Below are some leading advocacy coalitions and networks working to shape U.S. policy, programming, and funding to support children, adolescents, and youth globally. Together, these coalitions can form a holistic network to develop a whole child approach through a young person's life cycle.
A Generation at Stake is a group of nongovernmental organizations with a shared mission: to improve children’s and youth’s lives around the world by investing in and prioritizing their critical needs. They work collaboratively to support a holistic, common-sense approach to U.S. foreign assistance for all young people.
Website: https://agenerationatstake.org/ Leadership: The Children's Policy and Funding Initiative, ChildFund, Disability Rights International (DRI), First Focus on Children, Global Campaign for Education, InterAction, International Rescue Committee, Plan International USA, Search for Common Ground, Thrive Coalition, UNICEF USA, and World Vision. |
The Alliance for International Youth Development (AIYD) is a community of practice and advocacy platform of leading U.S.-based youth and community development organizations. The Alliance provides an opportunity for engaged organizations and individuals to share effective practices across all sectors of international youth development, and to inform programs and policies that support and impact youth. AIYD draws on its collective expertise to advocate for informed and targeted investments for young people globally.
Website: theyouthalliance.org Leadership: Global Fund for Children, IREX, International Youth Foundation |
Alliance to End Slavery & Trafficking (ATEST) is a U.S-based coalition that advocates for solutions to prevent and end all forms of human trafficking and modern slavery around the world. Specifically, ATEST advocates for lasting solutions to prevent labor and sex trafficking, hold perpetrators accountable, ensure justice for victims and empower survivors with tools for recovery.
Website: endslaveryandtrafficking.org Leadership: Free the Slaves and Safe Horizon |
Basic Education Coalition (BEC) is a group of leading U.S-based organizations and academic institutions working together to promote global peace and prosperity through education. By leveraging their collective technical expertise and advocacy efforts, BEC members raise a unified voice to ensure U.S policymakers support and strengthen education for the developing world. BEC’s mission is to promote expanded, equitable access to quality basic education so that all children have the chance to learn.
Website: basiced.org Leadership: Brookings Institution |
Better Care Network (BCN) is an international network of organizations committed to supporting children without adequate family care around the world. BCN works by fostering collaboration, research and information sharing on family strengthening and alternative care, and advocating for changes to national, regional, and global policies to improve children’s care situations.
Website: bettercarenetwork.org Leadership: Better Care Network |
Big Ideas for Women and Girls Coalition advocates for placing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls at the center of U.S foreign policy and development assistance, as not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do- given the compelling evidence that investing in women and girls brings high returns for economic growth, societal well-being and global stability. The coalition brings together 20+ non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and experts who are committed to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls globally.
Website: bigideascoalition.org Leadership: ChildFund International and CARE USA |
The Coalition for Adolescent Girls (CAG) is a member-led and driven organization dedicated to supporting, investing in, and improving the lives of adolescent girls. They drive new and improve existing programming, policies, and investments that promote the opportunities and rights of adolescent girls. CAG members envision, and strive toward, a world where adolescent girls are fully able to realize their rights, navigate challenges, and access opportunities during the transition from childhood to adulthood and beyond.
Website: coalitionforadolescentgirls.org Leadership: Mercy Corps and Women Deliver |
The Coalition for Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality (CWEEE) is an advocacy coalition, launched in 2018, that seeks to advance women’s economic empowerment and equality as a foreign policy priority of the U.S government and multilateral development institutions.
Website: cweee Leadership: International Center for Research on Women |
The Coalition to End Violence against Women and Girls Globally consists of more than 180 organizations whose combined expertise, experience, programmatic work, and collaboration with local activists make it a powerful resource and ally on issues related to the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls. Their mission is to end the global epidemic of gender-based violence that affects millions of women and girls every year. They believe that governments must be key actors in ensuring women and girls have the full enjoyment of their rights.
Website: endgbvnow.org Leadership: Amnesty International, Futures Without Violence, Promundo, Women's Refugee Commission |
End Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Against Children (OSEAC) Coalition is a U.S. advocacy coalition that aims to improve U.S. government policies and programs to better prevent and address the online sexual exploitation and abuse of children and provide appropriate support to survivors.
Website: https://endingocseacoalition.org/ Leadership: ChildFund International |
Ending Violence Against Children Task Force is a group of international non-governmental organizations committed to addressing the global prevalence of physical and emotional violence. The partnership solely focuses on the Sustainable Development Goal 16.2: ending all forms of violence against children. For a fact sheet relating to child protection during COVID-19 response, click: here.
Website: Not available Leadership: American Academy of Pediatrics, ChildFund International, Futures Without Violence, UNICEF USA, World Vision-US |
First Focus on Children is a bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to making children and families the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. The organization leads a comprehensive advocacy strategy, with its hands-on experience with federal policymaking and a commitment to seeking policy solutions. First Focus convenes multiple coalitions and participates actively in over 25 coalitions focused primarily on children in the United States while it works to expand their scope to include children globally.
Website: firstfocus.org |
Girls Not Brides (GNB) is a global partnership of more than 1300 civil society organizations from over 100 countries committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfill their potential. Every year, 12 million girls marry or enter a union before the age of 18. Their experiences can amount to slavery and child marriage can operate as a guise for slavery with near impunity. One in four of those who experienced modern slavery in 2016 were girls under the age of 18. To read the GNB Child Marriage and Modern Slavery position paper (August 2021), click: here.
