Compassion International Joins Africa in Commemorating Day of the African Child (DAC) 2025
Colorado Springs, Colorado--(Newsfile Corp. - June 16, 2025) - Compassion International, a leading child development organization, proudly joins the African continent in commemorating the Day of the African Child (DAC) on June 16, 2025. This year's theme, "Planning and Budgeting for Children's Rights: Progress Since 2010," underscores the importance of intentional investment in the protection and development of Africa's children.
The Day of the African Child, observed annually on June 16, honors the rights and dignity of children across the continent. It serves as a moment to reflect on the progress made in advancing children's rights and to confront the persistent challenges they face. Spearheaded by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), DAC 2025 invites governments, organizations, and communities to evaluate and strengthen their efforts to uphold children's rights through effective planning and budgeting.
At the heart of Compassion International's mission is a steadfast belief that every child must be known, loved, and protected. This commitment aligns powerfully with the 2025 DAC theme. Through its child development programs, Compassion supports over 2.2 million children globally.
In Africa, Compassion International currently operates in ten countries, partnering with local churches to serve nearly one million children. Together, we are committed to releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name by nurturing their holistic development and safeguarding their dignity.
" By participating in DAC 2025, Compassion International reaffirms that child protection is not merely a programmatic goal-it is a fundamental right for every child. The organization stands in solidarity with African governments, civil society, and communities in calling for sustained, strategic investment in the future of Africa's children." Says Palamanga Ouali, Vice President of Africa Region at Compassion International.
Compassion's work directly supports the DAC 2025 vision by:
Developing children holistically by nurturing their minds, bodies, and spirits.
Prioritizing child protection -empowering children to recognize and report abuse, training caregivers and church partners, enforcing a global Code of Conduct, and safeguarding personal data.
Ensuring financial integrity by maintaining transparency through regular audits and responsible fund allocation to maximize program impact.
"My dream for Burkina Faso children is for them to reach their full potential. I want to see that our rights are respected, and our voices are heard in decision making." - Djamila, 10-year-old program participant from Centre-East Burkina Faso.
In collaboration with our frontline church partners Compassion International has organized a range of activities including radio and TV talk shows, community dialogues, presentation of children's position papers to authorities, youth budget forums, participation in DAC 2025 commemoration event, art and poster exhibitions and child seminars among other events.
Children participate in a past Day of the African Child celebrations in Kenya
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10878/255387_e087c2b13422ba96_001full.jpg
For more information about the Day of the African Child 2025, please visit https://www.acerwc.africa/en.
About Compassion International
Compassion International is a Christian child development organization dedicated to releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name. Founded in 1952, Compassion partners with more than 8,500 local churches in 29 program countries to deliver spiritual, economic, social, and physical care to over two million babies, children, and young adults in poverty. Ranked No. 12 in Forbes' America's Top Charities List in 2024, Compassion is a founding member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and an accredited charity with the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. For more information, visit compassion.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
26-06-2025
- CBC
I didn't know what it meant to be Canadian until I saw a photograph that opened my eyes
This First Person column is written by Clare Currie, who lives in Cape Breton, N.S., and is part of a Canada Day series exploring what Canada means to people across this country. For more information about First Person stories, see the FAQ. Growing up in Cape Breton, I had a narrow idea of what "Canada" meant. Simple images came to mind — maple syrup, Peter Mansbridge and beavers. Who knew that a child born nearly 8,000 kilometres away would shift my understanding of my own country? I'd been watching the television one evening in September 2015 when the newscast showed a picture of Alan Kurdi, a Syrian refugee child whose body had washed up on a beach near Greece, lying face down in the sand and water. It was the most painful and unnatural thing I'd ever seen. My heart went out to that little boy as a mother. Until that moment, I'd been busy raising two sons, working as a nurse and living a comfortable, privileged life. Seeing that picture was the first time I felt real discomfort or guilt for having so much. I had taken my Canadian freedoms for granted. I'd never considered what it would be like for someone to take my home, my family, my treasured belongings and my world as I knew it. I remember telling my husband we needed to do something, but we had no idea where to start. I didn't know anything about Syria, so I started reading everything I could about Syrian culture and food, Islam, and what refugees from Syria might need. Cape Breton Island was a predominantly white community for most of my childhood and even in my adult years, so I had little experience to draw on. I only knew that a local community group would be helping to sponsor a Syrian family that planned to settle in Cape Breton, and more would come later. My mother had helped to resettle Vietnamese refugees to this country in the late 1970s, and she told me that was "the happiest time" of her life. When I told her I wanted to be part of the Syrian refugee crisis work, but didn't know where to turn, she said, "Don't worry about where it will come from. It will come." One strong island Cape Breton Island, for all its beauty, is remote and underresourced. People here have a history of economic struggle. But we're fiercely proud of our strength, our culture of friendliness and our desire to help each other out. I started collecting goods in my home with help from friends and family. They brought every single thing you could imagine a family might need — from bed frames to clothing to pots and blankets. My niece changed her university's Secret Santa party to invite everyone to donate personal items for the family, while my son's company also collected goods and money. Our local furniture store stepped in with tables, chairs, dressers and more. We all couldn't believe how it was coming together; everyone was doing something. I'll never forget driving down to the school where the two older children in the refugee family would eventually attend and seeing a huge "welcome" sign written in Arabic hung above the entrance. Knowing that the family would have left their family keepsakes behind, our town's photographer offered to take new family photos for them. Somehow, once empty apartments were turned into welcoming, cosy homes, ready for the families to make a new beginning. The day after the first family from Syria arrived, my husband Joe and I went to their apartment door, and nervously knocked. I carried with me a Post-it note with the word "Marhaban," which meant welcome or hello written on it. A beautiful yet timid young woman opened the door, and I handed the Post-it to her. She smiled and welcomed us in. Neither of us understood each other's languages, but with the use of Google Translate and lots of gesturing, we quickly began to communicate. The family included the mother, father, two daughters in elementary school and a toddler son. The father's brother, who is paraplegic and in a wheelchair, came with them too. I kissed and hugged each one of the family members, immediately feeling that they were my own. Later in the visit, the mother and I sneaked away to a quiet corner. I typed her a message to share with her own mother in Syria: "Tell your mother I can be your mother here if you want". She sent that to her mother, who responded, "Yes, that's a good idea." We cried together for a while, holding hands and kissing each other's cheeks like old friends. My husband, being the practical and quiet guy he is, hooked up the TV and found an episode of Mr. Bean. We all piled onto the bed and the floor and watched it together, laughing our heads off. We were family. I was never so happy in my life. The word "mom" has taken on a new meaning for me. Now I'm called mom not just by my own children, but I also feel like a mom to the children of other families we've helped resettle in this new country. They call me Clare, but wish me every Mother's Day. There's plenty of love to go around. A few years later, the first family we'd helped resettle in our area left for Ontario for work. The friends I made in Cape Breton as part of the refugee sponsor group were also there on the day they left. We all cried our hearts out as we waved goodbye, wishing them good luck on the next step of their journey here. In 2025, being a Canadian woman to me means looking out for our neighbours, leaning into differences in culture, religious practices and learning how to help others in need. Because we are not different at all. We are all just looking for safety and peace. It's our Canadian values of equality, respect and freedom in action. It is the singular privilege of my life to walk alongside these families from Cape Breton and those who are newcomers to Canada. It's changed how I live, and I intend to do this work as long as I am able. I learn from them grace, service, faith and hope. They taught me how to be a Canadian.
CTV News
26-06-2025
- CTV News
Hikers reflect on devastating rockslide at Bow Glacier Falls
Nearly a week after a devastating rockslide in Banff National Park, hikers are sharing harrowing stories of survival—and moments of extraordinary compassion.
CTV News
21-06-2025
- CTV News
Canadian aid worker calls for sustained investment in fighting global hunger on World Refugees Day
Bags of food from USAID are seen in South Sudan in this file photo. Nearly 300 million people around the world are at risk of starvation, according to the recently released Global Report on Food Crises. Many of those are refugees and internally displaced people. On World Refugee Day Friday, CTV News Vancouver spoke to Andy Harrington, a Fraser Valley resident and the executive director of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which is a major partner in the federal government's international development program. Harrington recently spent time in South Sudan, where years of internal conflict and a civil war raging in neighbouring Sudan have exacerbated hunger at a time when the United States and other nations are cutting back on food aid and other humanitarian spending in foreign countries. 'Many of the children in South Sudan – and certainly refugees that have come across the border from Sudan – are chronically malnourished,' he said. 'Some are acutely malnourished, which is worse.' Harrington recounted being at a malnutrition centre on the day a worker there had to inform the population it served that it would be closing in 24 hours due to aid cutbacks. 'Refugees and displaced people are right at the front of the queue for getting their services cut – and those services are absolutely minimal at the current situation,' he said. 'Being in a situation where people are literally trying to thrust babies at us – it was hard to see.' The 294 million people experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity around the world in 2024 was twice as many as fell into the same category in 2020. This year was the sixth straight that the Global Report on Food Crises recorded an increase in the number of people experiencing this level of hunger. The report also found that there were more people experiencing famine-like conditions in 2024 than in all of the previous seven years combined. The majority of people in that situation are located in either Sudan or Gaza. Harrington's plea for Canadians that they don't allow their governments to follow the trend of other countries that have been reducing foreign aid. 'We have many, many needs here in Canada,' he acknowledged. 'We have a cost of living crisis. We have food issues here, as well. It is absolutely true. But, we're Canadians and we can do more than one thing at the same time. We have to understand that the values-based world we live in as Canadians is under threat and we have to stand up for that.' With files from CTV News Vancouver's Spencer Harwood
