History of the Save the Children Foundation

The Save the Children Fund,[1] commonly known as Save the Children, is an internationally active non-governmental organization that promotes children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries.[2] It was established in the United Kingdom in 1919 in order to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic opportunities, as well as providing emergency aid in natural disasters, war, and other conflicts.

In addition to the UK organisation, there are 30 other national Save the Children organisations who are members of Save the Children International, a global network of nonprofit organisations supporting local partners in over 120 countries around the world.

Save the Children promotes policy changes in order to gain more rights for young people[3] especially by enforcing the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Alliance members coordinate emergency-relief efforts, helping to protect children from the effects of war and violence.[2]

Origins

The Save the Children Fund was founded in London, England, on April 15, 1919 by Eglantyne Jebb and her sister Dorothy Buxton as an effort to alleviate starvation of children in Germany and Austria-Hungary during the Allied blockade of Germany of World War I which continued after the Armistice.[4]

The Fight the Famine Council was initially started earlier in 1919 in order to put political pressure on the British government to end the blockade, the first meeting having been held at the home of Catherine Courtney, Baroness Courtney of Penwith, in Cheyne Walk. However, on April 15, 1919, the sisters succeeded in separating itself from the politics of the Council and creating a separate “Save the Children Fund”.[4]

In May 1919, the Fund was publicly established at a meeting in London's Royal Albert Hall in order to "provide relief to children suffering the effects of war" and raise money for emergency aid to children suffering from the wartime shortages of food and supplies.[5]

In December 1919, Pope Benedict XV publicly announced his support for Save the Children, and declared December 28 'Innocents Day' in order to collect donations[6]

The first branch was opened in Fife, Scotland in 1919. A counterpart, Rädda Barnen (which means "Save the Children"), was founded later that year in Sweden, and together with a number of other organizations, they founded the International Save the Children Union inGeneva on January 6, 1920. Jebb built up excellent relationships with other Geneva-based organizations, including the Red Cross who supported Save’s International foundation.[4]

Jebb used many new ground-breaking fund-raising techniques, making Save the Children the first charity in the United Kingdom to use page-length advertisements in newspapers. Jebb contracted doctors, lawyers and other professionals in order to devise mass advertisement campaigns. In 1920, Save the Children started individual child sponsorship as a way to engage more donors. By the end of the year, Save the Children raised the equivalent to about £8,000,000 in today’s money.[6]

Russian Famine

By August 1921, the UK Save the Children had raised over £1,000,000, and conditions for children in Central Europe were improving due to their efforts. However, the Russian famine of 1921 made Jebb realize that Save the Children must be a permanent organization and that children's rights constantly need to be protected.[7] Their mission was thus changed to "an international effort to preserve child life wherever it is menaced by conditions of economic hardship and distress".[6]

From 1921 to 1923, Save the Children created press campaigns, propaganda movies and feeding centers in Russia and in Turkey in order to feed and educate thousands of refugees. They began to work with several other organization such as the Russian FamineRelief Fund and Nansen which resulted in recognition by the League of Nations. Although Russia was largely closed off to international relief and aid, Save the Children persuaded Soviet authorities to let them have a ground presence.[4]

At home, the Daily Express criticized the Fund's work, denying the severity of the situation and claiming they should be helping their own people before helping Russia. The charity responded with increased publicity about the famine, showing images of starving children and mass graves. The campaign gained national appeal, eventually allowing the organization to charter the SS Torcello off to Russia with 600 tons worth of relief supplies. Over 157 million rations were given out, saving nearly 300,000 children. Save the Children closed its Russian feeding program in the summer of 1923 and allowed the organization to reach international legitimacy and acclaim.[4][8]

World at War 1

At the end of World War I, images of malnourished and sick children ran throughout Europe. Jebb and her sister worked to gain public sympathy in order to elicit support aid.[9] Save the Children staff were among the first into the liberated areas after World War II, working with refugee children and displaced persons in former occupied Europe, including survivors of concentration camps. At the same time, work in the United Kingdom focused on improving conditions for children growing up in cities devastated by bombing and facing huge disruptions in family life.[6]

Continuing crises

The 1950s saw a continuation of this type of crisis-driven work, with additional demands for help following the Korean War and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, but also the opening of new work in Africa, Asia and the Middle East in response to the decline in Britain's colonial empire.[6]

Like other aid agencies, Save the Children was active in the major disasters of the era—especially the Vietnam War and the Biafrasecession in Nigeria. The latter brought shocking images of child starvation onto the television screens of the West for the first time in a major way. The sort of mass-marketing campaigns first used by Save the Children in the 1920s were repeated, with great success in fundraising.

Disasters in Ethiopia, Sudan, and many other world hotspots led to appeals which brought public donations on a huge scale, and a consequent expansion of the organisation's work. However, the children's rights-based approach to development originated by Jebb continues to be an important factor. It was used in a major campaign in the late 1990s against the use of child soldiers in Africa.[6]

Founder(s) Eglantyne Jebb

Dorothy Buxton

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