Providing opportunities for vulnerable urban children

In virtually all the countries where World Vision works across the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Southern Asia, people are migrating in staggering numbers from rural areas to urban centres. The shift from rural, often agricultural, societies to urban hubs places significant strains on national and local economies, social relations, infrastructure and services which, in turn, has a direct impact on the well-being of urban dwellers, especially the most vulnerable among them. 

uRapid urbanization often puts families, and children in particular, at even greater risk as many face discrimination, social exclusion, environmental hazards, informal economies, illegal housing, lack of employment opportunities, child labour and limited participation in governance processes and local level decision making.