ABOUT

In Colombia, there are 16 million uneducated children, half of whom work on the streets. This reality is a crisis that calls for immediate action, as many of these children are trapped in a cycle of poverty and exploitation. The challenge was to find an effective way to reduce child labor across the country, and potentially around the world.

The Idea
To empower citizens to actively participate in the fight against child labor, we created the Kid Rescue mobile application. The idea was simple yet powerful: allow anyone with a smartphone to report child labor in their communities in just a few steps. The app is designed to let users:

Geotag the child’s location

Take a picture of the child working

Enter the child’s information

The app’s real-time data was then sent to Fundación Telefónica, which could evaluate and follow up on each case. The goal was not just to identify the children, but to ensure they were taken off the streets and enrolled in educational programs.

Results
The Kid Rescue initiative has had a significant impact. Through the app, 1,276 children were identified as working on the streets, and 67 children were successfully rescued, placed into schools, and enrolled in Fundación Telefónica’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program. This initiative empowered the public to take action and provided a simple yet effective way for everyone to contribute to the reduction of child labor in Colombia.

By leveraging technology for social good, Kid Rescue not only helped save children from exploitation but also provided them with a chance at a better future—transforming their lives by offering them education instead of labor.