International programmes
International programmes focus on children's rights to a proper education as well as on their protection from all forms of discrimination, violence and ill-treatment. Teaching at schools receiving support from Save the Children Finland puts special emphasis on equality in school education. In addition, schools and project villages have children's committees working to advance girls' and boys' rights to participate meaningfully in decision-making in these centres.
The programme platform built on children's rights contains the principles that guide all project activities from current situation analysis, planning process and implementation to follow-up and evaluation. One of the principles of sound programme activities relates particularly to encouraging good administrative practices that pay due attention to sustainable development, power structures, involvement, multisector approach, and non-discriminatory conduct.
The rights-based approach to humanitarian and development programmes is built on these principles of sound administrative practice, which include the principles and standards relating to human rights.
Save the Children Finland has adopted the United Nations Millennium Development Goals as a guide for its international activities, and makes efforts to allocate its resources primarily towards providing support for the education of particularly vulnerable children and improving girls' position in its programme target areas. By strengthening the educational and training sector we can work indirectly to reduce childhood poverty and malnutrition, alleviate children's sufferings because of poverty-related diseases, and increase the availability of clean water in the school environment.
The geographical target areas of our development co-operation work are South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal), East Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia) and West Africa (Côte d´Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Mali).Our Neighbouring Area Programmes are currently being carried out in Russian Karelia and in the area of the Leningrad Oblast.