Girls Not Brides USA (GNB-USA) is composed of over 60 civil society organizations working to end child marriage wherever it occurs. Website: Girls Not Brides USA Leadership GNB-USA: International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), World Vision US, Save the Children |
The Global Campaign for Education-US (GCE-US) is a broad-based coalition of international nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups, and advocates dedicated to ensuring quality, universal education for all children and youth. The mission of GCE-US is to promote education as a basic human right and mobilize to create political will in the United States and internationally to ensure universal quality education, which is at the core of all human
development. GCE-US urges the U.S. government to increase its investments in bilateral and multilateralinternational basic education efforts. To access a fact sheet about GCE-US and its policy and budget priorities, click: here. To view detailed recommendations to the U.S. Government, click: here. Website: campaignforeducationusa.org Leadership: Global Campaign for Education-United States (GCE-US) |
The Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security (GCYPS) is the leading platform for shaping global policy and practice on youth, peace, and security. The GCYPS facilitates exchange, coordination, and collaboration between more than 70 organizations from civil society, including youth-led and youth-focused organizations, UN entities, donors, academia and inter-governmental bodies.
Website: youth4peace Leadership: Search for Common Ground (SFCG), United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY), and United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) |
The Global Coalition to End Child Poverty is a global initiative to raise awareness about children living in poverty across the world and support global and national action to alleviate it. Members work together as part of the Coalition, as well as individually, to achieve a world where all children grow up free from poverty, deprivation and exclusion. They support the UN and aim to work with national, regional and global decision-makers, global campaigners, international organizations, civil society, and other institutions to end child poverty as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Website: endchildhoodpoverty.org Leadership: UNICEF and Save the Children act as conveners of the group. The Global Coalition operates within a worldwide network structure without formal headquarter, secretariat and sponsorship. |
The Global Health Council strengthens relationships within the global health community and advocacy efforts with the U.S. Government. Specifically, the GHC manages roundtables on U.S. global health budget and policy, the Sustainable Development goals (SDGs), and Global Health Security (GHS). GHC serves as the secretariat for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) and the Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) Roundtables, and convenes meetings of the co-chairs to coordinate advocacy and communications within the community and plan for external events.
Website: globalhealth.org |
The Global Partnership and Fund to End Violence Against Children were launched in July 2016 by the UN Secretary-General. The Partnership is the only global entity focused solely on Sustainable Development Goal 16.2: ending all forms of violence against children by 2030.
The End Violence Partnership is a platform for collective, evidence-based advocacy and action. Working with a unique coalition of more than 600 organisations including governments, UN agencies, research institutions, international NGOs, foundations, local CSOs, private sector groups and faith networks, we connect and convene partners to raise awareness, catalyse leadership commitments, mobilise new resources, promote evidence-based solutions, and support those working to end all forms of violence, abuse and neglect of children. The End Violence Fund is a flexible funding vehicle that identifies new and emerging challenges to SDG 16.2 and invests in innovative initiatives that have the potential to replicate and scale. Fund investments typically have both direct impact for children and also generate data, evidence and learning that inform policy and increases the impact of other programmes to end violence against children. Website: end-violence.org |
InterAction is the largest alliance of international NGOs and partners in the United States. They mobilize their members to think and act collectively to serve the world’s poor and vulnerable, with a shared belief that they can make the world a more peaceful, just and prosperous place- together. InterAction is a convener, thought leader, and voice for NGOs working to eliminate extreme poverty, strengthen human rights and citizen participation, safeguard a sustainable planet, promote peace, and ensure dignity for all people.
Website: interaction.org InterAction Ad Hoc Working Group on Children and Youth brings together international NGOs working to improve conditions for children and youth globally to strengthen a whole child approach in U.S. foreign diplomacy and assistance. Leadership: ChildFund International, UNICEF USA, World Vision |
Inclusion International is the international network of people with intellectual disabilities and their families advocating for the human rights of people with intellectual disabilities worldwide. Together they agree on a Statement of Unity (SoU en Español) and are committed to progress towards inclusion International’s vision. For over fifty years Inclusion International has been committed to the promotion of these human rights and the organization now represents over 200 member federations in 115 countries throughout five regions including the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia Pacific.
Website: inclusion-international.org Leadership: Inclusion International |
Keep Kids Safe is a powerful movement of survivors and allies focused on ending sexual violence against children and adolescents. Keep Kids Safe is focused on comprehensive, bold, and transformative action from leaders. They call for:
Website: keep-kids-safe.org Steering Committee: Together for Girls, Darkness to Light, Child USA, National Children's Alliance, Prevent Child Abuse America, SNAP, The Army of Survivors, RAINN, Monique Burr Foundation for Children |
The Poverty Alleviation Coalition aims to alleviate poverty particularly among vulnerable refugees and host communities by offering a personalized response to individual needs. The coalition is uniquely put together and able to combine forces of humanitarian and development actors with complementary expertise.
Website: alleviate-poverty.org Leadership: UNHCR and the World Bank Partnership for Economic Inclusion serve as conveners. |
The Thrive Coalition is made up of over 30 organizations advocating for the U.S Government to support an integrated, global agenda for young children.
Website: thrive-coalition.org Leadership: American Academy of Pediatrics and Catholic Relief Services |
The U.S. Civil Society Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (U.S. CSWG) is a non-partisan network of over 50 civil society organizations with expertise on the impacts of conflict on women and their participation in peacebuilding. Established in 2010, the working group is an engaged coalition that supports the effective implementation of the U.S. Women, Peace and Security Act (2017) and the advancement of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (UNSCR 1325).
Website: Civil Society Working Group on WPS Secretariat: United States Institute of Peace |