Save the Children’s child protection work focuses on crucial services to vulnerable children and their families. We have established a Community Center for Children (CCC) to support the most vulnerable children and prevent child labour and begging on the street by introducing Income Generating Activities (IGA) for parents. Each IGA support recipient is allocated a substantial amount of 49784 AFN (USD 710) to help them establish a small-scale business, thereby ensuring sustainable livelihoods for the family, which eventually helps mitigate any negative coping mechanism for the vulnerable families, such as the risk of child labour or begging within the targeted beneficiary group. The IGA programme targets 250 families identified by the authorities as poor or widowed, with children working on the streets.

Nadia*, a widowed mother who received the IGA support, says, “I am a widow with five children. I was in debt and had no income, but after receiving support from Save the Children, I started my own business. I sew clothes with embroidery and sell them in the market. I make around 3500AFN (66.05USD) every week. I am so happy that I can provide for my children’s needs; I can buy them new clothes and good food. Sometimes the orders for sewing clothes are very high. I even sew Afghani clothes for the bride and groom, and I can earn up to 6000 AFN (113.23 USD) a week. My life has totally changed now.”

Furthermore, our child protection work also provides comprehensive case management (CM) services specifically tailored to address the unique needs of the most vulnerable children. This approach ensures that each child receives individualized support and assistance in navigating complex challenges like child abuse and deprivation of education. Also, the team is engaged in conducting capacity-building training sessions, such as how to start their business and how they can connect to the market for the IGA participants and family members, with the overarching objective of fostering a secure and nurturing family environment that ensures children's wellbeing.