Learn to Live: Children’s lives have been meaningfully and permanently improved, says War Child CEO

As The Independent and War Child’s campaign draws to a close, Rob Williams reflects on what it has achieved

Syrian refugees in Zaatri camp in Jordan who were twinned with London schoolgirls (Bel Trew)

On the last day of our Learn to Live campaign it’s truly inspiring to look back at what’s been achieved over the past three months.

Children’s lives have been meaningfully and permanently improved thanks to The Evening Standard, The Independent and a group of passionate London schools – whose pupils should be so proud of everything they’ve achieved.

In response to our campaign the government has increased funding for mental health and psychosocial support for Syrian child refugees. It has also provided funding to War Child for supporting children in the Central African Republic.

It makes me hopeful for the future to see that UK children are so moved when they learn about children forced to live in starkly different circumstances.

The empathy and shared understanding that has been fostered throughout this campaign has meant we’ve received letters from hundreds of schoolchildren across the UK supporting War Child and the people we help.

All the young people involved in this campaign – in London and War Child’s programmes – told us that support for the emotional needs of children in conflict must be a priority. This is why War Child has been calling for mental health and psychosocial support to be a core part of any humanitarian response.

It is welcome that the Department for International Development has increased funding to this area as a result of Learn to Live, and we have been heartened by the positive response of the UK government. But now it is critical that we maintain the momentum of this campaign into the future.

Next year the Netherlands will host a global summit focusing on mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies. This will be a critical milestone for further commitments, and we look forward to the government continuing its leadership on this issue on the world stage.

Rob Williams is chief executive officer of War Child UK