FAQs

While the World Vision 40 Hour Challenge began in response to the Ethiopian famine, the campaign has evolved over the years to support a variety of causes, from the Syrian Refugee Crisis to the Global Water Crisis. The incredible Kiwi kids who take part support so much more than famines, and our new name reflects this.

The new name also better reflects the way young people are choosing to take part. From a 40 hour film festival to 40 hours in a gondola, every year we are blown away by the courage and creativity of young people in coming up with new challenge ideas.

We are making this change as a positive step into the future.
 

All you need to sign up for the World Vision 40 Hour Challenge online is an email address. 

It is easy to get started and set up your fundraising page. You can then personalise your page, your fundraising goal and share your page with your friends and family. It only takes a few minutes.

You can link your page to your school, church or team to reach your fundraising targets together.

Climate change refers to any significant change in the state of the climate that persists for an extended period, typically decades.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading scientific forum for climate analysis, tells us that planet earth is currently warming in a historically unprecedented manner. While there are multiple complex drivers, it is primarily human activities, particularly agriculture, the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), and the destruction of forests. These activities produce greenhouse gases, which collect in the atmosphere and, like a blanket, warm the surface of the earth. They are now at their highest levels in history.

Communities around the world are already feeling the impacts of climate change. Rising greenhouse gas levels are driving more frequent and intense storms, changes in rainfall patterns, increasing air and ocean temperatures, melting ice sheets and glaciers, and rising sea levels. These changes then go on to affect soil fertility, water availability, and ultimately the well-being of people and our environments.

The social and economic impacts of climate change are making it more difficult for children in poverty to experience their basic human rights, including those related to food, health, water and housing.

People experiencing poverty are on the frontlines of climate change, being among the first and worst impacted by environmental degradation. Temperature and weather extremes are hitting hardest in places where food and water are already limited, like in sub-Saharan Africa and low-lying countries in the Pacific. What’s more, people living in poverty often have limited resources for adapting to climate-related hazards, such as insurance, a warm, dry home, and a full pantry. This means that communities are less able to bounce back when disaster strikes.

For children in poverty, climate change makes life even harder and more dangerous. Children are less able to protect themselves from extreme weather events and are more susceptible to disease, famine and drought. Families may need to migrate elsewhere, take their children out of school, and/or get them to help at home. In some cases, families must resort to child marriage or child labour just to survive. Children often do not get to have a say in such decisions, which can lead to situations that make them more vulnerable to climate change.