In a joint opinion piece, Erikshjälpen and the World Childhood Foundation write about new reports confirming the risks of growing up in orphanages.
The harmful effects of orphanages have long been known. Children in institutions are at greatly increased risk of violence and abuse, and they often carry trauma and attachment problems with them throughout their lives. These children are also at increased risk of criminality, substance abuse and mental health problems. Orphanages are simply not a safe place for children.
Up to 90% of children in institutions around the world have a parent alive. Often, it is poverty or other social traumas that lead to children being placed in orphanages. More and more countries are now choosing to close down orphanages and invest in support services so that children can grow up in families. Despite this, the idea that orphanages are good for vulnerable children persists. Donations from Sweden and other countries continue to flow in, when the needs are actually quite different.
Paula Guillet de Monthoux, Childhoood
Daniel Grahn, Erikshjälpen
Paula Guillet de Monthoux, Childhoood
Daniel Grahn, Erikshjälpen
Erikshjälpen, together with the World Childhood Foundation, works to spread knowledge and create debate about how children are affected by growing up in orphanages and encourage a commitment to more sustainable alternatives.
Read our debate article in Aftonbladet here: Stop Donate money to orphanages, Swedes
Around the world, girls receive little or no education. That's why Erikshjälpen is highlighting the important work being done in collaboration with the Postcode Lottery to improve girls' opportunities.
October 11 is International Day of the Girl Child. On this day, like all other days, Erikshjälpen wants to draw attention to the situation of girls in the world and emphasize the power of education as a tool for change. Today, more than 600 million girls receive little or no education. There are many reasons why girls around the world are forced to drop out of school, but poverty is often a root cause.
Girls are missing out on education
- For girls, it can also mean that they are married off very young, so that the family does not have to support them. The girl's value lies in being a virgin, and the younger she is, the more likely she is to be a virgin," says Marianne Stattin-Lundin, program advisor at Erikshjälpen.
Forcing girls to drop out of school may also be related to the environment in and around school. The route to school can be long and unsafe, with the risk of being subjected to various forms of abuse. Many girls also miss part of their schooling because they stay home during periods.
- "Menstruation is often a problem because sanitation at school is poor and girls feel uncomfortable, causing them to stay at home," says Marianne Stattin-Lundin.
Marianne Stattin-Lundin
Poverty means not being able to afford school supplies or school uniforms. Parents also cannot 'afford' to spare the income their daughters contribute, for example by looking after younger siblings, taking care of the household when their parents are working, or the girls having other jobs
Keya is now back in school
Keya, a 14-year-old from Bangladesh, was forced to drop out of school when her father passed away. Instead of going to school, she had to take responsibility for the household and her younger siblings while their mother was at work. The school she attended was far away, the road to it was unsafe and once at the school, teachers used violence against students when they thought they were talking too much. Keya's dream has always been to become a doctor and now she dares to dream about it again.
With the support of the Postcode Lottery and Erikshjälpen's donors, a new school has been built just five minutes from Keya's home. There, the teachers are supportive and Keya and her friends have the opportunity every day to continue to be curious and deepen their studies. At the school, students are challenged to engage with children's rights in various activities. The school has separate toilets to ensure that girls feel safe at school even when they are menstruating. The girls have also been given access to sanitary pads.
Keya, 14 years old
If it hadn't been for school, I would probably have been married off, had to work or stayed at home to help the family instead
Suraeya escaped being married off
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), one in five girls in the world is at risk of being married off. 17-year-old Suraeya, also from Bangladesh, escaped child marriage thanks to the knowledge and courage to stand up for her rights. Through the meetings at the children's center that Erikshjälpen supports, she has learned more about her rights. There, together with her friends, she has also learned and practiced how to raise their voices and express their opinions. There they have understood that they have the right to participate and influence their future.
Suraeya, 17 years old
I almost got married off. My parents wanted it, but I didn't want it. I talked to my friends and got support from adults at the children's center. They took the initiative to stop it.
Supporting work for girls' rights
Suraeya was brave and had many people supporting her. Her sister, on the other hand, was married off at the age of 13. Now Suraeya has only one year left in the local school, her dream is to become a fashion designer.
You can support the work for girls' rights by making a donation. Contribute to Erikshjälpen's work here:
Give a gift to education and leisure
Postcode lottery initiative for girls' right to education
You can also read more about the situation of girls in the world and the Swedish Postcode Lottery's initiative for girls' right to education, of which Erikshjälpen is a part, here
We are in a global education crisis
Thank you to those who support Erikshjälpen's work and to those who, through lottery purchases, help to improve the situation of girls. You are helping to ensure that children like Keya and Suraeya get an education and can dream of a better future.
