.

Best wishes!

Hola, ola, hello everyone,

I'm really excited to have joined Family covering Anne Marie as Thematic Programme Advisor and also, very excited to join this community group. So many incredible people here and some familiar faces too. My background is in Child Sexual Exploitation, County Lines, Sexual Violence advocacy and participatory research practices however, in recent years I have focused more towards data ethics and how AI is and will continue to shape how we are working with vulnerable populations. As I mentioned, I'm really excited to be here and happy to connect :-)