Efficient and competent interventions in health, rights and the protection of children


Since its founding act in 1960, the Terre des hommes movement and, at its head, the Terre des hommes Foundation (Tdh) have continually developed their activities with the sole objective of improving the well-being of the child. Well before the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a text that takes into account our interventions, the Terre des hommes Charter, worded by Edmond Kaiser, summed up our action as follows:
“As long as one child remains hungry, sick, abandoned, in misery or in pain, whoever and wherever they may be [….] the child will therefore be fed, cared for, provided with a family and restored to a life worthy of his/her rights as a child, always assured of tender and competent support.”

Now active in 30 countries, without counting the territories where our direct intervention is no longer deemed necessary, we have developed our competence and the efficiency of our interventions, offering solutions to hunger, health, education and protection, all essential components in the development of the child and in respecting his/her right to a worthy life.

In the field of health, we are fighting for access to basic healthcare for all children, in whichever place or community they may find themselves. Our work in this area includes care linked to malnutrition, unfortunately very prevalent in developing countries, as well as the historic Terre des hommes project, transferring children abroad for specialised medical care. With regard to health, we always see the child as part of the inseparable unit with its mother, who is often very young, which is why we call it mother-child health.

In the field of rights, besides the measures aimed at an efficient implementation of suitable solutions which ensure the Convention on the Rights of the Child is respected both in spirit and to the letter, in certain countries Terre des hommes also fights for a fair and appropriate justice system for children and minors; and leads a campaign against all forms of exploitation, whether organised or not, which enslave children and reduces them to a commodity or slave.

Finally, in the field of protection, Terre des hommes offers appropriate protection and rehabilitation solutions to children in extremely vulnerable situations, such as victims of civil conflict or natural disasters, children abandoned by their parents or orphans of AIDS victims, or those left to fend for themselves and forced by their family or a social system to ensure their survival in the street.

As a standard of good practice towards children on a community, social, legal, economic and political level, Terre des hommes has developed a tool entitled Child Protection Policy, a detailed approach which we endeavour to have adopted by every individual or structure with responsibilities over one or more children.