Friends Alliance
The Friends Alliance is a group of organizations which are either managed by, or were started by, Friends-International. Alliance members enter into, and are bound by, a contractual agreement with Friends-International.
Alliance members share a range of common principles, policies and common standards in their work, with a special attention to Child Protection systems and innovation.
Alliance members share the Friends logo.
The work of Alliance members is bound around a continuum of care:
Saving Lives
We provide direct intervention and service delivery to those who most need it, where and when that support is most needed. This includes outreach work, emergency support, harm reduction, detoxification and rehabilitation, drop-in centers and community-based support groups
Building Futures
When we have stabilized life situations for those we work with, we (and they) are ready for the next step – how to best enable them to build a better future. We have a toolbox of approaches ready to help them do just that, including access to education, training, employment, income generation opportunities for caretakers and rebuilding the capacity of families to care for their own children.
ChildSafe
All our activities are conducted with a ChildSafe child protection ethos. We also create child protective environments for those we work with, supported by trained ChildSafe Agents drawn from local community members, individuals, travelers, businesses, other NGO’s, authorities and governments
Friends Alliance Worldwide
Friends Cambodia
Mith Samlanh – Phnom Penh / Kandal
Mith Samlanh (meaning ‘friends’ in Khmer) was started in 1994 by Friends-International and was officially localized in 2002. As the flagship Friends program, it both developed and piloted the replicable holistic model of social business, social support, and public mobilization which characterizes all the Friends Alliance programs. Alomgside the day-to-day activities of the teams, it continues to be the principal testing ground for innovative concepts which build futures for those that we work with.
Kaliyan Mith – Siem Reap
Launched in 2007, Kaliyan Mith (“Good Friends” in Khmer) fully utilizes the Friends model of social business, social support, and public mobilization to build futures for children and families. It is directly managed by Friends-International in collaboration with the Siem Reap Provincial authorities.
Kaliyan Mith – Poipet
This project, started and managed by Friends-International, was launched in 2009 to address the range of issues faced by migrant populations at a major Cambodian/Thai border crossing. The project is based both on the Cambodian and the Thai side (implemented there by Peuan Peuan).
Peuan Mit
Friends Lao PDR – Vientiane / Luang Prabang
Started in 2004, Peuan Mit (“Good Friends” in Lao) is a collaboration with the Lao PDR Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, and is managed by Friends-International.
Peuan Peuan
Friends Thailand – Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Aranyaprathet, Pattaya
Launched in 2006, Peuan Peuan (“Close Friends” in Thai) is managed by Friends-International and works with both Thai marginalized populations and vulnerable migrants from neighboring countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar)
Yayasan Teman Baik
Friends Indonesia – Jakarta
Started 2007 and initially based in Aceh province to respond to the long-term impact of the 2004 tsunami on children, prior to relocation to Jakarta in 2010, Teman Baik is a local NGO (Yayasan)
Tha Ngae Chin Myar
Friends Myanmar – Yangon
Started in 2019, Friends Myanmar is a local NGO, evolving from a training restaurant operating in Yangon since 2011 which was inspired by the Friends-International model.
Friends Suisse
Started in 2008, the Friends Suisse program is a local association initially supporting fundraising, subsequently expanded to provide services to migrants (handed over to a partner organization in 2019) and ChildSafe activities
Friends in France
Started in 1995 as the Head Office supporting and guiding all international activities, this office subsequently developed initiatives of advocacy (ChildSafe Volunteering, ChildSafe Travelers) in France.
