In India, a father is one of the biggest advocates a girl can have.

Meet Melvin. He’s only 11, but he says he can’t remember the last time he played as a child. As a worker on a coffee farm, Melvin let go of childhood a long time ago.

Hope shines a light in the darkness. It’s infectious, even healing. But what is there to be hopeful for? Let’s look at the year ahead with 17 reasons to have hope in 2017.

In a rare moment of winter cheer, these displaced Syrian children had some fun in the snow, north of the city of Aleppo. 

For years, our hearts have been broken by the conflict in Syria. This holiday season, the images of children hurt and even targeted by the violence, especially in Aleppo, seem almost too much to bear.

People around the world have been expressing solidarity for those suffering in Syria by lighting a candle in their honour. 

At World Vision we’re blessed to work in nearly 100 countries around the world. Not everyone celebrates Christmas, but there are many, many families who do. We get an inside look at all the different ways people celebrate Christmas around the world, and we wanted to share just a few of our favourite stories.

For years, our hearts have been broken by the conflict in Syria. As we near the holiday season, the images of children who have been hurt and even targeted by the violence, especially in Aleppo, seem almost too much to bear. 

Mauro visits his sponsored child, Arman, bearing gifts and seeking genuine connection.
 

Prathana (13) gives her time and skills reading to children in her neighbourhood, to help improve their reading skills and provide mentorship.

Yupida empowers six other women to join her in a new business endeavour, while their husbands give their time to take over household duties.

Two sisters training for the 100-metre dash barefoot, now train with proper equipment thanks to a gift delivered by World Vision.

Hamza's dark and violent war stories are transformed into stories of kindness when his teachers at the early childhood education centre show him what it means to belong.

Odiille's old blanket wasn't keeping her warm during cold nights, so Canadian donors shared their warmth with a new blanket through Gift-in-Kind.

The ceasefire in eastern Aleppo has shattered, stalling the evacuation plan to get people out of the city on buses. As eastern Aleppo lies in ruins, the reports of violence against the children of Aleppo signal a terrifying new chapter in the Syrian Crisis. 

Canadians are pretty generous - that's a fact. How do we know? We've got the numbers to prove it! 

In September a group of Canadians collected donations provided by friends, family, colleagues, doctors, and even dentists to give to children in Tanzania. Read more about what it was like seeing those donations distributed.

This Human Rights Day, we're reflecting on a few gifts that offer hope for a better future, and can impact the lives of children and families forever.

13-year-old Nimco lives in the Baki district of northwestern Somalia, an area of the country that’s been devastated by years of civil war. Her village had a serious shortage of latrines. Until recently, 70 per cent of people were relieving themselves outside, causing sanitation issues that led to sickness and even death.