That’s us at a glance
The Children Born of War Project is founded on the belief that awareness and empathy is the best antidote for prejudice and that we through insight and information can help these children to be seen and protected for what they are – innocent children.
Date of foundation: 2020
Headquarter: Hamar, Norway
Organisation: Foundation registered under Norwegian law Org.nr. 926537202
Area of activity: CBOW, Research Projects, Data Collection, Interdisciplinary & International Research Network, cbowproject, advocacy, training, Children Born of War Project and My Child Lebensborn
Website: https://www.cbowproject.org
Email: info@cbowproject.org
Latest annual report: Annual report 2022/20233
Our Story
The Children Born of War (CBOW) Project is the result of an unusual, but successful collaboration between two digital game designers and a researcher, that started with the mobile game project called “My Child Lebensborn”. As part of the development, creative producer Elin Festøy (Teknopilot AS) and Professor Dr. Ingvill Constanze Ødegaard (formerly Mochmann), the global leading researcher on Children Born of War and Founder of the “International Network for Interdisciplinary Research on Children Born of War,” started a collaboration for greater visibility and better rights for Children Born of War. Together with lead game designer Catharina Due Bøhler (Sarepta Studio AS), and the help of the Norwegian Lebensborn children, the result is a mobile game that is representative for the suffering of the CBOW-children in Norway from World War II.
Prejudice is the root cause of the suffering for CBOW and creating awareness and knowledge is necessary. With the research and network from Dr. Ødegaard, together with the game’s ability to communicate the topic to a broad audience, this determined trio felt they had a strong starting point to create a platform for international awareness for CBOW. They also concluded that there is a need for a new organization working solely for the rights of these children.
“My Child Lebensborn” has so far sold over 1 million copies and has won the prestigious BAFTA award for “Games Beyond Entertainment.” Teknopilot AS and Sarepta AS are donating part of the proceeds from the game to found The Children Born of War Project so that the engagement of millions of players worldwide can be transformed into actual help for the CBOW of today.
Our Mission
Our mission is to improve the situation for Children Born of War all over the world.
To achieve this mission, we work to promote and safeguard the needs and rights of children born of war (CBOW) as a means of alleviating the personal, social, economic and legal-political challenges they face. We strive for a state of positive identity and a stigma-free environment for CBOW worldwide.
To do this, we work towards developing evidenced based solutions that adequately address the needs and rights of CBOW, and do so by engaging in information gathering, training, research and advocacy.
Our Vision
Our vision is for researchers, survivor organisations, CBOW organisations, governments, courts and non-governmental organisations to work together to collect data and sources that inform evidence, advocacy, training and policy on issues related to CBOW. This (virtual) hub will facilitate systematic collaboration and information sharing, prevent silos and ensure the rights and needs of CBOW are at the centre.
Our approach
The purpose of the foundation is to promote and safeguard the needs and rights of children born of war, defined as children where the mother is a local native and the father usually belongs to a foreign military, armed group, or e.g. a peacekeeping force. Aims of the foundation include:
- Work for increased awareness, knowledge and available information about CBOW
- Work to secure and promote the rights of CBOW worldwide
- Support teaching and training projects aimed at combating stigma against CBOW
- Support research initiatives aimed at knowledge building and documentation of living conditions and treatment of CBOW worldwide
- Direct assistance to organisations and individuals working on projects related to the foundation’s purpose
What we do to achieve our goals
Children Born of War is a complex topic. We believe that the only way to achieve major improvement and visibility of CBOW is to:
- Share knowledge and reach out to target groups
- Maintaining the Legacy of Children Born of War
- Share Data and relevant sources
- Provide Training tailored towards diverse stakeholders
- Participate in Research Projects
- Support relevant projects
Furthermore, the CBOW Project is often requested to support and advise on the search of family members of various groups of CBOW.
In addition to continuous updates on Facebook and LinkedIn, a newsletter is distributed end April, end August, and end December. If you have anything you would like to share, please send it to info@cbowproject.org by 15th the respective month. If you have relevant information for any of the other social media channels of the CBOW Project, you may send it to us at any time.
The faces of the people behind the Children Born of War Project
