(Marketwire) - Children International is celebrating Children and Youth Finance International's (CYFI) Global Money Week on March 15-21 and Aflatoun Day on March 17. CYFI strives to increase financial education and inclusion for children and youth. The global movement has the support of the UN Secretary General. According to CYFI, less than 1% of all children in the world today have access to financial education and inclusion, and globally one billion children live in poverty.

Poverty is a hard trap to escape when it is all you know. Aflatoun, a program designed to teach financial education and savings habits – key platforms to help children escape poverty – is offered through Children International's sponsorship program. Aflatoun allows children to have fun as they learn about important financial matters like how to open a bank account and save. Children whose parents do not have a bank account might never know how to open and use one without a program like Aflatoun.

Children International has successfully implemented Aflatoun in its community centers around the world. Children International - Philippines has recently been recognized as a leader in youth programming within Aflatoun. In 2012, Children International youth in the Philippines were part of an Aflateen pilot project, which included peer-to-peer learning and the involvement of youth in the design, management and evaluation of 10 financial and social learning sessions. The youth helped develop, revise, and adapt the methodology and curriculum to fit the learning needs of teenagers.

The children and youth of Children International around the world will be participating in activities during Global Money Week and on Aflatoun Day, a reminder that thinking about and saving for the future are important things to celebrate. Activities range from murals and parades to making banks from recycled materials, writing letters to community leaders about the program, and listening to presentations made by successful local entrepreneurs.

"Financial awareness, education and activities give impoverished youth and families the confidence and tools to invest and plan for tomorrow. That foundation helps move them one step closer to becoming self-reliant adults, is consistent with the UN Millennium Development Goals, and is certainly something to celebrate!" says Danielle Mitchell, Children International's Vice President of Finance.

Established in 1936, Children International is an award-winning humanitarian organization whose programs benefit approximately 340,000 children and their families in 11 countries around the world, including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, the Philippines, the United States and Zambia.

For more information about Children International or to sponsor a child, visit www.children.org.

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Children International

Children International

Established in 1936, Children International is a humanitarian organization which invests in more than 335,000 children and youth living in crushing poverty in 11 countries around the world. Children International's signature programs provide medical and dental care, nutritional support and educational tools to children beginning at age 3 to 19. Children International's youth programs provide youth with training necessary to escape the trap of poverty as adults -- job-skills training, higher education support, personal financial education, sports leagues and leadership and life skills training.

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