Childlight receives £20 million boost to “supercharge” world-leading work
A ten-year funding agreement has been struck to support the work of the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute.
Childlight, a research unit at the University of Edinburgh, works with partners around the world to understand the prevalence, nature and scale of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA).
Childlight CEO Paul Stanfield said he was “deeply grateful” to the Human Dignity Foundation (HDF) for the funding agreement and playing a crucial role in ensuring the sustainability of its efforts to combat some of the world’s darkest crimes, which have grown since Covid.
Lack of data in this area has long-hampered progress in tackling this crisis, but Stanfield feels that “HDF’s financial support to help fill in the data gaps will supercharge our work to make a rapid difference for vulnerable children.”
In a joint statement, the University of Edinburgh’s Principal, Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, and Provost, Professor Kim Graham, said: “We are delighted by the Human Dignity Foundation’s support for Childlight’s world-leading work to address one of the world’s major challenges as we collaborate to keep children safe from child sexual exploitation and abuse.
“We are grateful to colleagues in Moray House School of Education and Sport and our College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, including Professor Sarah Prescott, Professor Deborah Fry and Dr Samantha Fawkner, for their outstanding work ensuring the success of Childlight — a project which is a fantastic exemplar of the University of Edinburgh’s aim to attract the world’s best minds and build innovative global partnerships for research, teaching and impact.”
Related links
Childlight Global Child Safety Institute
Image credit: Martin Shields