Defend imprisoned children in Somaliland

Dear friends and supporters,

This month marks five years since we founded the Children’s Legal Defense Center (CLDC) — an organization that began with one conviction: to use the law to bring imprisoned children home in Somaliland.

In November 2020, as the world was in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, my colleague Idiris and I rented a single desk near the courthouse in Hargeisa and began taking cases of detained children. The future was uncertain — but from that uncertainty, CLDC was born.

Since then, our small team has defended 2,898 children.
Behind every number is a child’s story: a wrongful detention reversed, a young person given a second chance, a family reunited.

We’ve seen real change — judges interpreting the law through the lens of fairness and human rights, and communities beginning to recognize that protecting children’s rights is protecting their shared future.

None of this would have been possible without you.
Your generosity turned belief into action, and your support made justice possible for children who might otherwise have been forgotten.

As we celebrate this milestone, we also face a hard truth:
funding for justice and child protection is shrinking, even as the need continues to grow.

CLDC was born in uncertainty — and it continues through conviction. What sustains us is faith in this simple truth: justice transforms lives.

Your continued support makes all the difference.
Every donation — no matter the size — helps keep our lawyers in courtrooms, reuniting children with their families and restoring hope where it’s most needed.

Thank you for walking this road with us — and for helping ensure it continues.

With gratitude,
Caitlin Lambert
Co-Founder, Children’s Legal Defense Center