Our vision is that every child, regardless of their health condition, receives the palliative care support they need to live life to the fullest. Our mission is to catalyse change, scale investments, and build a supportive community to advance paediatric palliative care globally.

Together, we’re building a community of locally rooted, globally connected initiatives to transform children’s palliative care worldwide.

What do we mean by children’s palliative care?

Children’s palliative care is the full continuum of care for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, giving them and their families space, be that emotional or physical, to enjoy the best possible quality of life. Palliative care includes pain management, relief from distressing symptoms, respite breaks for families, care at the end of life, and bereavement support. It can be provided in children’s hospices, hospitals, tertiary care facilities, community health centres, and children’s own homes.

Access to children’s palliative care is a human right. According to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, "children are entitled to quality health services, including prevention, promotion, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care services.’’

Children’s palliative care is an essential part of the continuum of care for all patients. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 and the World Health Assembly also affirm this central principle.

  • Following the World Health Organisation’, we are taking a broad definition of health innovation as encompassing the novel creation, adoption or adaption of policies, practices, systems, technologies, services and delivery methods within children’s palliative care, to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, quality, safety or affordability of the care available

    Some key examples of innovations in children's palliative are in action can be found in our published report here

    More information on children’s palliative care can be found on the International Children’s Pallliative Care Network’s website, and the World Health Organisation’s website

    UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 15, The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, CRC/C/GC/15, 17 April 2013, paras. 2 and 25.

    WHA Resolution “Strengthening of palliative care as a component of comprehensive care throughout the life course”, WHA67.19, 9th plenary meeting, A67/VR/9, 24 May 2014.

    Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing