World Vision: Fairer Opportunites for Children

Antonio Ocaranza Fernández

Today marks the conclusion in Mexico of World Vision’s Triennial Council, an international organization dedicated to offering a better future for children and adolescents living in vulnerable conditions. World Vision celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and currently supports more than 10 million people in 99 countries — fourteen of them in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Throughout its history, World Vision has become one of the most respected and recognized humanitarian organizations in the world. Its 34,000 staff members can be found caring for children in Afghanistan or Gaza, assisting Ukrainian refugees on the Romania border or Venezuelans on the Colombian one, helping migrant minors in shelters, distributing food in Mexican communities affected by floods or eradicating child labor in sugarcane fields. Many more work to develop productive projects in communities across Ghana, Zambia, Guatemala, and Haiti.

For three days, leaders from all the countries where World Vision operates gathered in Mexico City to review plans and renew their commitment to the most vulnerable children and youth around the world.

I have had the privilege of volunteering with World Vision Mexico for eight years, the most recent as Vice President of its Board. There are four aspects of the organization that deeply attract me and that bring great value to Mexico: its Christian foundation, its direct impact on those most in need, its contribution to social solidarity, and its transparency and accountability.

1. Christian foundation. World Vision was founded in 1950 by American pastor Bob Pierce, moved by the poverty and vulnerability of Korean children after the war. Since then, the organization has maintained an inclusive Christian character — formed by Catholics and believers from different denominations working together to offer children and adolescents the opportunity to live life to its fullest.
2. Impact. In Mexico, World Vision has been operating for 42 years. It directly supports more than one million children through seven lines of action that include access to water, education, health, humanitarian aid, and productive projects that promote employability and entrepreneurship. Indirectly, it advocates for public policies at the municipal, state, and federal levels that improve child and family well-being. Altogether, its programs reach nearly 10 million people in the country. With more resources, it could reach even further.
3. The fabric of solidarity. World Vision receives contributions from thousands of Mexicans who donate month after month to improve the life of a child or adolescent they sponsor. In countries where a culture of regular giving is still developing, this effort helps nurture social awareness and strengthen the bonds of solidarity. In Latin America and the Caribbean, private donations represent barely 0.3% of the region’s GDP, while in other parts of the world they exceed 1%. If the wealthiest families in the region donated just 1% of their assets, over 5 billion dollars could be generated annually for social causes. Giving enriches us, regardless of how much money we have — we can all give something to improve the life of someone who has less.
4. Transparency. One of the main obstacles to donating to social organizations is lack of trust: many doubt that resources are used as promised. World Vision maintains a clear and audited accounting system. Stewardship — the responsible and ethical management of resources — is one of its core values. The organization operates transparently with donors, communities, governments, and the public.

In Mexico and around the world, millions of people live without hope: children who face pain at an early age, young people who see no future, communities that lose faith in the possibility of change. Wherever inequality and indifference seem to prevail, we must remember that hope is not inherited — it is built. Every child who smiles again, every young person who dares to dream, every community that grows stronger is proof that a fairer world is not a utopia, but a task that demands perseverance, compassion, and faith.

Dear reader, the world changes when we choose not to stand aside. Find a cause, get involved, and discover the joy of transforming a life — perhaps the first one you change will be your own.