The World Childhood Foundation, often referred to as simply Childhood, was founded by

Queen Silvia Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

of Sweden in 1999 in an effort to reach and support children at risk around the world. The foundation's focus is on protecting children from sexual abuse as well as supporting those who have already fallen victim, with a concentration on girls and young mothers. Childhood currently supports over 115 programs in 17 countries, including

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

, Brazil,

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania,

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

, Nepal, Poland, Russia,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, Sweden,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and the United States. The foundation also works actively to raise awareness about children's rights and to spread information about the exploitation of children taking place around the world. Childhood has offices in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, Brazil,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, USA and Munich/Berlin, Germany. The foundation's headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden. Secretary General of the foundation is Anna De Geer. Childhood was started by a group called Co-Founders, each of whom contributed $1 million. These are: ABB, The Axel Johnson Group, The Barbro E. Heinz Family, The Charles B. Wang Foundation, The Curtis L. Carlson Family Foundation, The DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund, Heimbold Foundation, The Jan H. Stenbeck Family, The Jane and Dan Olsson Family, The

Oriflame Oriflame Holding AG is a Swedish multinational multi-level marketing company that sells beauty and personal care products directly to consumers online through a network of independent sellers. Oriflame was founded on Jan 1, 1967 in Sweden by b ...

- af Jochnick Foundation, SAP AG, Skandia, Sven-Philip Sörensen Family, and The TeliaSonera AB. Childhood has a focus on corporate responsibility and has, since 1999, engaged a long list of corporate sponsors who have contributed not only through direct monetary donations, but through integrating Childhood into their advertising and branding strategies. So-called Major Partner companies have each signed a three-year co-operation contract with the foundation, working with Childhood in its cause-related issues. The Major Partners include: Volvo Cars Sweden, Handelsbanken and ICA. The sister foundations in Brazil, Germany and the United States work in similar ways with companies of different kinds to raise awareness as well as funds. Childhood celebrated its 10-year anniversary 2009, and has since the inception distributed over US$60 million to more than 600 projects.

External links

Official websiteWorld Childhood Foundation SwedenWorld Childhood Foundation USAWorld Childhood Foundation BrazilWorld Childhood Foundation Germany
Child-related organizations in Sweden Organizations established in 1999 Foundations based in Sweden Child abuse-related organizations 1999 establishments in Sweden {{Int-org-stub