Our Story

Children Unite was founded in 2009 to seize a critical advocacy moment: the drafting of a new International Labour Organization (ILO) convention on domestic work. At that time, the rights of child domestic workers were invisible on the global stage. By mobilising children, grassroots organisations and international allies, Children Unite was instrumental in ensuring that children’s rights were explicitly recognised in the landmark ILO Domestic Workers Convention adopted in 2011.

Since then, our mission has expanded to address the exploitation of all children and young people. Today, we are a values-led collective of advocates, researchers and practitioners, united in transforming the child protection sector to be rights-focused and child-centred. Through consultancy, research and collective learning, we equip organisations to respond effectively, while ensuring that children’s lived experiences remain central to systemic change.

Meet our Founders

Children Unite was co-founded in 2009 by Helen Veitch and Jonathan Blagbrough to champion the rights of child domestic workers during the drafting of the International Labour Organization’s Domestic Workers Convention. Their advocacy ensured children’s rights were explicitly recognised in this landmark treaty. Today, guided by that founding vision, Children Unite has grown into a values-led collective addressing the exploitation of all children and young people through consultancy, research and collective learning.

Jonathan Blagbrough

Jonathan has over 30 years of experience working with exploited children, with a particular focus on supporting and advocating for child domestic workers. During this time, he has conducted research and managed programmes with a range of international and local organisations. Alongside being an independent consultant, Jonathan currently works part-time for Family for Every Child, a global network of local child protection organisations.

Jonathan’s research explores how children are affected by labour, migration, and exploitation, with a particular focus on child domestic work and relationships within the households where they work. He is committed to developing ethical, participatory approaches to research and to working with communities, organisations, and international groups to strengthen protection and support for vulnerable children.

Helen Veitch

Helen is a children's rights advocate with over 30 years’ experience of working in the children’s rights field, focusing on the rights of exploited children and young people. Helen began her career working with a community of street children in Indonesia and has subsequently worked for donors, NGOs and academia – facilitating and supporting organisations to take participatory approaches to research, advocacy and safeguarding for children with lived experiences of sexual violence.

Helen's passion is for participatory, youth-led advocacy and activism. As co-founder of Children Unite, she is excited to bring members of the collective together to share learning and co-create opportunities for change.

Meet our Members

The Children Unite collective is made up of a diverse group of people who share a deep passion for children’s rights and a determination to end exploitation. Our members include independent consultants, academics, activists, researchers and practitioners from different backgrounds and regions, bringing a wealth of expertise and lived experience to reimagine and transform the child protection sector.

Diohema Anlleu

I am a consultant in human rights and child protection, with more than 15 years of experience working in Mexico and across Latin America with women, youth and families. My work has focused on strengthening child protection systems, advancing human rights agendas, and using communication strategies to promote social change. I am deeply interested in reimagining how communities and organisations can co-create safer environments for children on the move, while also addressing structural inequalities. I want to learn more about sustainable models of care and protection that put children’s and families’ voices at the centre. I would love to share my experience designing and leading communication campaigns using Social and Behaviour Change Communication, as well as methodologies for child protection and rights-based approaches. I also bring experience in coalition building, advocacy at national and international levels, and facilitating collective processes that connect empathy with strategy.

Claire Cody

Claire is based in Glasgow in Scotland and has been working with child rights INGOs since 2007. Over the last 16 years’ she has worked in academia where her work has focussed specifically on the rights to recovery and participation for children and young people who have experienced different forms of sexual violence. Through her work, she has facilitated a range of research and action-based projects drawing on trauma-informed, participatory and creative approaches. She has also coordinated a number of networks to share learning and create communities of practice in this field. Claire is interested in documenting the added value that comes from working in participatory and creative ways with children and young people who have lived experience of sexual violence in order to influence policy and practice. She is keen to share her learning and work with local, national and international organisations to develop safe, ethical and meaningful approaches to centring the lived experience of young survivors within organisations.

