The Netherlands

Stitching Children of Heroes of Ukraine is a grassroot NGO providing long term comprehensive assistance to children who lost one of both parents as a result of the Russian war. They provide lont term support in number of areas, including psychological counselling, camp organisation legal assistance, edicational equipment, foog and hygiene packages, etc. The Foundation is the Dutch branch of the Children of Heroes, the Ukrainian organisation.

Since February 2022, OFF has supported Ukraine by delivering aid and helping return children illegally deported. They’ve reunited 48 children and are working on more cases. To ensure ongoing support, OFF is building rehabilitation centers for families in safer areas. They also advocate for children’s rights through international campaigns and events. The organisation changed its name to Emile Foundation and shifted its focus in 2024 to supporting children in armed conflicts regions, including Ukraine. They have delivered over 150 tons of medical supplies, food, clothing, and generators to frontline villages and hospitals. The Foundation currently works on the full return mechanism of the illegally and forcibly displaced children of Ukraine and continues to advocate for children’s rights globally through campaigns, events, and discussions with international bodies.

The Youth News Foundation was founded in 2015 by Dutch journalist Tako Rietveld. After working as a presenter and reporter for the Dutch National Children’s News for over ten years, he felt the need to give children across the world a voice .‘Children proved to me that they have
much more to say then most adults think. They inspire me, make me laugh and think. They know what the world should be like. We can learn from them. Listen!‘

TdH NL’s mission is to protect children by preventing and stopping child exploitation, and by empowering children to make their voices count. Together with partners, they design programmes to empower children and their communities, connect them with those who have power to enact change, and work with them to co-create solutions. Their work is rooted in research and learning, which they combine with their experience in lobby and advocacy work to influence power holders to enact change. As of 2o22, TdH NL has projects in 23 countries, implemented in collaboration with partners. ln addition to country-based work, they are engaged in international advocacy at regional and global levels through different initiatives.

ChildPress aims at supporting children in making media campaigns as reporters by helping them in finding Inspiring topics and people for them to research. The Foundation provides schools, governments and libraries with materials scenarios and (digital) formats for the start-up of a child press centre and facilitates the exchange of good practices and experience. It also provides a network of publishing and media partners.

Veronica Smits has got more than 25 years experience in family and child-law. In her research and recent daily activities, she focused on the child participation issues. Veronica works as an assistant teacher at the Tilburg University(family and youth law) and she is engaged as a legal advisor for William Schirkker Group (child protection and youth probation).

Within Utrecht University’s research team Dynamics of Youth researchers from all fields of expertise study how children and youth develop in our rapidly changing society. The main criteria for research under ‘Dynamics of Youth’ is that the research is interdisciplinary and contributes to solving relevant societal problems (often in collaboration with external public and private partners and where appropriate with children and youth themselves).

Learning for Well-being Foundation is an advocacy foundation that supports realising our unique and full potential through the development of our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects in relation to self  others and the environment. The Foundation has developed “”Learning for Well-being”” – a process-oriented approach to life, a language and a tool that cultivates capacities of individuals and communities to inspire a shift of mindset that places well-being at the center of all our endeavours.

The Netherlands Youth Institute is the Dutch national institute for compiling, verifying and disseminating knowledge on children and youth matters, such as youth care, parenting support and child education. The Netherlands Youth Institute’s main aim is to improve the physical, cognitive, mental and social development of children and young people by improving the quality and effectiveness of the services rendered to them and to their parents or carers. It supports the youth sector by advising on policy, programmes and implementation and by training professionals in evidence based methods.

Through the Coalition for Children’s Rights, organisations join forces to protect the interests of the child and supervise the safeguarding of children’s rights in Dutch law, policy and practice. The Coalition consists of key members Defence for Children, Kinderpostzegels, the National Youth Council, Save the Children, Terre des Hommes and UNICEF The Netherlands, and has the Netherlands Youth Institute as their advisor. Besides its key members, the Coalition has many other partners.

International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI) is a knowledge organisation in psycho social development of children and young people growing up in difficult circumstances. ICDI aims at promoting children’ s rights and improving policies and practices by building the skills of the children, families, communities, local organisations and authorities. ICDI also works with and for bigger international children’s rights organisations, supporting knowledge transfer through training, research and advice.

EACH promotes the welfare of all children before, during or after a hospital stay. It seeks the recognition of the rights of sick children with all its implications to become a uniform European standard. In several European countries the EACH Charter has served as a basis for healthcare legislation and professional guidelines and has been used as a reference in many scientific studies and publications.

The International Step by Step Association (ISSA) is a membership organisation that connects professionals and organisations working in the field of early childhood development and education. ISSA promotes equal access to quality education and care for all children, especially in the early years of their lives. Within its network, ISSA supports a wide array of programs that collectively provide a comprehensive set of educational services and advocacy tools intended to influence policy reform for families and children, with a special focus on the years from birth through primary school.