Author: Frida Vingren
Once again, Världens Barn has raised money for children's rights all over the world and this year Erikshjälpen has also contributed in its own way.
For 26 years, Radiohjälpen's fundraising campaign Världens Barn has raised funds to help children in vulnerable situations around the world. For 24 of these years, Erikshjälpen has walked along the side of the fundraising campaign and donated a day's takings from all Second Hand shops and e-commerce to the fundraising campaign. For the fourth year in a row, Erikshjälpen is also breaking records for its fundraising with more than 3.7 million Swedish kronor (SEK) for the benefit of Världens Barn.
This would not have been possible without the great commitment that exists in all our stores for Världens Barn. So many nice local elements to support the collection have occurred around our stores and secondhand.se
On Saturday, October 7, there was great engagement with various activities in Erikshjälpen's Second Hand shops. Children and adults alike flocked in for everything from sausage grilling and face painting to bargain shopping in the store or to have a cinnamon bun in Uncle Erik's café. The joy and warmth were great this day as all purchases went to the collection and the children had a pleasant time.
Tens of millions doubled
The collection for Världens Barn continues throughout the year, but during the campaign week, week 40, the collection reached a high note. During the TV gala, which took place on Saturday, the result rose to 72 million Swedish kronor (SEK). Already the next day, the sum had reached 77.6 million Swedish kronor (SEK).
This year's campaign is also special because the charity organization Akelius Foundation is doubling the donations that come in until 31 October. This makes it possible for more children to take part in the projects and interventions that Erikshjälpen, among others, is doing with its share of the funds raised.
Erikshjälpen's involvement in radio and TV
Erikshjälpen, one of 13 aid organizations participating in the collection, has been seen and heard in several places during the collection campaign.
P4's reporter Lasse Persson was on site in Cambodia at Erikshjälpen's partner to take part in what is done with some of the money collected and what difference the money makes in the lives of children. Listen to some of the features that were made.
Working to stop violence against students: "Their dreams will come true"
P4 Extra The feature with Lasse Persson about Erikshjälpen runs between about 20:20 - 24:40 in the broadcast.
Lasse Persson, left, during the visit to Cambodia.
Lasse Persson, left, during the visit to Cambodia.
Erikshjälpen's Secretary-General Daniel Grahn participated in the TV broadcast and talked about Erikshjälpen's work, where a film from the operations in Ukraine was also shown.
Together for the Children of the World Daniel Grahn and Erikshjälpen are on air between 43:20 and 55:20.
Daniel Grahn, far left, in the SVT broadcast.
Daniel Grahn, far left, in the SVT broadcast.
The world's biggest thank you to you who contributed to Erikshjälpen being able to give over 3.7 million Swedish kronor (SEK) to the collection for Världens Barn. Together you are making a difference for children. And the world they dream of.
Author: Anthon Talhaug
On Children's Convention Day, Monday 20 November 13:00-17:00, Erikshjälpen organizes a children's rights conference in collaboration with Jönköping University and the County Administrative Board of Jönköping County. How do we create equal growing conditions for all children? is the question that the conference focuses on.
All children are equally valuable and should have the same rights. At the same time, the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child show systematic shortcomings in Sweden regarding the integration of a child rights-based approach and child participation.
During the Children's Rights Conference in Jönköping, Sweden, Children's Ombudsman Elisabeth Dahlin, researcher Frida Lygnegård and children's rights consultant Åsa Ekman will focus on children's right to safe and equal conditions for growing up. Together with expert panels, they will discuss what Sweden needs to do better to implement the UN's recommendations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Programme Children's Rights Conference 20 November 2023
Date: November 20, 13.00-17.00 (mingle and mini-expo 12.00-13.00)
Place: Aula at the School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University, Gjuterigatan 5, 553 18 Jönköping.
Registration: The deadline for registration is November 10, 2023. Registration is done via registration form
Last Friday, September 29, the start of this year's fundraising week for Världens Barn took place. For 22 years now, Erikshjälpen has been involved in donating a whole day's worth of money to the collection and this year is no exception.
Världens Barn is Radiohjälpen's fundraising for all children's right to safety, health and school. The fundraising is done in collaboration with Swedish Television, Swedish Radio and 14 civil society organizations, including Erikshjälpen.
For Erikshjälpen, it is a matter of course to contribute to the collection for Världens Barn. Since 2000, Erikshjälpen has contributed in a unique way, namely by donating an entire day's takings from all second-hand shops. Last year, the sum amounted to more than 3.4 million Swedish kronor (SEK).
