2024 was a devastating year for too many children. The lives of millions were upended by war, disasters, and hunger. It would have been worse if not for the support of sponsors and donors like you. Thanks to your generosity, 2024 has also been a year of transformation, resilience, and hope. Together, we’ve brought clean water to communities, supported children’s education, provided life-saving aid in emergencies, and so much more.
In 2024, we launched a variety of impactful campaigns and projects. From raising awareness about child sponsorship to providing essential resources and support, each initiative played a crucial role in driving our mission forward. Take a look at the key campaigns and projects that made a difference this year.
100 Girls Campaign
This year, we launched our 100 Girls campaign, which focused on securing sponsorship for 100 girls living in the world's most dangerous places.
The campaign addressed the unique challenges that girls face, such as limited access to education, early marriage, and gender-based violence, by providing essential resources like education, health services, and mentorship. Through child sponsorship, advocacy, and strategic partnerships, the campaign worked to ensure these girls' survival as well as to help them thrive by breaking the cycle of poverty and creating a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their communities.
To Launch the 100 Girls campaign, our fundraising team set up a stall at The Book Centre and Ardkeen Quality Food Store, in Waterfod, for a day where they were able to spread the message of the campaign and raise awareness. It was truly touching for the team to see the community stopping by and having a genuine interest in advocating for the rights of girls. Alongside this, we also displayed a billboard Waterford City, ran some radio ads, and featured in a few locals newspapers!
Influencer Engagement
We were also thrilled to partner with some incredible Irish influencers who helped amplify our 100 Girls campaign. By leveraging their social media platforms and voices, these influencers spread the campaign's message, reaching new audiences and promoting our mission. Their support brought much-needed attention to the challenges young girls face in vulnerable communities, sparking conversation and action. These posts encouraged their followers to make a difference, like you, through donating, sponsoring, and advocating for girls. Thank you to Billykiss, Mayara, Ciara, and Julie for being a part of the campaign.
Global 6k Campaign
During the summer, we launched the Global 6K for Water campaign. This campaign is a global fundraising initiative that aims to provide clean and accessible water to children and communities in need. The campaign encouraged participants to walk or run 6 kilometers, which is the average distance that children in developing countries walk to fetch water.
Clonliffe Harriers AC kindly held a charity run for us to raise funds and awareness about the campaign. Participants in the charity run wore a special race bib featuring the photo of a child from a community supported by World Vision Ireland.
This campaign was great for raising awareness and funds for our clean water projects. Participants helped provide life-saving clean water, sanitation, and hygiene resources to communities lacking these basic necessities. The event also built a sense of global solidarity, as people around the Irish community came together to support the mission of ensuring clean water for all.
The campaign had a great response, with members of the World Vision Ireland team, families, friends, supporters, and Clonliffe Harriers Athletic Club members coming out on the day to participate. Thank you to everyone who participated.
Fighting Words
Last year, Fighting Words worked with World Vision Ireland to support creative writing activities with children in Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This long-term partnership, funded by Irish Aid, was part of a broader five-year program that World Vision is leading to empower and protect children and women.
Teachers from participating schools were invited to Dangoroyo for a days training on how to run the writing workshops in their schools.
These creative education opportunities can strengthen children's resilience, build their confidence, and contribute to the larger objective of protecting children from violence. As a result, three stories from students in Somalia were included in the Irish Times' Fighting Words supplement for 2024 (see pages 38-40). In previous years, stories from Syria, Jordan, and Somalia have also been included.
None of the impactful work that we do would be possible without the unwavering support of our child sponsors. Your dedication and generosity enables us to provide life changing opportunities for vulnerable children. As we look back at our sponsor highlights from the year, we are deeply grateful for each sponsor who has made a lasting impact on a child's life. Thank you for being a part of this journey.
Uganda Sponsor Trip
In October, we had the amazing opportunity to bring 16 of our child sponsors to visit their sponsored children in the Area Programs of Lunyo and Busitema in Eastern Uganda. The trip included a tour of local schools, water projects, literacy and health centers, and community projects, so sponsors could see the direct impact their donations are making. Most importantly, sponsors had the opportunity to meet their sponsored children and their families! It was a truly rewarding and impactful experience for all.
The opportunity for sponsors to see firsthand how their sponsorship impacts the life of a child has left a lasting impression on them. Have a look at what our sponsors have had to say about this amazing experience:
Fiona Brosnan & daughter Zoey
"I saw how education was given justifiable priority in the community, how World Vision repairs school roofs, builds latrines, supplies books and supports literacy programmes which helps the community educate themselves."
