Mission Vision & History

The inspiration for Aflatoun comes from Jeroo Billimoria, an Indian national who grew up and worked among the street children of Mumbai. Through this experience she came to the conclusion that a lack of basic knowledge about rights, responsibilities and finance is at the root of economic and social inequality.

Our dream

Jeroo's, and Aflatoun's, dream is the reduction of poverty through the development of socially and financially empowered children. We believe that children should be taught to understand their rights and responsibilities and strive to ensure that child financial education is viewed as a right for every child across the globe.

Our Mission

"Inspiring children to socially and economically empower themselves to be agents of change in their own lives and for a more equitable world".

Our History

The Aflatoun concept is based on a pilot in the western state of Maharastra, India, run by an organisation called MelJol, now an Aflatoun partner. What began as a school-based child rights programme expanded to include a component in which children learned about saving money.

This experience created awareness amongst the children of the benefits of saving and of how banking systems work and increased their self-esteem and confidence.

Due to MelJol's success, other countries were approached to discuss whether a similar concept could bring the same benefits to their communities. Encouraged by the enthusiastic reaction of social entrepreneurs and NGOs around the world, Aflatoun Child Savings International was founded with the mission of bringing Child Social & Financial Education to children all over the world.

In November 2005, the Aflatoun network was formally launched in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and representatives from around the world committed to the Aflatoun concept. A global pilot involving ten more countries began, and today Aflatoun has expanded its activities across the globe.