Friends International is an NGO that focuses on children’s empowerment in South East Asia and provides social services to marginalized urban children and families. They focus on several issues including child migration and child refugees, family separation, and more. FI runs the ChildSafe International initiative which combines advocacy and training to spread awareness about risks that marginalized children face, including campaigns to promote ethical volunteerism and tourism linked to children in orphanages.
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What They Do
Peuan Mit (“Good Friends” in Lao) operates a holistic program for children, youth and caregivers living on the streets and in marginalized communities in Vientiane and Luang Prabang. The program successfully leverages several social businesses, which provides a foundation for its social services. In 2017, the program assisted 3,043 marginalized children, youth and caregivers.
Due to the lack of essential services in Lao PDR, Peuan Mit implements a wide variety of activities, in order to respond comprehensively to the needs marginalized children. Immediate services are provided nighttime and daytime community outreach in the capital and its environs. For young children, Peuan Mit pursues reintegration into education and into caring family environments. Children and youth separated from family are provided short-term shelter at the Transitional Home, while Peuan Mit works in the background to reunite them with their families. Marginalized youth are linked with vocational training and stable employment. The program also works with caregivers to build their income generation capacity.
Peuan Mit also implements ChildSafe Agent training, the ChildSafe Travelers Campaign and a Vientiane ChildSafe Hotline. In 2017, the program created Laos citizen tips and directly protected 792 children through ChildSafe intervention.