Christina Hardy
"I was expecting to meet communities in need, but instead, my heart was warmed to see a community taking a hand up and running with it, to thrive and build meaningful lives for their families and communities into the future."
Sarah & John Osborne
"I'll always remember that pride and joy on Yazidi's little face. He was just so thrilled to demonstrate for us their Tippy Tap. I thought how ingenious for this family, with no running water, to construct this simple hand washing idea out of sticks and a plastic drum, but I was told this idea came from World Vision, and had given this family the tools to help themselves."
Seamus & Carmel Scally
"We saw at first-hand how our sponsorship is really helping this community to grow and prosper by becoming self-sufficient and independent. Following our visit, we would encourage anyone we meet to get involved and actively support World Vision."
Nicola Gardiner
"I learned so much more about what World Vision does in the communities than I ever thought. The last community we visited was particularly impressive. Their pride in what they have achieved was so obvious and the fact that their knowledge can now be shared with other communities with a ripple effect is such an effective way of enhancing their lives."
Karen Elwood & daughter Leah
"World Vision helps the community with water, education support, healthcare but more than anything it gives them hope and a belief that they can improve life themselves. Hope that their children can lead a more comfortable life than they did. And all around was the evidence of that in the happy faces of the children to the proud parents who welcomed us everywhere we went, eager to show us what they had achieved."
Tony & Gráinne Whitmore
"It was an honour and privilege to be welcomed by the entire family and shown around their home. Although there was a language barrier, we were able to communicate with the family with the help of the World Vision translators. Joshua loves football and luckily for my husband, who happens to be a football enthusiast & FAI Football coach, he quickly engaged Joshua and his friends with an impromptu football training session. To see Joshua’s face light up & see my husband in his element, was something to behold…..sports has no boundaries!"
Maura Hennessy
"The stand out moment for me during my visit with Ivan was when he produced the letters and cards that I had sent to him during the time I have been sponsoring him. One special card that I had sent him he really liked, it was a lovely photo of my dog Alfie that I had printed and made a card with it. It brought me to tears (and I am not a crier!) to see how much those letters meant to him. It made me promise to make more effort to write to Ivan more."
Ambassador Spotlight
We're thrilled to highlight two extraordinary World Vision Ireland ambassadors, Fiona Looney and Lorraine Keane! Their relentless dedication, compassion, and efforts in 2024 have not only helped in raising funds but have also amplified awareness for our cause. Thank you Lorraine and Fiona for all your contributions.
Fiona Looney
In response to the recent trip to Uganda, where she had the chance to meet her sponsored child, John, Fiona Looney, initiated a new campaign called Cófra. Fiona was able to witness first-hand the remarkable and inspiring impact that her monthly donations had on her sponsored child and community. She was particularly struck by the school visits where she was deeply moved by how determined the teachers were and how eager the children were to learn in spite of the significant challenges they faced.
She left Uganda wondering if it would be possible to fill African "cófras" through Irish fundraising. So, the Cófra project was born with the objective of providing essential learning materials to World Vision-supported schools, ensuring that every child has access to the tools and classroom materials necessary for a brighter future.
Lorraine Keane
During the Christmas season, we launched the 'Christmas of Firsts' campaign that aimed to promote child sponsorship and showcase how sponsors could give a child a "first", like their first full meal, their first chance to attend school instead of having to walk long distances to collect clean water, or their first chance to sleep on a mattress rather then a hard floor. To launch this campaign we had the pleasure of having Irish TV Presenter, Lorraine Keane, launch the campaign on her social media through a selfie video where she spoke about her experience as a child sponsor for over 27 years, and all the "firsts" she has provided.
Lorraine is a proud ambassador of World Vision Ireland and as a child sponsor for over 27 years, she has witnessed how much sponsorship impacts lives. It was great to have her introduce our child sponsorship programme to her online community.
World Vision Ireland is a proud member of the Irish Emergency Alliance which is a collective of seven leading humanitarian agencies that come together to respond faster and to help to rebuild the lives of people that are majorly affected by emergencies around the world. Together the alliance is active in 93 of the world's poorest countries and has operated in some of the most difficult situations thanks to donations from supporters like you. Collectively the alliance has raised a total of €400,000 to date.
The Gaza and Lebanon Appeal
The people of Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon really needed our help last year. Constant bombardment for the past year destroyed homes and families causing families to have to flee for safety. Over 40,000 people, mostly women and children, were killed by bullets and bombs, with nearly 100,000 more injured.
As part of the Irish Emergency Alliance, we responded to the humanitarian crisis in the region by launching the 'Gaza and Lebanon Appeal' with other member agencies for those in desperate need. The appeal encouraged supporters like you to donate and provide things like:
- Clean Water: Ensuring families have safe water to drink.
