Child Frontiers at 15  

Child Frontiers turns 15 years old in September 2023. When my partner, Alex, and I, founded the company in 2008 when we were both living in Bangkok, little did we know then, how exciting and far-reaching our voices would be in the global child protection realm. Child Frontiers views child protection through the lens of developing the systems that surround child, with an emphasis on endogenous solutions. The child protection arena at the time had not really seen anything like our little setup, so we could not really anticipate making it to 15 years, let alone having the impact that we did.

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Child Frontiers has, by now, conducted more than 200 projects in almost 100 countries. Our members, consisting of management, associates, researchers, social workers, lawyers, coordinators, project managers, editors, proofreaders, transcribers, designers, videographers, facilitators, investigators, evaluators, technical specialists, and many more, have put in more than 10,000 professional days, to bring our unique approach to child protection around the world.

 

Our teams have conducted interviews and focus group discussions, helped write laws, collected data and conducted training, in all sorts of conditions, from the foothills of the Himalayas, to refugee camps in the Sahara. Through grit, gumption and unbridled passion for the work, our teams have gone into places that have been ravaged by war, recovering from natural disasters, and even in disputed zones. We have learned from village elders, counselled government ministers, and sat at the top tables in the formulation of policies to protect children.

 

In short, the Child Frontiers’ journey has been so much more exciting than Alex and I, could have ever imagined.

 

Child Frontiers has the privilege of working with some amazing clients and partners. Our goals to bring about meaningful improvement to child welfare, cannot be achieved in isolation, and for that, I want to extend our sincerest appreciation for our clients for giving us the opportunity to do so. It is no secret that UNICEF is our main client, and I want thank them, both at main offices, and country offices, for the chance to be of service. In areas where we could not fully undertake ourselves, we have managed to partner with some of the best minds and organizations in the sector.

 

Going forward, we certainly hope to around for another 15 years and beyond. We take nothing for granted, and never assume that we have all the answers. We hope to learn as much as we teach. Child protection is an evolving sector, with issues such as climate change, social media, migration and artificial intelligence; now impacting the lives and wellbeing of children worldwide. However, I am just as passionate as I have ever been in bringing innovative solutions to child protection in the face of such evolution.

 

Once again, from the bottom of our hearts, I thank you all. Let’s go!

 

GUY THOMPSTONE

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