Hold the Child, a South Sudan-based organization since 2011, is trailblazing an African for Africa movement for social change in how the Continent nurtures its children
Our mission is to strengthen the resilience and capacity of families and communities to meet their obligations to the child through community-centered child survival and development initiatives
We work to inspire families, grassroots interest groups, CSOs among duty bearers to derive evidence-driven high impact programs, and promote alternatives to challenge dominant social narratives known for perpetuating cyclic inequalities that trap millions of people in transgenerational poverty
We design projects and campaigns with and for Children
We work with duty bearers (families/caretakers, interest groups, local leadership), adolescents and youth at all stages of the action
We challenge dominant narratives & policies, hold the powerful accountable and promote alternatives
We’ve been at this since 2011
In 2010, Hold the Child was founded in the wake of heightened inter-communal clashes and child abduction amidst poor child care in the underserved Jonglei State (South Sudan). We are set out to inspire and champion a collaborative action towards a Child-friendly society where the rights of Children and other vulnerable persons are protected and promoted.
Just three months after South Sudan’s cessation referendum, Hold the Child was officially incorporated. In anticipation of freedom, and a just society where children have the opportunity to be first-class citizens; the organization braced itself to become an instrumental voice to inspire communities for nation building, starting with how they raise their children.
From Bor town, a small school-based campaign to disseminate the 2008 child act (of Southern Sudan) grew into a Jonglei state-wide operation by the end of 2013. In response to the National (Dec 2023) operations grew into Upper Nile state, Central Equatoria, Warrap, and Western Bahr El Gazal by 2017.
At the start of 2018, the organization adopted a more curated strategy (dubbed DRIVE 2020) to guide its delivery across key sectors i.e. Education, Health & Nutrition, and Protection. This enabled the organization to evaluate its decade of experience by 2020 and informed its Continental Ambition (Sustenance 2030) as presented during the 1st partnership breakfast in Juba.
The second decade started with RISE 2023 (Resilience and Inclusive Social Empowerment) strategy, whose take-off was aborted by the emergence of COVID-19. At the tail end of the COVID wave, the strategy was revised to RISE 2025 (2023-2025).
