At the beginning of 1991, a group of ladies, aware of the approaching dangers of war, started preparing activities aimed at protecting refugees and displaced families, especially children and their mothers. Through humanitarian assistance, thousands of families were fed, clothed, and included in various programmes of psychosocial support. In 1994, more than 60 humanitarian activists founded the Association Children First as the non-governmental, non-profit organization. With the end of the war in Croatia, beside humanitarian assistance, Children First started developing psychosocial programmes for families and children in need. Nowadays, the organisation develops psychosocial and educational programmes and projects aimed at the protection and fulfilment of children's needs. All the programmes/projects include active involvement of parents, family members and professionals in the educational, health and social welfare system. In addition to the aforementioned programmes, Children First advocates in various governmental institutions and organisations on behalf of children and family, and for the involvement of civil society organisations in child protection. Organisational structure: The Assembly - 62 members. The Executive Board members: Nataša Maletić Mirjana Milanović Blaženka Leib Nevenka Trbović Gordana Forčić Mirela Despotović Blanka Šegović The President - Blanka Šegović The Executive Director - Sanja Orešković Five professionals are employed in the organisation. A large number of experts (psychologists, pedagogues, teachers, social workers, social pedagogues, doctors, etc.) work as contractors in the programme/project implementation. There are also 10 volunteers, assisting on casual bases. The organisation's mission is to contribute to the development of civil society through securing better conditions for children's development and protecting the family, as well as advocacy for the needs and rights of children. The beneficiaries of our programmes/projects can be divided into three main groups: children (about 180 pre-school-age children and 270 school-age children, annually) parents (about 580 parents, annually) professionals in the educational and social welfare systems (about 590 professionals, annually) Children First annually implements many smaller projects as a part of a humanitarian assistance programme for approximately 450 destitute families. Psychosocial programmes for children and their parents Projects of non-formal education to parents and to professionals engaged in education and social welfare Centre for Children and Families (counselling and family supportive services) Publications Humanitarian Assistance Programme Activities aimed to development of civil society Active engagement in the Governmental Council for Development of Civil Society and the Governmental Council for Children Developing Organisational Capacity Continuous investment in organisational, program and human resources represents an integral part of Children First's development. In 2008 we continue to apply the System for Quality Assurance for Non-Governmental Organisations - SOKNO. This is a system specially adopted for Croatian NGOs, and it is based on PQASSO (Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations) designed by Charities Evaluation Services, UK