Estefa Morera

Estefa, originally from Costa Rica, has over a decade of experience working with INGOs, focusing on youth education, community development, and prevention of violence against children. She has experience of global education in the US and UK, and working with grassroots organisations across Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Estefa is interested in exploring ways to integrate participatory youth-led approaches into advocacy efforts in the children’s rights sector. She is keen to share her experience in cross-cultural collaboration, participatory advocacy and participatory grant-making, and partnership work with grassroots organisations.

Alphonce Omolo

Alphonce, originally from Kenya and currently based in Ireland, is a youth justice researcher with over three decades of hands-on experience working with children and young people. His skills span participatory research, stakeholder engagement, and policy translation, with a focus on amplifying the voices of young people and frontline professionals to drive systemic change in child safeguarding and youth justice. He is interested in exploring how digital and AI technologies, particularly GenAI, can be ethically applied to support youth-led research and advocacy. Alphonce is keen to share his experience in qualitative research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and inclusive engagement strategies with fellow members of the Collective.

Kirsche Walker

Kirsche (she/her) has 15 years both as someone with lived experience and as a professional in the field of child exploitation. Her experience includes advocacy, research, campaigning, public speaking, workshop facilitation and helping to shape strategic planning with local authorities. Her lived experience insights alongside her professional knowledge offer a symbiotic approach in embedding social impact initiatives. Kirsche has experience working with the third sector, local authorities (in the UK) and the private sector building cross-sector partnerships and she would love to continue this. With an undergraduate in Politics and International Relations and a masters in International Development, Kirsche has a keen interest in local and international partnerships. Her research on Artificial Intelligence and blockchain technology application within the development and aid sector enables her to continue to advocate for vulnerable populations. Kirsche is a Spanish speaker.

Michael Reuben

Michael is originally from Tanzania with 15 years working with children and youth in child rights education, community engagement, advocacy and prevention of children against violence. He has experience of working with grassroots organisations and consulting with NGOs. Michael has a background of working with street connected children in Tanzania and has extensive experience of using participatory methods for research with children and youth. Michael is interested in exploring interventions to prevent online child abuse and what works to prevent child exploitation and abuse. Michael brings to the collective his experience in participatory research with children and youth, also his local experience in Tanzania.

Alice Shirley

Alice has over two decades of experience working with human rights, development and humanitarian organisations. Her work has focused on developing accessible and participatory monitoring and evaluation tools and approaches for child protection practitioners and organisations. She has worked with local, national and international partners in Asia, Latin America, East Africa and the Middle East. Alice is interested in exploring ways to bridge some of the gaps between research and practice, especially around the uptake and use of evaluation evidence in child protection programmes. She is keen to share her experience in partnership building, causal pathways evaluation and qualitative research. Alice is based in Bogota, Columbia.

Silvie Bovarnick

With more than twenty years of international experience, Silvie has worked on child abuse issues across academia, the NGO sector, and government. Her research explores tensions between protection and participation rights, primarily in the context of child trafficking and sexual exploitation. Silvie is a Professor of Rights-based Social Policy for Childhood and Youth at the University of Hildesheim in Germany, where she teaches on children’s rights, trauma, and participation. Silvie is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Safer Young Lives Research Centre (University of Bedfordshire, UK), holds a PhD in Politics from the University of Bristol and an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Warwick. Silvie is passionate about developing ethical, trauma-informed and participatory approaches to involve youth with lived experience and practitioners in research, policy and practice development. Silvie is keen to share and expand her knowledge to further advance her research practice, to connect, and to be part of a movement promoting a holistic view of children’s rights.

Siân Wynne

Siân has more than 15 years’ experience developing rights-based, participatory initiatives, with over a decade focused on children in street situations. She has convened and facilitated networks, coalitions and partnerships that amplify children and young people’s leadership in programming, research and advocacy, designing participatory tools and working with practitioners, academics, youth advocates, governments and civil society. As part of the collective, Siân is curious about how adults can most effectively support child- and youth-led movements, and how participatory grant-making might reshape the children’s rights sector. She looks forward to sharing her learning about the role of trust in supporting children's meaningful participation, including when working with children in street situations, children in the justice system and sexually exploited children.