This Saturday, October 7, you have the opportunity to contribute to the collection by shopping in one of Erikshjälpen's second-hand shops. That's when we donate the entire day's cash! Many stores will also have extra activities.
And this year, your action is more important than ever. The charity Akelius Foundation will contribute by doubling the money raised for Världens Barn until October 31. So every krona raised is two Swedish kronor (SEK) until then.
On the Världens Barns website you can read more about what the money from the fundraising goes to. The common goal is to raise money for projects around the world to promote children's rights.
The money is enough, varldensbarn.se
Each organization that participates has a special project that is highlighted each year. This year, Erikshjälpen is highlighting a project in Cambodia to help children grow up without violence. In particularly vulnerable areas of Cambodia, violence is part of everyday life, mainly due to poverty and ignorance. There, Erikshjälpen provides support in schools and in parent clubs that make a difference for children to grow up in a world without violence.
Read about Erikshjälpen's project here: A childhood without violence
Author: Martina Bohl
In a project dealing with disaster risk management and climate adaptation, Erikshjälpen supports the work with safe areas in Kampong Chhnang province in Cambodia to ensure that children are better protected.
In central Cambodia, communities are heavily affected by climate change and many affected communities fall into severe poverty. One of these communities is in Kampong Chhnang province where Erikshjälpen, together with local partners, works to ensure children's right to safety, protection and education in disaster-affected areas.
During our visit to Cambodia, we met with children, parents, leaders and other local officials to learn more about how poor communities are affected by natural disasters and climate change.
In Kampong Chhnang, work is underway on so-called safe areas. This is to ensure that children are better protected during the rainy season, floods and other disasters. The safe area is located three to four meters above the village level and serves as a safe gathering place during disasters. To ensure the children's right to education, there is also a newly built kindergarten and school. It has also secured access to clean water, built new toilets and created a safe place for children to play.
We were able to listen to the children's thoughts and this is perhaps the most important thing we will take with us in our future work.
Erikshjälpen makes regular visits to partner organisations to support and strengthen and as part of the work to ensure that collected funds and gifts reach the children. The visits are often made by staff at regional offices around the world, but sometimes staff from Sweden also participate.
Author: Anton Eriksson
Listening In Phnom Penh City in Cambodia, Erikshjälpen works together with the local Sunshine Cambodia Organization to strengthen children's rights and give them the opportunity to grow up in a world without violence.
Every child has the right to grow up in a world without violence. But in Cambodia, this is far from reality. In particularly vulnerable areas, it's not uncommon for everyday life to be marked by violence and abuse, both at home and in schools, and it's often adults - parents, older siblings or teachers - who use violence against children.
There are several reasons for what drives violence and therefore the problem must be addressed in as many ways. Together with our local partner Sunshine, Erikshjälpen works with targeted interventions that all, in different ways, aim to promote children's rights.
A large part of the work involves communicating knowledge about children's rights to all the adults around them. It is also about working with different social actors to strengthen children's safety in the public environment and to increase their opportunities to go to school. interventions that in the long term build children's self-confidence and give them a safer growing environment.
Much effort has been made over the years to promote children's rights in Cambodia, but there is still much work to be done. Especially when it comes to engaging and including the child's voice in decisions at different levels of society. Thanks to Erikshjälpen and Sunshine, girls and boys are supported in schools, youth centers and children's clubs to understand their rights - and to make their voices heard.
"Now I dare to tell my mom if I have any problems"
The beatings could come if he hadn't done his homework. Or if he was too tired to help at home. But now, 13-year-old Sereyvat and his mother have a warm relationship based on mutual respect between each other.
Sereyvat's childhood outside Phnom Penh City was long characterized by beatings and scolding. His mother Sokuntheary, who is widowed and infected with HIV, often took her bad temper out on her children, and Sereyvat would be beaten if he wasn't at school.
- Now she has stopped hitting and scolding me, instead she uses nice words and encourages me to do my homework," says Sereyvat.
Since 2017, the family has participated in family support activities and parenting clubs run by Erikshjälpen's local partner Sunshine just outside Phnom Penh City. Here, Sokuntheary has not only received support in her role as a parent or start-up capital to run a small food business, but also knowledge about how her children are affected by a childhood characterized by violence. Something that has paid off.
- Now I dare to tell my mom about my problems and she helps me solve them. There is also a big difference in how I behave myself and I notice that I have become more patient. Before, I often used to fight with other children at school, but now I don't do that anymore," says Sereyvat.
