Save the Children is a private, nonprofit international organization that supports children and values their rights. It was founded in 1919 by Eglantyne Jebb of Britain. In post-World War I Europe she worked to support starving children regardless of which side they were on, and in the course of that work she drafted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (Geneva Declaration). This idea later led to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Today 29 independent members, including Japan, work together in about 100 countries. In Japan, Save the Children Japan was established in 1986 and works together with children while cooperating with local governments and communities. The website says it supports more than 37 million children in about 100 countries including Japan (2025).
Its fields are wide, including emergency and humanitarian aid, health and nutrition, education, child protection, disaster risk reduction and child poverty, and its website introduces activities in places such as Uganda, Madagascar and Japan. In Japan it also runs Hello! Baby Box, which provides childcare items to families from pregnancy through the early postpartum period, and supports children in areas hit by earthquakes and heavy rain.
Key points
- Part of a worldwide network that began in 1919, established in Japan in 1986
- Its vision is a world where every child's rights to live, grow, be protected and participate are realized
- Comfortable ways to give, such as monthly donations starting from 1,500 yen or a one-time gift
Why this organization deserves attention
Under the shared principle of children's rights, it supports children's lives broadly, from health and education to protection and disaster response. To raise the quality of its work, it also works on building safe organizations and programs for children, and on monitoring and evaluating its projects.
It focuses not only on activities overseas but also on child poverty and disaster support in Japan. Besides donating, reading the activity reports and publications on its website can be a way to learn about the situation of children.
Editor's comment
That children can grow up in safety is a wish shared by every country and region. It is quietly moving that a movement started by one woman more than 100 years ago still supports children in so many places today.
The official website has easy-to-read articles, including activity reports and the series "A Look at the Field." Why not start by looking at an activity that interests you?