“The child is God's gift to the family. Each child is created in the special image and likeness of God for greater things; to love and to be loved.”
Mother Teresa

As we all recognise, the heart of World Vision’s ministry is children and our uncompromising commitment to help bring all children “life in all its fullness.”  Fulfilling this commitment represents a daunting task to address numerous issues and concerns, including children’s health, disease prevention and protection from exploitation. But thanks to the diligent commitment of countless World Vision donors and supporters, we have taken a significant step towards meeting this pledge. 

As such, we have established organisation-wide, uniform standards for how we will evaluate our success in serving children.

The Child Well-being Outcomes (CWBOs) have established a practical definition of our organisation’s understanding of well-being for children. World Vision views the well-being of children in holistic terms – healthy individual development (involving physical and mental health, social and spiritual dimensions), and positive relationships in an environment that provides safety, social justice and participation in civil society.

The outcomes are based upon Christian principles and are supported by human rights conventions. They reflect four dimensions, based upon Luke 2:52 (“…and Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour [or “grace”] with God and with the community”):

Girls and boys enjoy good health.
Girls and boys are educated for life.
Girls and boys love God and their neighbours.
Girls and boys are cared for, protected and participating in society.

Defining these well-being outcomes enables our staff to engage children, parents, community groups and local organisations in reflecting on and establishing priorities for child well-being outcomes based on local knowledge. We cannot force change, but we can stimulate and foster debate and share information and strategies on how best to achieve CWBOs in individual communities.

Indeed, as we strive to meet that uncompromising commitment to helping children experience “life in all its fullness,” we can take heart in Mother Theresa’s admonition that “each child is created in the special image and likeness of God…” and that with His immeasurable grace, we are serving His will.