Lumos congratulates the winners of the MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change competition - International Rescue Committee and the Sesame Workshop. Their early childhood development intervention will make a real difference to children displaced by conflict in Syria.
Lumos thanks the MacArthur Foundation for selecting Changing the Way We Care, our programme developed in partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Maestral International, as one of the four finalists in the competition, chosen out of almost 2,000 applications.
Alex Christopoulos, Deputy CEO of Lumos says:
“We welcome the profile the competition has brought to the plight of children in orphanages, which has been recognised alongside major global problems such as improving newborn survival, the Syrian refugee crisis and eliminating hidden hunger, as a solvable issue of our time. By increasing the prominence of the issue, the 100&Change competition will help us accelerate and achieve our goal of ending the institutionalisation of children by 2050.”
The recognition of the Changing the Way We Care proposal reflects the urgent need to ensure that the estimated 8 million children who live in orphanages around the world are able to grow up in loving families in the community. The MacArthur Board have presented an award of $15 million to support the programme.
Cecilia Conrad, MacArthur’s Managing Director says:
“Collectively, these projects identify the opportunity for action to improve long-term prospects for the world’s children. They propose feasible and durable solutions to remediate the effects of family and community disruption, the lack of dietary diversity, and premature birth. All four projects proved worthy of MacArthur’s support. MacArthur is deeply committed to helping all of them attract the support their critical work requires and finding partners to realise these impactful solutions.”
Alex continues:
“Having already reached hundreds of thousands of people with our message, we are on our way to building a global movement to return children in orphanages to safe and loving families, consigning orphanages to the past. We are proud to stand alongside our valued partners, CRS and Maestral and look forward to building on the foundations we have developed to take Changing the Way We Care forward in 2018.”