The support of Sunshine and Erikshjälpen has also given Sereyvat the courage to tell his mother if she hits him again, and he now knows his right to grow up in a world without violence.
- My teachers motivate me to come to school regularly. Whenever I have any problem with other students, the principal tells me not to fight with them. He also encourages me to study and tells me to think about my mother who is trying to earn money for my education and future," he says.
Example of costs
- 82 SEK - Annual cost for a parent to participate in the parents' club.
- 124 SEK - Excursion for a child with the aim of strengthening the child's self-esteem.
- 3100 SEK - Start-up capital for small businesses.
First, an intense heatwave. Then heavy rain. Northern India has been hit by severe flooding, causing enormous destruction and up to 200 deaths. Erikshjälpen is providing assistance to affected households through the local partner organization EFICOR.
In July, monsoon rains swept across northern India. The period is expected to last until September and rainfall is extremely important for Indian agriculture. But with the rains come floods, and the consequences are often devastating, with deaths and communities completely destroyed.
This is the current situation in northern India. Here, the weather has become increasingly extreme in recent years and this year's monsoon rains came after a long and intense heatwave. The result was quickly catastrophic, with several landslides and severe flooding. The worst affected areas are those along India's major rivers, where people have been forced to flee their homes empty-handed and seek temporary shelter in makeshift tents.
Support package for almost 600 households
Up to 200 deaths have been reported from six states, while destroyed houses, bridges and roads have devastated both smaller villages and larger communities. Erikshjälp's local partner organization EFICOR was quickly on the ground in the areas of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi to provide both emergency assistance and financial support to the affected households.
Erikshjälpen is contributing to an effort focused on families affected by flooding along the Yamuna River in East Delhi. Here, support packages with food, tools and shelter materials have been distributed to almost 600 households - mainly to vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, widows and single women. It is hoped that another 300 households in Delhi will receive relief packages in the coming weeks.
Hope of moving back home
Since EFICOR started the operation in mid-July, more than 1,700 households have received assistance in the form of support packages or financial support. Help that gives hope to the affected families. Hope to overcome all the challenges brought by the floods and hope to eventually move back to their homes. For EFICOR, work continues in the affected areas and the aim is to reach a total of 5,000 households in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
Author: Johan Larsson
Following Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, almost 2 million children are in need of Humanitarian Assistance. Many children are fleeing alone, through unsafe and dangerous environments. Erikshjälpen is involved in relief efforts to support children and families in Ukraine - those who have crossed the country's borders and those who remain.
How we support refugees
We provide immediate assistance to displaced people, with a particular focus on the situation of children - how they can be protected if they are separated from their families, separated from their parents or when institutions are evacuated.
We have been working for many years in Ukraine's neighbors Romania and Republic of Moldova, with one of our Regional offices located in Romania. Together with local partner organisations and staff on the ground, we provide support to families coming across the border from Ukraine.
Our interventions are implemented in different phases. We divide the interventions to provide sustainable help over a longer period of time.
We give refugees the information they need
We help Ukrainian refugees register and provide them with the information they need, from safe transportation to their rights. We do this to reduce the risks that increase during flight, such as trafficking.
We offer psychosocial support in safe reception centers
In Republic of Moldova , we provide psychosocial support and safe children's activities in reception centers for Ukrainian refugees. In our reception centers, many minors have crossed the border without parents or other guardians and lack documentation.
We help refugee families stay connected
In Romania, Erikshjälpen focuses on social support for children and families crossing the border and has also started working with organisations specializing in translation, into Ukrainian and Russian.
Through a collaboration with NetOnNet in Sweden, Erikshjälpen, through its partner, can provide several reception centers in Romania with chargers for mobile phones - something that many of the refugees forgot in the flight but which is necessary to keep in touch with family members and friends who remain in Ukraine.
We support Ukrainian refugees in Sweden
Refugee children and families are welcome to attend Erikshjälpen Framtidsverkstad , which is located in several places in Sweden. Here you can participate in activities that are designed together with other children and families in the locality for increased cohesion, networking and personal development. We offer the initiatives in collaboration with local actors from both authorities and civil society.
How we support those who remain
Our interventions inside Ukraine aim to help and support children and families who are forced to seek shelter or live as internally displaced persons. Our partner on the ground is working to provide those in need with food, water, blankets, clothing and other necessities. We also provide psychosocial support and social assistance to affected people - directly on the ground but also by phone and online.
Many of the internally displaced are children and young people. They are forced into difficult routes, with unsafe transportation and accommodation. We are working to strengthen their protection, with the help of our local partners, who are working on the ground to meet the unique needs of each child.
Author: Elin Jonsson
