Our Team
Dr. Jonathan Blagbrough
Founder and Director
Helen Veitch
Founder and Director
Jonathan has 30 years’ experience of working with exploited children, specialising on child domestic work. From 1992 to 2006 he coordinated Anti-Slavery International’s child labour programme, and since then has been an independent consultant on child exploitation issues for a range of organisations. He has recently undertaken doctoral research on intra-generational relations between child domestic workers and the children they serve in Tanzania. Jonathan is currently working part-time for Family for Every Child.
Education
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PhD in Human Geography at Dundee University
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MA in International European Comparative Law, Keele University
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​BA Sociology, University of York
Helen is a children's rights activist 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 worked as a consultant for various campaigning coalitions and working groups of international and national organisations, focusing on sexual exploitation and participatory research and advocacy. Helen's passion is for participatory, youth led advocacy and activism. For the past ten years Helen has increasingly worked with philanthropic donors and intermediaries as a technical advisor on children’s participation and safeguarding for youth activism.
Education
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MA in Sociology of Childhood and Children’s Rights, UCL Institute of Education, London
Associates
Our Associates are consultants in their own right but work with Children Unite on consultancy and projects when their interests, experience and availability allow. Associates are involved in decision-making on the strategic direction of Children Unite as well discussing and reflecting on our learning and our values.
Estefania Morera
Estefa, a native of Costa Rica, brings experience and a global perspective to her work. With an international education spanning the United States and the United Kingdom, she has spent the past decade working with international NGOs. Her work has been deeply rooted in community-focused initiatives, youth education, and the prevention of sexual violence against children. Estefa started her career by coordinating the Crisis Response Network for a maritime charity where she managed responses to complex crises at sea, in port, and in local communities. More recently, Estefa has supported grassroots NGOs in Latin America, Sub Saharan Africa and Asia to undertake traditional and participatory (youth-led) advocacy on sexual violence against children, with a particular focus on the sexual abuse and exploitation of boys and young men.
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Estefa is Fluent in Spanish and has strong connections to grassroots organisations in Latin America. She is skilled in fostering strong partnerships, and excels in cross-cultural collaboration. ​Estefa is passionate about participatory advocacy approaches, aiming to amplify marginalised voices and effect systemic change. Her commitment to this approach drives her vision for her future work, emphasising meaningful participation and evidence-based advocacy.
Education:
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MSc International Development, University of Bristol, UK
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BA Political Science and Transnational Studies, Westminster College, MO, USA
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International Baccalaureate, United World College, Costa Rica
Michael Reuben
Michael Reuben is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Elimu Mwangaza, an NGO focusing on children's rights. Michael has 18 years of experience in project design and management. Since 2006 he has been working with local, national and international NGOs in Tanzania to promote and advance children's rights and youth. He has previously worked with street-connected children and the community to prevent all forms of abuse and violence against children in Tanzania. Since 2012, Michael has been engaging in consultancies on child protection, safeguarding, research and project evaluation. In 2022, he graduated with a PhD, and his doctoral research focused on examining the effectiveness of Community-Based Child Protection Mechanisms on Sexual Violence Against Children (SVAC) in Tanzania. Michael has been working with national and international NGOs on safeguarding policy review and development, developing tools, and supporting organisations to improve their organisational culture. Michael is currently undertaking a consultancy with Mothers Union, UK on Safeguarding as a Worldwide Safeguarding Lead.
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Education:
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PhD in Social Work, the Open University of Tanzania (OUT).
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MA in Community Economic Development, Southern New Hampshire
University, USA/The Open University of Tanzania -
​BA Sociology, University of Dar es salaam, Tanzania
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Ranjana Sharma
Ranjana Sharma is a determined individual who challenged the traditional gender norms within her conservative Madhesi family in the Eastern Terai region of Nepal. Instead of conforming to the belief that females are burdens, she actively engaged in volunteer work and pursued employment opportunities on various national and global platforms. Throughout her extensive career, she has independently conducted national and international research and evaluations, while also collaborating with numerous professional associates. Her work has primarily focused on modern slavery, human rights, exploitation, trafficking, and advocacy, with a special emphasis on women and children. She holds an MA in sociology from Nepal and an MBA from India, which has provided her with a comprehensive understanding from both social and managerial perspectives. Over her 20-year career, she has excelled by consistently emphasizing creativity and critical thinking in her approach. In addition to her professional pursuits, she is a dedicated yoga enthusiast, using it to maintain balance and focus in her professional and personal life.
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Education
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MA Sociology, Tri-Chandra Multiple College, Kathmandu, Nepal
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MBA, TERI University, New Delhi, India
Alphonce Omolo
Alphonce is the director of Lensthru Consultants in Kenya, is a consultant in the field of children and youth safeguarding, practicing at the local and international levels. He has previously worked with children and youth living and working in the streets in Kenya and Tanzania for over two decades. As a consultant Alphonce works with organisations in conducting needs assessment and baseline studies, project design and review, policy development and policy audit/analysis, capacity assessment and capacity building, developing practice handbooks and training contents amongst others.
