|PIC1|The 2008 Viva Report published this week is part of a longer term aim to complete a global mapping of all the work being done by the Christian community with at-risk children by 2014.
The report looks at the work that the Viva network, churches and other Christian NGOs are doing in Russia, Slovakia, Kenya, Uganda, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, India and the Philippines.
"The information will enable the continued building of a mobilised and connected church responding to the scandal of hungry, hurting and homeless children. But more than this; it will help keep the church positioned, as probably the single largest body responding to children, as a centre of influence," the report states.
The report warns that the effectiveness of Christian work with children is being hindered by a lack of awareness of what churches and other Christian organisations are doing and where they are operating.
"There are countless examples of localised Christian and community based action that deliver effective results and there are countless more that work in isolation. Unsupported and lacking access to the peer relationships, training and resources, their projects suffer from common problems including duplication of work, burnout, insufficient co-ordination and poor accountability," the report states.
It also stresses that churches and charities must be concerned with the whole care of the child, as opposed to only practical needs.
"The Viva community, like many other people, believes that any response to children facing desperate plights must be holistic in nature - it's not just a question of filling an empty belly or treating curable diseases. Every child has a God-given right to have the opportunity to become all that God intends for them."
The statistics in the report paint a harrowing picture. A child dies because of poverty every three seconds and almost 26,000 children die every day from preventable diseases. In 2000, world leaders pledged to reduce the mortality rate of under five-year-olds by two thirds but aid agencies, including Viva, warn that present progress is not substantial enough to meet the 2015 target.
In spite of the good work being carried out by Christians around the world for at-risk children, Archbishop Desmond Tutu noted in his forward to the report that "we make slow progress in reaching vulnerable children and giving them the quality of life that they deserve as members of God's wonderful creation".
Christians could improve the effectiveness of their work with children, he noted, if they adopted a coordinated approach on the local and international level.
"Inside each one of us is a spirit powerful enough to change the world," he wrote. "The spirit of care and compassion can be life enhancing and life changing. One small act of goodwill, one genuine act of compassion can have an impact far beyond our imagination.
"Just imagine what the impact would be if everyone demonstrated a little, genuine compassion for our suffering children. Just imagine what we could achieve if we all worked together in unity on behalf of all our children!"