- Food: Feeding children and families on the brink of starvation.
- Shelter: Giving displaced people a safe place to rest.
- Healthcare: Bringing medicine to the injured and sick.
- Hope and Comfort: Providing counselling to children who are traumatised by the violence.
As a team, we are incredibly proud of the work that we have done over the past year to help children in some of the most vulnerable communities. It has been a great year full of progress, learning and moments that remind us why we do this work. Take a look at some of our team highlights from the past year.
Employer Excellence Award
We were delighted to have won the CII Employer Excellency Award in 2024. In World Vision Ireland we work hard to foster a positive work environment and culture. Our four pillars of WVIRE's Behaviours and Mindsets are: We are Empowered, We are Determined, We are Accountable, We are Humbled. These pillars demonstrate our values, beliefs and attitudes. They influence how we behave towards our colleagues and approach the work we do.
As a team we collaborated to develop World Vision Ireland's culture to truly foster a positive work environment that is informed by the people who are affected by it and living it. Staff engagement and well-being is an ongoing priority for us at World Vision Ireland and it was great to see our efforts were recognised.
World Vision International CEO, Andrew Morley Visits The Office
In November, we had the pleasure of hosting World Vision International CEO Andrew Morley at our Irish office for the first time. As part of his visit, Andrew, World Vision Ireland CEO Gillian Barnett, and some other members of World Vision Ireland staff and board met with Archbishop Michael Jackson, Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly, Bishop Phonsie Cullinan, and Gillian Wylie in the morning. The meeting was a great opportunity for us to talk about how faith is central to our work. We also discussed the current opportunities and challenges, and how we can support Irish church leaders in engaging with their congregations and sharing the witness of God's work in faraway and challenging places.
Later in the day, Andrew joined the World Vision Ireland team in the office, where he got to hear updates on the past year, learn about the Uganda Sponsor trip, and also took some time to share a devotion with us.
ARDHI-Tanga Project Launch
In 2023, the European Union and the Government of Tanzania announced the start of the EU-funded Integrated Approach to Sustainable Development Cooking Solutions Programme in Tanzania. Accelerating Reforestation for the Development of Households in Tanga (ARDHI Tanga), proposed by World Vision Tanzania and World Vision Ireland, was selected as one of the awarded projects to address the challenges posed by land and forest degradation in Tanga, Tanzania.
ARDHI Tanga aims to contribute to sustainable forest management and wood-fuel production in Tanga through enhanced natural resource management and sustainable wood-fuel value chains. By working with local communities in Handeni, Mkinga, Pangani, and Kilindi districts, ARDHI Tanga will promote and support sustainable and equitable forest management practices that are good for the people and the planet. Members of our World Vision Ireland programmes team traveled to Tanga to launch the project last February.
COP29 Negotiations
The global UN Climate Conference, COP29, took place in November, bringing together heads of state and government officials, UN agencies, corporations, civil society, and young people to negotiate and coordinate global climate action. A team of staff from World Vision attended from around the world, including Maurice Sadlier, World Vision Ireland's programmes and policy director. The team from World Vision emphasized children's rights to clean, healthy, and sustainable environments, the impact of climate change on hunger and malnutrition, promoting nature-based agricultural solutions, and discussed the importance of faith-based communities in climate crisis response. Following the conference, Maurice shared his thoughts on the decisions taken at COP29 on the World Vision Ireland blog.
New World Vision Ireland Website
Last year, we launched our new World Vision Ireland website, and we couldn't be more thrilled with how it turned out!
It's now easier to use and navigate, making it simpler for our supporters to find the information they need and to get involved. Putting this together was a real team effort, with each one of us contributing feedback, skills and hard work. Seeing the final product come to life and knowing it's making a difference is incredibly rewarding for all of us.
As we move into 2025, our focus remains on helping the most vulnerable children around the world overcome poverty so that they can experience fullness of life now and in the future. Inspired by our Christian faith, our work reaches children no matter their background or location. We want to make a lasting difference as we contribute to the sustained well-being of children, especially the most vulnerable, marginalised and furthest behind.
We intend to more than double the number of vulnerable children we work with by 2027 – by deepening our impact and amplifying children’s voices.
Our team is more committed than ever to achieving our goals and making positive impact. We're dedicated to our mission, and each of us brings our unique strengths and unwavering dedication to the table. The progress we've made so far fills us with optimism, and we look forward to the meaningful changes we’ll bring about in the coming months.
Our sponsors, donors, and supporters play an essential role in this journey, providing the resources and encouragement needed to drive our initiatives forward. Together, we are confident that our collective efforts will create a lasting difference in the communities we serve.