ChildFund Philippines

With your support, ChildFund has helped children in the Philippines thrive since 1971.

The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam. Located in the earthquake belt and typhoon belt of the Pacific Rim, it is highly susceptible to storms as well as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides and other life-threatening natural disasters. More than 12% of children in the Philippines live in extreme poverty and are especially vulnerable to illness, malnutrition and child protection issues like child labor, trafficking and online exploitation.

ChildFund Philippines helps children grow up healthy by working closely with parents, families and communities to strengthen every aspect of their well‑being. Through our Healthy Start initiatives, we promote proper nutrition, good health practices and early learning for infants and young children, while also supporting caregivers with the knowledge and skills to support children’s physical, emotional and mental development. ChildFund partners with local communities to improve healthcare access and early childhood care systems, ensuring families have the resources they need. For adolescents, ChildFund provides peer-to-peer education and digital learning on health alongside youth‑friendly teen centers that offer safe spaces, mental health support and protection services. Together, these efforts help children and youth thrive and build the foundation for a healthy future.

ChildFund Philippines helps children access quality education by creating safe, inclusive and developmentally appropriate learning environments — especially for preschool-aged children and those with disabilities, who often face the greatest barriers. Working closely with teachers, parents and community leaders, ChildFund strengthens literacy, numeracy and social-emotional learning so that children build the skills they need for both academic success and healthy relationships. With a strong commitment to closing learning gaps exacerbated by the pandemic and recurring disasters, ChildFund Philippines ensures that children from underserved communities have the support, confidence and opportunities they need to thrive in school and beyond.

ChildFund Philippines helps prepare youth for the workforce by identifying in-demand skills, supporting the completion of senior high school or technical training, and partnering with government and private-sector actors to provide apprenticeships, job placement and entrepreneurial opportunities. We also promote social‑emotional learning across all stages of a child's life, giving young people opportunities to deepen self-awareness, make responsible decisions, manage conflict and protect themselves in non‑violent ways. When children and youth have the skills they need to support themselves and navigate challenges, they can thrive in all areas of life.

ChildFund Philippines protects children by strengthening the systems, environments and policies that keep them safe at home, in school, in their communities and online. We work to raise awareness among parents, communities and children themselves about young people's rights and how to safeguard them, while also nurturing youth leaders who advocate for their own well‑being. ChildFund supports and enhances community‑based child protection mechanisms, trains social welfare and child protection actors in case management and referrals, and partners with government agencies to improve child protection laws — contributing, for example, to the passage of the Anti‑OSAEC Law (RA 11930) through our #ShutdownOSAEC campaign. ChildFund also promotes online safety through our Web Safe and Wise initiative, combats child labor through identification, referral and advocacy efforts, and champions universal birth registration to ensure children’s access to essential services. In emergencies, we help communities build their capacity to protect children through our disaster risk reduction programs.

A group of teenagers gather around a community garden featuring a perimeter of reused plastic bottles, smiling as they work in the dirt.

Youth in ChildFund's Eco-Scouts program in Zamboanga del Norte work hand in hand with their community to care for a thriving communal garden where they grow vegetables that everyone can freely harvest and enjoy.