How to define protection very much depends upon legal matters. Terre des hommes (Tdh) does not only refer to international law, to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to the whole legislative body of each country in which we are operating, but also to our own Charter.


At Terre des hommes, the notion of child protection is a constant and priority preoccupation, which is at the heart of both its thinking and programmes. Due to its various projects, Terre des hommes addresses different categories of children: those in conflict with the law, those in street-situation, the orphans and those in psychological distress because of their illness (AIDS for example) or because of a trauma and, finally, those who are being exploited. In situations of intense crisis, after a war or a natural disaster, Terre des hommes mainly offers psychosocial help (playful activities), together with individual support aimed at helping the most vulnerable children so as to protect them.


For Terre des hommes, protection is made up of four levels:

1. On the general level: child protection covers all the interdisciplinary measures set up in order to secure the child’s survival and acceptable development, strictly observing the legal framework. The point is not only to protect children, but to protect their rights also.

2. On the operational level: protection is expressed in the setting up of appropriate and specific measures in various programmes, for example in the domain of juvenile law or of the fight against exploitation and trafficking.

3. On the more concrete level: protection encompasses activities such as playful activities, identifying the most vulnerable children, registering them and following up on their social, familial or professional reintegration, as well as some advocacy work, be it at the institutional level, or elsewhere.

4. On the institutional level: both inside and outside of Terre des hommes, protection is understood as a strict respect of the Child Protection Policy, which is the code of behaviour used by all the partners working within our programmes.

Terre des hommes’ central aim is to promote the Rights of the Child through their protection. As activities aimed at prevention and at securing an access to basic services (such as health or education) are vital, Terre des hommes tends to favour the realisation of these basic rights, without unfortunately being able to always secure them.