About us

Girls
Terre des hommes Romania

Terre des hommes (Tdh) was founded in 1960 and is the leading Swiss organisation for children’s aid. 

Terre des hommes Foundation has been active in Romania continuously since 1992, contributing to the improvement of the child protection system and to the reform of social assistance. We also facilitate the participation of children in the development of their communities.

Each year, thousands of children and parents benefit from the projects that Tdh implements in Romania.

11.001
children in Romania have benefited from the projects that Tdh implemented in 2020
388
parents in Romania were beneficiaries of Tdh projects in 2020
2104
professionals in Romania benefited from Tdh training in 2020
Priorities

In Romania, the Tdh Foundation is active in three areas of intervention:

  • Protection and promotion of children’s rights by strengthening the protection system. We mobilize communities to prevent risk situations and we collaborate with social workers, teachers and other professionals to protect children. We seek to increase children’s and youth’s resilience; we help them participate in making decisions that concern them. We invest in education, health, social services and infrastructure in order to improve life of disadvantaged children in Romania.
  • Supporting children affected by migration. Migration negatively affects children’s life in many ways: from parents who leave the country to children who migrate by themselves or with their family. In this field, our priorities are preventing   children’s and youth’s unsafe migration, and making sure that children already affected by migration have access to their fundamental rights.
  • Access to justice for children. Terre des hommes believes in an efficient justice system where youth are not deprived of liberty. Therefore, we develop specific methodologies for professionals who work with children in conflict with the law and friendly practices for children, with focus on mental balance and resilience.
Timeline of Tdh in Romania
1992

Terre des hommes began its activity in Romania by establishing partnerships with local organisations. The beneficiaries of our first project were mothers experiencing difficulty, and our goal was to prevent child abandonment.  

1997

We launched in Romania a program for protecting and reintegrating children who were in conflict with the law, by offering legal and social support and organizing training for specialists in child protection.

2000

We established partnerships  to promote the rights of children with AIDS.

2005

Due to legal changes in Romania, Tdh could offer training in child protection for key actors representing national institutions. That same year, Tdh joined the initiative of other organisations to fight against the trafficking of children in Eastern Europe.

2006

Tdh Romania as a representative of Tdh was registered in the official catalogue of Associations and Foundations. We opened an office in Craiova,in addition to the one in Bucharest.

2013

We began a major project for the inclusion of Roma, designed to improve their access to health, education and decent living conditions.

2016

Terre des hommes Romania directly helped  9.883 people, including 3000 children who participated in educational activities to prevent discrimination. Also, 2000 children benefited from basic medical services.

2017

We opened an office in Bacau and began implementing Project SHINE (Support for Health, Social and Educational Infrastructure) in 37 communities in the area.

2018

We implemented 11 projects to support rural communities in Dolj, Gorj, Olt, and Bacău. They focused on theactive participation of youth, promoting alternative methods to juvenile detention, and the MGS Movement (Movement, Game and Sports) for the social inclusion of children and vulnerable young people.

2019

We launched a major project for child protection: Keeping Children Safe in Sports. At the same time, we continued to implement 12 other projects, in different stages, in different parts of the country.

Roman Bürki, Terre des hommes Ambassador, visited the children in two communities and promoted sports.

2020

We launched two new projects in the field of juvenile justice (Precision and Focus), and as part of the SHINE project, we published a guide for building sanitary facilities in rural schools, a first for the country.

girls school
Terre des hommes in the world

Terre des hommes (Tdh) is the leading Swiss organisation for children’s aid. Through our health, protection and emergency relief programmes, we provide assistance to over four million children and their families in around 40 countries each year.

Our vision

We aspire to a world in which the rights of children, as defined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, are always respected. A world in which children can thrive in safe environments and become the agents of change they wish to see in their lives.

Our mission

Terre des hommes, founded in 1960, is an independent, neutral and impartial Swiss organisation committed to bringing meaningful and lasting change to the lives of children and youth, especially to those most exposed to risks. We strive to improve their well-being and ensure the effective application of their rights as defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant human rights instruments. To make a difference, we focus on the areas of maternal and child health, children and youth migration, and access to justice. We aim to empower children and youth through active participation. We advocate for the respect of children’s rights, supporting them in voicing their needs and interests. We work in fragile and conflict-affected settings, as well as in stable environments.

Our principles of action

  • We act in the best interests of the child, based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant human rights instruments;
  • We promote and enhance child, youth, family and community participation and empowerment;
  • We foster local partners’ ownership of projects and actions, reinforce local systems to support and enable various national and local stakeholders to provide expertise and best practices;
  • We trust and build on the capacities of stakeholders and communities as primary responders and agents of change;
  • We implement humanitarian, development and peacebuilding activities;
  • We integrate constant learning, improvement, collaboration and knowledge sharing;
  • We strive for innovation and sustainability in all our actions and programmes;
  • We are accountable and transparent to beneficiaries, partners, donors and to ourselves;
  • We partner with other organisations to advocate for the respect of children’s rights.
Values
Courage

We strive to take the best decisions and act with determination and conviction.

Ambition

We want to bring positive, significant and long-term changes to the lives of children and the communities where they live.

Respect

We encourage an honest, responsible and open approach, based on cooperation and acceptance of diversity.

Dedication

We act with goodwill and professionalism around children, while promoting justice and equality.

Tdh

Learn more about Terre des hommes work globally and in Europe.  

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