About Unga Örnar

Unga Örnar has been around for over a hundred years. Our history begins in a time when children’s living conditions were completely different from today, when poverty, overcrowding, and lack of leisure time characterized many children’s everyday lives. Then, as now, there was a strong conviction behind the movement: all children have the right to a safe childhood, community, and the opportunity to grow as people and citizens.

The organization grew out of the labor movement and the popular education tradition, in a time when the struggle for democracy and equality was far from obvious. Unga Örnar became a place where children could get away from the limitations of everyday life, meet across class boundaries, and experience nature, culture, and community. Camps, excursions, and local activities were not just fun elements, but a way to give children access to what was otherwise reserved for a select few.

Over the decades, society has changed, but Unga Örnar’s basic idea has remained firm. When welfare was expanded, when the Convention on the Rights of the Child took shape, and when new injustices emerged, we have been there and adapted our activities to children’s reality. We have always combined play and seriousness: leisure and commitment, community and social impact.

Our history is also the story of generations of children, young people, and volunteer leaders who together have shaped the organization. They have learned democracy by practicing it, taking responsibility, speaking out, and standing up for each other. It is a legacy of optimism, solidarity, and initiative that still permeates everything we do.

Today, Unga Örnar stands firmly in its history, but with its sights set on the future. The world looks different than it did a hundred years ago, but the need for safe contexts, equal conditions, and children’s voices is at least as great. Our history reminds us why we exist – and gives us the strength to continue fighting for a childhood where all children have a place.