A heart for building a more effective child protection system in Paraguay BY ANNA BARKER At the start of last year, Ruth Sharon came to us at Viva with a strong legal career specialising in child abuse cases and a heart to make a difference. She wanted to help governments and judiciaries ensure their child […]
Author: Anna Barker
Our response to the COVID-19 emergency
BY ANNA BARKER We’ve responded quickly and effectively to the needs of children and families throughout the COVID-19 crisis. This is because we have an established model of working with local, grassroots organisations and churches. The World Food Programme predicts there will be a doubling of acute hunger as a result of the pandemic. Our […]
The Relay of Life
Over the past few months, in my work, personal life and in the media, I have been noticing occasions that remind me of a relay race. Circumstance has forced some people to pass the relay baton on to others and others to take up the baton. For me this is exciting, it encourages us to […]
Coronavirus: Viva’s global response
BY ANNA BARKER We now face a global crisis which seems to be affecting all of us – restricting travel, for some preventing large meetings and others down to small meetings of five people. Children and families are being asked to remain at home. Children around the world who are living in vulnerable situations are […]
Increasing quality and credibility
BY ANNA BARKER “Not all church leaders are trained about how to manage organisations. We work on a programme called QIS where we go right through the entire organisation – their sustainability, governance, registration and compliance – so that they don’t have any gaps and are absolutely compliant with the laws of the country.” (Gary […]
One global family
Anna Cox writes about one of Viva’s added values: how our family approach enables cross-cultural learning and increases expertise – and ultimately change children’s situations for the better. We’re really excited about how children’s lives are being changed by the work of our partner networks in local communities around the world – these stories are evidence that […]
Strategy, support and sharing
BY ANNA COX “Something was missing in our work, but we found it with Viva.” I have recently returned from Viva’s annual Latin America network meetings held in Mexico – and what a privilege it was to be there. This was my first international visit since I started working for Viva one and a half […]
Teach us to Pray: WWP 2017
BY ANNA COX Over 2 million people took part in the World Weekend of Prayer for children. Every year the World Weekend of Prayer (WWP) unites millions of people across the world in prayer for children. Events are organised in churches, schools and communities, and some even join in by praying in a room on […]
Light in dark places
BY ANNA COX Understanding and action: How Viva’s partner network in Patna is developing girls as rights advocates Every 18 months, we gather together with our colleagues from around the world to share experiences, develop strategy and build relationships. During our most recent international team meetings, I had the privilege of interviewing Devesh Lal […]
Over 4,000 children attended a Viva Christmas Party
BY ANNA COX Thirteen networks around the world hosted 27 Christmas Parties in December with support from Viva. The events brought children of different backgrounds, churches and organisations together for a day to celebrate God’s love and care where they were able to hear the Christmas story and learn valuable lessons to improve their understanding […]