Lucy Rolington

Lucy has over a decade of experience in the child rights sector, specifically in rights-based programming for street connected children, participatory methodologies in advocacy and research, and trauma-informed practice. Her freelance work has centred around children and young people's participatory rights and advising INGOs and global networks on embedding meaningful participation practice into culture. Lucy also enjoys working as a trainer/facilitator with youth workers, young people and youth activists, particularly in human rights education. As part of Children Unite, Lucy is excited to share, connect and learn from the huge breadth of experiences and contexts represented in the collective. She is particularly interested in discussing creative methodologies that centre joy, reshaping power within participation, and evolving ethics and safety within the digital rights space for young human rights defenders.

Meet our Trustees

Martin Punaks

Most of my work is in an area of child rights known as care reform. It’s all about working with governments, organisations and activists to ensure every child grows up in a family. I have been very fortunate to do this in countries all over the world, including in India and Nepal where I lived for seven years with my family. I get to work with some incredible people and I learn a lot from them - I believe that by working collaboratively with others we make the biggest differences. Outside of my job I love to travel, I go swimming in cold lakes in the winter and I am a medieval history nerd – although not everyone is as enthusiastic about my last two hobbies as I am! During my career I have realised more and more how vital it is for us to listen to and learn from the experiences of children, so being trustee for Children Unite is a chance for me to help make that happen.

Martine Miel

For the last three years I have been a Counsellor for NHS staff at a London Trust. Before that and throughout my counselling training I worked for many years in the field of domestic and sexual abuse with roles in frontline advocacy and group development and facilitation both in a women’s refuge and community settings. My pathway to this point took me though the fields of human rights and anti racism education, inclusive arts, disability equality and youth homelessness. Throughout, I have been privileged to work alongside people who have expanded my world, enriched my perspectives and deepened my understanding of social, political and cultural struggles and movements. I have been very much drawn to working with communities and individuals with lived experiences of trauma, and I have had the opportunity through my work, my training and in my personal life, to witness the powerfully positive effects of different types of interventions that can change a person’s life and help guide them into different futures. I have known Helen and Jonathan for many years throughout the growth of Children Unite and it is an honour to be part of the team doing incredible work changing the lives of children across the globe. I was reminded of this quote while I was writing this if ever we doubt our power to make a difference: "If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” Dalai Lama

Vince Ion

I was a nurse and community health visitor and for 19 years I have been an independent consultant working across healthcare and other sectors providing training facilitation, coaching, mentoring, clinical supervision and mediation. I am a founder member and Director of Lincolnshire Refugee Doctors project, which has already supported over 50 doctors to gain official registration in the UK and jobs in the National Health Service in Lincolnshire. I am a lifelong supporter of Everton Football Club. I am also a shareholder (1 share). My passion is the arts, especially music and theatre. I like my theatre to be challenging and my music tastes are wide and varied. I love working as a volunteer at music festivals, anything from my local village festival to Glastonbury Festival in a wide range of roles from welfare to head steward of volunteers. I also promote small music events, with all profits going to various local charities. I have two children, my daughter who lives in London with her wife and my two beautiful granddaughters. A son who lives with his Brazilian wife in Worcester and are expecting their first child in 2025. My involvement with Children Unite came about by my connection with Helen over a number of years and my admiration for the work this excellent charity provides. I am honoured to now be a Trustee and hope to offer my experience to develop further the work and influence of Children Unite.

Adrian Storey

I am a qualified management accountant and became interested in International Development through volunteering experiences in several countries. Later, I was given the opportunity to work full-time in the sector, which has been fulfilling on many levels. My purpose is to ensure that funds are used properly, but also to provide support and guidance to organisations that want to develop skills in financial management. When this is done well, it improves their attractiveness to other donors. I have been fortunate to travel widely and have met wonderful people in many countries. I have learned that a shared purpose is a great connector between people from different cultures and backgrounds. I am proud to be a trustee of Children Unite as I recognise from my connection with front-line organisations the challenges faced by exploited children across the world. On a personal level, I enjoy music of all kinds and play in a brass band that performs throughout the year, although playing Christmas carols for hours on a cold December morning does challenge my commitment!!