What does safe mean to you?

This is the question which global youth agency Restless Development asked young, aspiring photographers (18-25) worldwide to consider, in a specially commissioned photography contest and project for the global campaign to end violence against children led by the WHO.  Their answers and the photos which brought them to life, form a beautiful, moving and highly personal story of vulnerability, resilience and hope.

Key Images from the resulting 10 photo essays are exhibited at the first ever Ministerial to End Violence Against Children, held in Bogota, Colombia 7th-8th November. 

What’s the Safe Photography Project?

Every year one billion children are victims of cruel acts of violence. That’s one in two children on the planet. This November, the first-ever Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children is taking place in Colombia. And it has the potential to change the course of those one billion childhoods.

Restless Development worked with 12 young photographers on the movement to end violence against children – positively disrupting the point of view on an issue affecting half the world’s girls and boys. Through ‘Safe’ – a high-profile immersive photo exhibition – we aim to tell the story of what feeling safe means to young people around the world.