Founded in 1919 by Eglantyne Jebb in the aftermath of World War I, Save the Children has grown into one of the world’s largest child-focused humanitarian organizations, working across more than 100 countries to improve children’s lives through healthcare, education, protection and emergency relief. Today, as conflict, economic instability, and displacement continue to place millions of children at risk, the organization faces increasingly complex challenges. So what are the realities of child labour, the growing pressures on vulnerable families, and why is collaboration across governments, communities, civil society, and business more important than ever?
Ahead of World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, Rebecca Smith, Global Head of Child Protection, pointed to one of the sector’s biggest obstacles: the tendency for companies to focus narrowly on their own supply chains rather than addressing the broader conditions that place children at risk in the first place.
“Removing a child from one workplace without addressing the wider pressures they face often means they simply move into another form of labour,” she explained. “Looking at individual supply chains alone can be expensive, difficult to manage, and ultimately ineffective.”
Tackling child labour requires a much more comprehensive approach, one built around public-private partnerships and long-term community support. Governments, businesses, local leaders, and parents all have a role to play in creating environments where children are protected and families are not forced into impossible choices.
Economic hardship remains one of the strongest drivers of child labour globally. Rising living costs, shrinking aid budgets, and government austerity measures are placing immense pressure on households already struggling to survive. As families lose income and support systems weaken, children are increasingly at risk of dropping out of school and entering work prematurely.
The broader geopolitical climate has only intensified those pressures. Reductions in international aid and prolonged instability across multiple regions have created what Smith described as a deeply challenging environment for children worldwide.
Operating in more than 110 countries, often in some of the world’s most fragile and hard-to-reach settings, Save the Children’s approach to child protection is rooted in partnership at every level.
At the systems level, the organization works directly with governments, sometimes seconding staff into public institutions, helping shape child protection laws and policies, and supporting workforce training.
It also works with governments to strengthen long-term public investment strategies for children.
Within communities, the focus shifts toward building sustainable local protection systems. Parenting groups, community-led child protection committees, and referral networks all play a role in identifying and responding to children at risk.
According to Smith, working alongside parents and local leaders is essential for creating long-term change.
At the individual level, Save the Children provided holistic case management and protection support to more than 40,000 at-risk children last year alone.
Local NGOs and civil society organizations remain central to this work. Rather than replacing local actors, the organization focuses on strengthening their capacity through training, tools, and long-term support, particularly in communities where trust and local relationships are critical.
The organization also works directly with companies, encouraging businesses to think beyond their immediate operations and consider how they can contribute to stronger, more sustainable protection systems within surrounding communities.
Rebecca Smith also warned that the current geopolitical situation has dramatically increased child protection risks, particularly in conflict zones and humanitarian emergencies. Rising migration and displacement mean more families are being forced to rebuild their lives without stable income, education, or support networks, conditions that leave children highly vulnerable to exploitation and child labour.
At the same time, major disparities in global attention continue to shape humanitarian responses. While some crises dominate headlines, others remain severely underfunded despite ongoing suffering.
“Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo are clear examples where the scale of need remains enormous but international attention is far more limited,” Rebecca Smith noted.
In refugee settings and protracted emergencies, child protection risks remain persistently high even as funding becomes increasingly difficult to secure. In some remote or inaccessible regions, humanitarian organizations face additional barriers in reaching children who need support most urgently.
Funding gaps are especially severe in chronic emergencies, where donor fatigue and overlapping global conflicts have stretched humanitarian resources thin. Countries such as Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and increasingly Lebanon continue to face enormous humanitarian pressures while aid becomes harder to mobilise.
“Because there is so much conflict happening around the world, people are not giving in the way they used to,” Rebecca Smith said. “At the same time, reductions in official aid budgets are making the situation even more difficult.”
Addressing these gaps, she argued, will require much stronger collaboration between governments, businesses, philanthropists, and civil society. It also means holding governments accountable to the overseas development assistance commitments they have already pledged.
Despite the challenges, Rebecca Smith remains optimistic about several emerging approaches within the child protection sector.
One of the most promising initiatives is Save the Children’s new community-led model, Seeds, which helps communities identify child protection risks and design their own local solutions.
Early results suggest the model is encouraging stronger local ownership, innovation, and engagement.
There is also growing evidence that parenting programmes can play a significant role in preventing violence against children and strengthening family support systems before crises escalate.
Perhaps most encouraging, Rebecca Smith reported, is the increasing willingness across the humanitarian sector to collaborate rather than compete. Shared standards for child protection in emergencies, stronger coordination between governments, civil society, the UN, and humanitarian organizations, and a growing recognition that no single actor can solve these challenges alone are all helping drive more effective long-term responses.
“There is a growing recognition that child protection cannot be solved in isolation,” Rebecc Smith said. “Real progress depends on comprehensive systems where governments, companies, communities, and individuals all work together to protect children.”
She stressed that protecting children also requires sustained political will, reliable long-term funding, and consistent public attention so that vulnerable families are not forgotten once media coverage fades and humanitarian priorities shift elsewhere over decades.