Ways of working

Our work promotes the realization of child rights in seven countries: Bangladesh, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, South Africa and Thailand. Interpedia works in close cooperation with local partner organizations in these countries.

Quick Facts

• 14 partner organizations in seven cooperation countries
• approximately 5000 children and 300 families get direct support annually and thousands of other children also benefit from our work
• activities implemented in approximately 120 schools in our cooperation countries annually

Priority Areas of Development Cooperation

Interpedia’s development cooperation programme is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Interpedia works for the realization of these rights in cooperation with local partner organizations, who implement the projects in cooperation countries. 

The goal of Interpedia’s development cooperation program 2021-2025 is the realization of the rights of the child for each child with the following priority areas:

Right to Education (CRC Article 28) 

With project support, Interpedia aims to create sustainable change: to develop the capacity of education authorities to plan and implement national education laws and regulations according to the Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to improve school management and to promote equality and participation of children, especially children with disabilities and other vulnerable children, in schools.

With sponsorship funds, Interpedia also provides direct support to schools and informal education centers and children, who would be out of school without external financial support for their school fees, uniforms and study materials.  

Right to Protection (CRC Article 19) 

Protecting the child from all form of violence, abuse and negative treatment is in the core of Interpedia’s work. We help the state parties to take all appropriate measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.

In some project, we advocate towards the local social protection bodies to take legally binding social programmes to use and help our partner organizations to provide legal support and help to children in need. In other projects, we work at grass roots level, raising the awareness of child rights and providing local solutions to reduce risk of maltreatment of children in the communities. 

Right to Adequate Standard of Living

A child’s parents or caretakers carry the primary responsibility for securing the living conditions necessary for the full development of the child. The state is responsible for the activities of supporting the caretakers, with particular attention to nutrition, clothing and residence. Because of the special responsibility of the parents and caretakers in implementing child rights, Interpedia supports them in acquiring the information, skills and support they need to realize the rights of their children.

Interpedia supports the families by promoting their ability to take care of themselves and their children by linking them with existing public or private income generating programmes or when necessary, providing sustainable income generating solutions with project support. Priority in training and other support is given to single caretakers and families of children with disabilities and/or minorities. 

Reliability and Ethics

Interpedia is an expert organization with more than 4 decades of experience of development cooperation and sponsorship programmes.

The best interest of the child is the basis of our work

• We follow the ethical guidelines agreed upon by Finnish organizations working with child sponsorship.
• We comply with an ethical way of communicating about our work, based on priorities like respecting the child being supported and protecting of their privacy.

Our use of funds is monitored by:

• staff, board and accountants of Interpedia
• independent auditors
• auditors in cooperation countries
• authorities and partner NGOs in cooperation countries
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland
• National Police Board (the authority supervising fundraising in Finland)

We monitor the the use of funds and the quality of work of our partners abroad

• Our partners report to us on a regular basis: partner NGOs send us narrative and financial reports two to four times per year as well as an audit report by an external auditor annually. Interpedia will not send new financial support until the use of the previous installment has been reported.
• We regularly conduct monitoring trips to cooperation countries. Meeting face-to-face enables functioning relations and co-operation as well as the development of activities. In addition, Finnish volunteers work with our Nepalese partner organizations every year.
• The development co-operation projects funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland are particularly closely monitored. We choose our project partners carefully and together apply for funding from the MFA. Several experts evaluate the project applications at the application phase. During project implementation, Interpedia reports on project progress, effectiveness and the use of support annually to the MFA, where the use of funds is closely monitored, including through comprehensive auditing. Moreover, independent external evaluators evaluate the success of the projects.

Good Governance and Transparency

Working for the realization of child rights also requires good governance. In 2020, a minimum of 76 cents per every euro donated was used to help children in our cooperation projects. No more than 24 cents was used to for fundraising and necessary support activities such as: monitoring project activities and handling of reports, staff salaries, mailing and communication expenses, fundraising permit, bank fees of money transfers and billing.

Conventions and program guiding Interpedia’s work:

• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning (#4) and to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (#5)
• UNESCO Education 2030 Framework for Action
• Development Policy Report by the Government of Finland