He is a recipient of the pontifical decoration of BENEMERENTI for exceptional service to the Catholic Church and Civil Society by Pope Saint John Paul II. Alphonce is among the Commonwealth specialist pool of consultants for youth projects and a member of the faculty training Ministers and Permanent Secretaries on Strategic Leadership Management. He is an associate of the African Institute for Children Studies (AICS) and the Thematic Coordinator for Education and Youth at the AICS, and is a member of the Youth Workers Association, Kenya. He is an adjunct lecturer at the Loyola Institute for Ministry, Loyola University in New Orleans USA and a visiting lecturer at Tangaza and Hekima University Colleges in Kenya.
Education
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PhD in Comparative Education, Ruhr University, Germany
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MA in Sociology of Childhood and Children’s Rights, UCL Institute of Education, UK
Rabia Gungor
Rabia has over 18 years’ experience of children's rights, participation and safeguarding. A key theme in her career has been protecting high-risk children and young people such as children living on the streets, ex-child soldiers, sex workers, young women and girls and those with disabilities or long term health conditions such as HIV and AIDS. Rabia has significant experience of safeguarding and has developed policies, tools, led training and investigations for a variety of international organisations.
Rabia has worked and lived in Sierra Leone and has experience of working on safeguarding for organisations such as Oak Foundation, Global Fund for Women, Anti-Slavery International, Deaf Child Worldwide, Womankind Worldwide, African Initiatives, ChildHope, Girl Effect, Kings Global Health Partners, Leonard Cheshire, and Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Foundation.
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Education
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MSc in International Childhood Studies, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Silvie Bovarnick
With over 20 years of work experience, Silvie has a particular expertise of conducting ethical and participatory research on violence and abuse issues with vulnerable groups both in the UK and internationally. Silvie has worked at the Safer Young Lives Research Centre at the University of Bedfordshire undertaking and advised on a number of projects promoting the participatory involvement of children and young people in decision-making and knowledge generation on sexual violence in the UK, Eastern Europe and South East Asia.
She has previously served as a Senior Research Officer at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and as a Research Associate at the Department of Health (England) undertaking a national research programme on the health and mental health implications of violence and abuse. Silvie has worked for a number of NGOs in Europe and Latin America including Amnesty International. With a background in International Relations, Silvie has expertise in a range of women’s and children’s rights issues.​
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Education
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PhD in Politics, University of Bristol, UK
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MA in International Relations, University of Warwick, UK
Kirsche Walker
Kirsche has over 10 years experience of working with children and young people affected by sexual violence with a focus on campaigning, advocacy and youth voice in strategic decision-making. As an expert by experience Kirsche has experience of campaigning on child sexual abuse, and of co-creating and co-facilitating campaigns with peers who have been indirectly or directly affected by sexual violence. She has also worked as a consultant on survivor-informed safeguarding.
Kirsche has significant experience of public speaking and campaigning, winning the runner’s up award for best speaker at the 2017 Sexual Violence Research Initiative conference in Brazil. While studying for her BSc Kirsche created a survivors support network at Nottingham Trent University which supports students that have suffered from sexual or physical violence, including hate crimes. Kirsche is a passionate environmental campaigner on key green political health issues such as; how young people’s health is affected by cities and countries with high emissions and whether Clean Air acts have a place in supporting young people’s general health and wellbeing.
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Education
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BSc in Politics and International Relations at Nottingham Trent University
Claire Cody
Claire has over 18 years’ experience working on child rights and child protection within academia and the INGO sector. Claire is an experienced qualitative researcher in the field of child sexual exploitation and trafficking. Her research has focussed specifically on recovery and (re)integration, including the role of peer support and group work and on the importance of participatory and creative approaches in engaging young survivors. She specialises in working with frontline partners to design and manage multi-country research and action projects which involve young people affected by sexual violence in safe, ethical and trauma-informed ways.
Claire is proficient in developing practitioner-oriented tools and creative outputs alongside academic publications and is an experienced trainer, lecturer and unit coordinator. Over the last decade Claire has managed the ‘Our Voices’ programme of work at the Safer Young Lives Research Centre at the University of Bedfordshire in the UK. This programme seeks to understand more about the value of, and complexities involved in, working collaboratively with children and young people who have lived experience of sexual violence
Claire previously worked for Plan International and has worked as a consultant for World Vision Cambodia, Ignite Philanthropy, Anti-Slavery International and ECPAT International.
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Education
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Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Program, Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) and Harvard Medical School
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Professional Doctorate (DProf) in Children and Young People's Services Leadership, University of Bedfordshire
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MSc Social Anthropology, University of Oxford
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BSc Psychology, University of Exeter
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