Children & Youth
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Photo: Sean Sheridan for Mercy Corps
Teaching the next generation and keeping them healthy are essential to tomorrow's strong, vibrant societies. Mercy Corps works with communities to shelter and nurture children and youth through innovative education, sports and job training programmes.
Through the power of sports, community service and vocational training, we empower young people to make smart life choices and find a productive place in the changing global economy.
Our signature Comfort for Kids programme focuses on helping children process trauma after natural disasters and conflict. See our expert's recommendations for how parents and caregivers can help children through times of crisis ▸
All stories about Children & Youth
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Colombia: Capture or surrender earns second chance May 8, 2012
Child soldiers in Colombia escape the front lines one of two ways: by turning themselves in, or being rescued in battle. Most come from the countryside, where schools and jobs are scarce, and join an armed group as a way to escape poverty.
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Colombia: Picturing yesterday, today and tomorrow May 1, 2012
Former child soldiers in Colombia created these drawings as part of our programme that helps them reintegrate into society after fighting in illegal armed groups.
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Kenya: Planting tea and cultivating positive change April 30, 2012
I’m crouched inside a tea nursery high up in the Central Rift Valley of Kenya, and George Ngethe is patiently explaining to me how tea is produced.
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Yemen: A fresh coat of paint can make all the difference April 26, 2012
Yemen’s youth are demanding change across the country on a large scale, but I’ve also seen them bring it in their communities one improvement at a time.
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Libya: Benghazi activists honor the price of war April 25, 2012
One of the great things about my job is that I get to meet people who contribute to social change from a million different angles. But of all the people I’ve met through my work at Mercy Corps, few have been as inspiring as a group of activists I met in Benghazi during a trip to Libya last week.
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Kenya: Kids in Kenya April 17, 2012
Pictured are school children from the community of Kenyanjeri, which participates in our Yes Youth Can! programme.
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Iraq: One hundred text messages she can read and write April 9, 2012
The noise was deafening. I had asked a simple question — “How has the WAI programme changed your life?” — and everyone had an answer. I didn’t know what to focus on. Spoons clinked in tea glasses and the women never stopped talking.
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West Bank and Gaza: Digital opportunities transcend borders April 9, 2012
In Gaza, information technology is one of the only ways to connect to a productive future. See what Alaa and her visionary peers achieved at Gaza's first-ever Startup Weekend.
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West Bank and Gaza: Online Arabic freelancer network launches in Gaza April 5, 2012
After winning third place in the first-ever Startup Weekend in Gaza this past December, AnaLancer has launched an “expert-sourcing platform” that connects freelancers from the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) with business owners worldwide.
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Iraq: Empowered youth build stronger society April 2, 2012
Salahadin in one of the hardest hit provinces in Iraq. Just north of Baghdad, services here are hard to come by and the security situation is often critical. But it is also the centre of a groundswell of civic activism and organisation.