The DAPHNE-CHILD Grantee Spotlight Podcast

Child Rescue, Ukraine

We are launching a bi-weekly podcast to showcase the vital and innovative work of our grantees in the Daphne-CHILD programme as they combat violence against children across Europe. Through these conversations, we aim to highlight the dedicated organisations working on the frontlines of child protection, share their unique approaches to supporting survivors, and amplify the voices of those creating meaningful change in their communities. 
 
Each episode offers listeners insight into the challenges, successes, and resilience found in this critical field, whilst demonstrating how grassroots civil society organisations are transforming lives through comprehensive support, legal advocacy, and trauma-informed care. 
 
In this first episode, we speak with Julia Sachenko, Executive Director of Child Rescue Ukraine, about their work providing legal representation and holistic support to child survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse, including those returned from occupied territories and Russian deportation.

The Community After Schools Project, Ireland

In this second episode, we speak with Tom O'Brien, CEO of The Community After Schools Project (CASPr), about their project "Listen to Us" - an initiative empowering children in Dublin's northeast inner city to lead conversations about violence prevention.
This podcast is part of a series aiming to showcase the vital and innovative work of our grantees in the Daphne-CHILD programme as they combat violence against children across Europe. 

Acercando Realidades, Spain

In the third episode of the series, our guest is Elena Jurado, from Asociación Acercando Realidades. She presents the Lazos y Raíces (Ties and Roots) project, which aims to transform young women who have left the child protection system into community leaders in preventing sexual violence in a disadvantaged neighbourhood of Seville.
This podcast is part of a series aiming to showcase the vital and innovative work of our grantees in the Daphne-CHILD programme as they combat violence against children across Europe. 

Dignity Online, Ukraine

In the fourth episode of our podcast series, our guest is Iryna Puschyk from Dignity Online in Ukraine. She presents their Youth-led Safety Lessons project, which transforms teenagers into peer educators who teach their classmates about online risks, from sexual abuse to wartime recruitment, in a country where children spend more than seven hours daily on digital platforms.
This podcast is part of a series aiming to showcase the vital and innovative work of our grantees in the Daphne-CHILD programme as they combat violence against children across Europe. 

ITE Network, Spain

In the fifth episode of the Daphne-CHILD Grantee Spotlight Series, we sit down with Gonzalo Santamaria from the Asociación Instituto de Técnicas Educativas or ITE Network to explore an innovative approach to cyber safety for children affected by migration. As digital platforms become increasingly integral to young people's lives, ITE's "Peer-led safe and secure online behaviour and well-being" project will train children as peer educators to address online risks, cultural challenges, and the complex digital landscape faced by migrant and isolated children.
This podcast is part of a series aiming to showcase the vital and innovative work of our grantees in the Daphne-CHILD programme as they combat violence against children across Europe. 

Bethany Social Services Foundation, Romania

In the sixth episode of the Daphne-CHILD Grantee Spotlight Series, Beatrice Darie from the Bethany Social Services Foundation discusses Educate Gently, a project addressing child violence in rural Romania. The initiative centres on parental education and community engagement, with messages created by children guiding workshops for parents and teachers. The project challenges traditional discipline practices and fosters systemic change in child protection.
This podcast is part of a series aiming to showcase the vital and innovative work of our grantees in the Daphne-CHILD programme as they combat violence against children across Europe. 

NGO 3.5 percent, Ukraine

In the seventh episode of the Daphne-CHILD Grantee Spotlight Series, Karolina Svyryda from the Ukrainian NGO 3.5% discusses their project Combating Violence Against Children in Rural Schools of Lviv and the Zakarpattia Region. The initiative addresses psychological violence and creates child-led safety mechanisms in rural communities affected by traditional attitudes and limited resources. Working with students across multiple Hromadas, the project combines legal expertise from former Deputy Minister Natalia Fedorovic with innovative peer mediation systems designed by young people themselves, fostering both immediate protection and long-term cultural change in school environments.
This podcast is part of a series aiming to showcase the vital and innovative work of our grantees in the Daphne-CHILD programme as they combat violence against children across Europe. 
 

Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), Ireland

In the eighth episode of the Daphne-CHILD Grantee Spotlight Series, Charlotte Donnellan from ISPCC discusses their project Little Voices, Big Ideas - an initiative addressing peer-to-peer violence through genuine co-creation with children aged 8-12 across County Galway.
 
Working with children from diverse communities, including island residents, Irish Travellers, and children in international protection accommodation, the project has developed a four-module educational program entirely shaped by children's insights and preferences. Through innovative child-centred methodologies using play, creative mediums, and regulation activities, the modules tackle self-esteem, confidence, empathy, and digital safety while staying true to how children actually want to learn: in small groups, with hands-on activities, and absolutely no PowerPoint presentations.
 
This podcast is part of a series aiming to showcase the vital and innovative work of our grantees in the Daphne-CHILD programme as they combat violence against children across Europe. 

Concordia Foundation, Bulgaria

In the ninth episode of the Daphne-CHILD Grantee Spotlight Series, Maria Yanakieva and Desislava Petkova from Concordia Bulgaria Foundation discuss their project My Safety Guide – an initiative transforming child protection education through visual, image-based materials co-created with children who face literacy barriers.
The project reveals powerful insights about how marginalised children understand safety differently, often viewing protection as something they must do themselves rather than something adults provide. By making the process playful and visual rather than text-based, Concordia creates materials that work across language barriers, literacy levels, and even undiagnosed intellectual disabilities – offering a model that could benefit refugee children, ethnic minorities, and children with learning difficulties across Concordia's international network.
This podcast is part of a series aiming to showcase the vital and innovative work of our grantees in the Daphne-CHILD programme as they combat violence against children across Europe. 

Vela NGO, Greece

In the tenth episode of the Daphne-CHILD Grantee Spotlight Series, Marilena Ioannidou from Vela Greece discusses their SAFE project (Support and Awareness for Future Empowerment) – creating child-friendly reporting systems for unaccompanied refugee children in Greece.
The project addresses the unique vulnerabilities refugee children face in camp settings: overcrowding, frequent movement between facilities, language barriers, and the profound challenge of building trust when both children and caregivers are constantly changing. Vela's digital reporting tool, co-created with children, offers multiple ways to report violence – through voice messages in their own language, written reports, or direct conversations with staff – recognising that refugee children come with vastly different literacy levels, linguistic backgrounds, and cultural understandings of what constitutes violence.
The project reveals that effective child protection in refugee contexts requires both flexible reporting mechanisms and rigorous internal procedures, ensuring every staff member can receive reports and respond consistently to each child individually despite working with large numbers. By piloting a system designed to be transferred to Greece's Ministry of Migration and Asylum for national implementation, Vela offers a scalable model for protecting refugee children across Europe's reception systems.
This podcast is part of a series aiming to showcase the vital and innovative work of our grantees in the Daphne-CHILD programme as they combat violence against children across Europe.