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Save the Children in Latin America and the Caribbean

Save the Children is the world’s first and leading independent children’s organization – transforming lives and the future we share.  We work every day to guarantee children's rights to health, education, and protection against violence, to ensure that children have a better future.

We ensure that their needs are met and that their voices are heard. Every day and in times of crisis, we do whatever it takes to transform children’s lives. Every year, we reach tens of millions of children in more than 110 countries through our life-changing work.

Latin America and the Caribbean is experiencing a combination of protracted crises and growing humanitarian needs marked by extreme inequality, violence, forced displacement, food insecurity and low resilience to emergencies in the world's most unequal and second most extreme weather-prone region. The situation is urgent:

  • Latin America and the Caribbean is the most unequal region in the world and is home to 5 of the 10 most violent countries - 65 million children are currently affected by violence and conflict
  • 21.9 million people are displaced (keeps rising)
  • 167 million people are living with moderate or severe food insecurity
  • More than 50% cannot understand a simple text
  • 4 out of 5 children are at high or extreme climate risk

“Children are living in very complex situations of violence. In my context, extortion is limiting us, there are children, adolescents and families who are very afraid to leave their homes” ,  Anaí, Peru. 

Sisters Jacinta, five, Petrona, seven, and Petrona Maribel, eight, with one of their sheep outside their home in Quiche district, Guatemala

Sisters Jacinta, five, Petrona, seven, and Petrona Maribel, eight, with one of their sheep outside their home in Quiche district, Guatemala. Luisa Dörr / Save the Children

In Latin America and the Caribbean, we work in 10 countries to guarantee children's rights to health, education, and protection against violence, to ensure that every child has a better future. 

Every day and in times of crisis, we do whatever it takes to transform children’s lives and the future we share. We ensure that their needs are met and that their voices are heard so they can grow up healthy, safe, and educated – playing, learning, and looking forward to a future filled with possibility and potential. 

We empower children and adolescents and enhance child participation by educating them on their rights and guaranteeing that their voices are heard. 

We are committed to building meaningful relationships with civil society groups, women-led and child-led local organizations, national and sub-national entities, amongst others. 

Our Impact on children in 2025

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498,930

reached through healthcare and nutrition programmes

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520,720

reached with education programmes

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228,880

reached through child poverty programmes

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252,750

reached through child protection programmes

Contact us

News & Stories

26 Jun 2026

global

VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES: 'A cataclysmic event' - Children spend second night sheltering in open spaces amid hundreds of aftershocks as needs rapidly rise

Save the Children’s teams and local partners on the ground have reported child deaths and injuries and children have been confirmed separated from their families during evacuations in the capital Caracas and La Guaira – a major port city.

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26 Jun 2026

global

A Renewed Commitment to Children in Latin America and the Caribbean

Gabriella Waaijman, Chief Operating Officer at Save the Children International shares her personal reflections from her visit to the organisation's Regional Leadership Meeting and Forum in Bogotá, Colombia, and why renewed commitment and collective action along with children in the region has never been more important.

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25 Jun 2026

Venezuela Earthquake: Rescuers race to free people trapped in rubble as children forced from their homes by massive quakes

Save the Children is assessing the situation on the ground and working with our staff and local partners to understand urgent needs and support affected families as quickly as possible.

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