Working toward a world in which all children thrive within protective, loving families, free from deprivation, violence, and danger.

Overview

APCCA guides a whole of government approach to investing in the development, care, dignity, and safety of the world’s most-vulnerable children and their families, fostering collaboration and coordination, and maximizing results across departments and agencies.

Through the USG’s foreign assistance, over 54 million children received services in FY 2022 to promote healthy development within safe and protective families. These combined measures across USG Departments and Agencies provide a sense of the scale and scope of programming under the APCCA Strategy and demonstrate the breadth of efforts to provide services for vulnerable children and their families and, where possible, highlight the outcomes achieved by USG-funded programs.

The U.S. government envisions a world in which all children thrive within protective, loving families, free from deprivation and danger. Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity: A U.S. Government Strategy for Children to Thrive (2024–2029) outlines the U.S. government’s whole-of-government commitment and approach to investing in the development, care, and safety of the world’s most-vulnerable children and their families.

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Children receiving services such as family tracing and reunification or other child development, protection, safety, and well-being support

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Parents or caregivers receiving services such as psychosocial support and training in positive parenting practices

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Service providers trained to deliver high-quality support to vulnerable children and their families

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Governmental and nongovernmental organizations with strengthened capacity to provide services and support to children and their families

Our Strategy builds on three evidence-based objectives:

Objective 1

BUILD STRONG BEGINNINGS

The U.S. Government will promote nurturing care by funding and supporting comprehensive and integrated programming, starting before birth through age eight, to improve early childhood development.

Objective 2

SUPPORT FAMILIES TO THRIVE

The U.S. Government will support children who are separated, or at risk of separation, from their families by promoting, funding, and supporting nurturing, loving, protective, and permanent family care.

Objective 3

PROTECT CHILDREN FROM VIOLENCE

The U.S. Government will protect children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect by investing in preventative and responsive programming.

The U.S. Government is committed to achieving these strategic objectives by adhering to a set of guiding principles that underscore each objective and are critical to their success.

ADAPT APPROACHES

The U.S. Government will adapt programs and policies to a child’s age, development stage, gender, (dis)ability, culture, and context to increase the effectiveness of the interventions the government funds.

STRENGTHEN SYSTEMS

The U.S. Government will assist governments and local stakeholders to build and strengthen their capacities to manage and finance essential systems that support children and families and integrate services across sectors to promote optimal development, care, and protection for children.

GENERATE AND USE EVIDENCE-BASED INFORMATION

The U.S. Government will use the best-available data for decision making and employ research, implementation science, and programmatic learning to design evidence-based and evidence-informed policies, programs, and practices and adapt them according to the findings.

CREATE SYNERGIES

The U.S. Government will work across departments and agencies to promote the best possible outcomes for children and families around the world by fostering synergies across sectors and breaking down silos where they exist.

PROMOTE PARTNERSHIPS

The U.S. Government will engage and mobilize a broad range of resources and stakeholders, prioritizing local engagement, and also including governments, civil society, faith-based organizations, and donors to increase the scale and effectiveness of the U.S. Government’s international efforts.

We apply these principles when funding and supporting programs internationally to support children and adolescents in adversity.

Why It Matters:

THE WORLD’S MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN FACE A MULTITUDE OF THREATS

More than 8 million children globally lost a parent or primary caregiver due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

- Learning poverty, defined as the percentage of children unable to read a simple sentence by age 10, is expected to increase from 57 percent to more than 70 percent in LICs/MICs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Child marriage rates also increased to its highest level in 25 years, primarily affecting girls,6 and 30 million more girls and women underwent female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) between 2016-2024.
- The pandemic further exacerbated mental health challenges among children and adolescents, which were already on the rise during the years preceding the pandemic.
- Extreme weather events have immediate and long-term impacts on child health and well-being.
- Due to conflict, crises, and climate-related disasters, displacement reached 110 million people worldwide in mid-2023, with children making up 40 percent of the total. This is an increase of more than 20 million displaced persons since 2021.
- Each year, an estimated 5.4 million children globally die before their fifth birthday, 2.7 million of whom die from malnutrition;

- In low- and middle-income countries, at least 250 million children under age five risk not reaching their full physical or cognitive potential because of stunting and extreme poverty;

- Globally, one billion children under age 18 experience physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, including bullying;

- 152 million children and adolescents are engaged in child labor worldwide, of whom 73 million are in hazardous work;

- An estimated 357 million children, or one in six, live in conflict zones; of the 15 countries with the highest neonatal mortality rate in the world, 11 have experienced recent humanitarian crises;

- Children raised in residential care settings have, on average, an IQ 20 points lower than their peers who live in foster care;

- The total number of children who are living outside of family care in residential care settings or on the streets is unknown, but estimates are in the tens of millions, and significant gaps in the data and services for children who are living outside of family care has rendered this population invisible.

Recognizing and addressing the threats children and adolescents face can both prevent adverse childhood experiences and build resilience so they can thrive even under difficult conditions. Enabling children to reach their full potential will require common understanding, shared commitment, united action, and love.

This is our primary purpose.