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.

15.324
total number of beneficiaries in Romania (children, parents, professionals) in 2023
12.000
beneficiaries of the Support for Ukrainian refugees programme in 2023
30 in 2023
digital / print publications created for professionals or large audiences
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.

2021

Following the invitation by Terre des hommes, two major sports federations and 20 clubs signed a complex safeguarding document (child protection in sports). In addition, we conducted an extensive awareness campaign on this topic.

In addition to the existing projects, we have started seven new projects in the three areas of intervention: Child Protection: ACTIVE - ACTIVE AGAINST VIOLENCE, JOBOTECA, NOROC, SAFE SPORTS ALLIES; Juvenile Justice: CLEAR RIGHTS, SOLIDARITY FABLAB TARGU OCNA, Migration: CASTLE

2022

We assissted over 11,000 Ukrainian refugees (children and their families) in Romania. The other 10-15 long-term projects supported young people and children in Romania in different ways: by preventing violence in schools, preparing them for a better future or preventing school dropout

2023

In 2023, we opened the Resilience and Innovation Centers (RIF) in Bucharest and Brasov, where migrant or refugee children and youth learn about 3D technology, followed three-dimensional printing workshops, exploring their own talents and abilities and creatively "playing". Five other projects started this year, in each of the Migration and Justice programs.

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.  

What's new

In 2025 we resume the intervention in the prevention of child trafficking. Terre des hommes Romania will develop prevention and protection services in communities and schools, in collaboration with ANPDCA, the Border Police, DIICOT, ANITP and using trauma-based practices and principles and child-…
Young people from four detention and educational centres in Romania have been involved into development of an application – a chatbot – that will be useful to vulnerable children and children who seek information, legal advice and assistance online. Access to these centres is restricted, but our…
Forms of violence against children in detention are often invisible. Children may not want to inform detention staff about them because of mistrust, fear of consequences and because they are not aware of the proper procedures. Also, the staff may not be ready or fully trained to prevent and take…
  Young refugees, who live in Bucharest, Brașov and Constanta and young Romanians, leaders in their student communities presented a few interesting solutions, as we organized an advocacy event alongside  our partner, UNHCR Romania. The young refugees found concrete solutions such as: refugee…
More than 100 children and adolescents between 12-18 years old from eight schools in Romania participated in the past months in informal meetings where they discussed with teachers about safety and the causes of violence. The aim was for them to understand the psychological and social mechanisms…
Detention centre teenagers are exposed to lots of conflicts. Some of them know how to manage conflicts, others don’t. In order to support them, Terre des hommes specialists organised an online session about conflict management, attended by young men from Tichilești Detention Centre and a group of…