Unlike many other countries in Africa, there are few child sponsor programs in Benin, however there remain real issues with children living in poverty, subject to trafficking and sexual exploitation as well as abandonment. Around 50% of the population of Benin live on under 60p a day and just under a third of children are clinically malnourished, with a life expectancy of just 55 years.

Just over 40% have access to health care, though, where it is available, one doctor can be responsible for over a hundred thousand patients and a pregnant woman has to share her midwife with over ten thousand others. It is estimated that 50,000 children in Benin have been trafficked to nearby countries where they often end up selling goods on the street.