mIDDLE east, north africa & eastern europe

Save the Children is the world’s first and leading independent children’s organisation, committed for more than 100 years to creating lasting, positive change for and with children. We believe every child — no matter where they are born — deserves the chance to survive, learn and be protected, and we work in more than 100 countries worldwide and in 14 countries across the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe region to make that vision a reality. 

Additionally, our Gulf Engagement team works closely with governments, philanthropic institutions and local stakeholders across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) through strategic partnerships focused on child protection, education and humanitarian cooperation globally. These partnerships play an important role in strengthening humanitarian responses elsewhere, supporting efforts that reach children living in some of the world’s most complex and fragile contexts. 

The region is shaped by protracted conflicts, displacement, economic instability, climate-related risks, and deepening inequalities that continue to threaten children’s survival, protection, learning, and wellbeing.  In 2025, an estimated 305 million people worldwide required urgent humanitarian assistance and protection, according to The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Within this, about 59 million people in the Middle East and North Africa need life-saving aid amid protracted crises, while an estimated 15 million people in Europe required humanitarian support in 2025, of whom approximately 10.8 million were in Ukraine alone due to the ongoing war.

Across MENAEE, Save the Children delivers life-saving humanitarian assistance while also investing in longer-term recovery and resilience. Our work spans emergency response, child protection, education, health and nutrition, mental health and psychosocial support, social protection, climate resilience, and child-led advocacy—ensuring that children are protected during crises and supported to rebuild their futures. Through rapid humanitarian response, ongoing development programmes, policy influence and community partnerships, we help children stay healthy, safe and learning, transforming their futures and the communities in which they live. 

We work in close partnership with national and local authorities, civil society organizations, communities, and children themselves. By strengthening local systems, supporting locally led responses, and amplifying children’s voices in decision-making, we aim to deliver sustainable impact and uphold children’s rights across fragile, conflict-affected, and transitional settings.  

Guided by Save the Children’s global strategy and a strong child-rights approach, the MENAEE region works to reach the most marginalized children and ensure no child is left behind. Across the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, children face intersecting crises, including displacement, disrupted education and strained health systems, that threaten their rights and wellbeing. 

Save the Children responds across humanitarian and development contexts to meet immediate needs while supporting longer-term recovery and resilience.

In 2025, Save the Children invested over 300 million USD in children's rights across the region, reaching over 5 million people - of which 3.3 million are children - with life-saving assistance and child-centred support. Our programmes addressed urgent humanitarian needs while restoring dignity and choice for families affected by crisis. 

From delivering digital cash assistance in Gaza, to rehabilitating school shelters in Ukraine, supporting child protection and mental health services in Yemen, and promoting inclusive education and safe spaces across Eastern Europe, our work responded directly to the realities children face on the ground.