CHILD SPONSORSHIP A Tool for Development

.. by Gracy Fernandes, provides an excellent and comprehensive overview of Child Sponsorship. For decades, child sponsorship programs have been operative in a number of key agencies impacting the lives of millions of children worldwide. There are intense debates within the child welfare community about the most optimal set of policies, practices and programs which benefit children, particularly within the context of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). Child Sponsorship has been one approach at the center of these debates.

In this publication, the topic of Child Sponsorship is expertly analyzed from a philosophical, historical and a human rights perspective.  One of the key features in the publication is an overview of key lessons learned based on current case studies. The insights and facts contained in this publication challenge us as child advocates to consistently viewing our work within the core principles of the CRC: non-discrimination, the best interest of the child, and the right to life, survival, education and development.

The publication by Gracy Fernandes is one critical tool, based on exemplary scholarship, which all child advocates can use while developing Child Sponsorship programs in examining their relationship to securing a stronger environment for the care and protection of children. This book highlight s the role of civil society in “giving” and in mobilization of human and material resources required for the effective fulfillment of children’s rights. It particularly draws attention to the singular service of education specially in developing nations where many children cannot afford or access education more so in the case of the girl child. The lack of education and life skills creates a situation where a child is vulnerable and at the mercy of unscrupulous elements in society which show the way to child labour and trafficking.  Further, this publication documents a similar shift in focus by many child sponsorship agencies towards community and social development that meshes very well with the new focus of development.