African Impact, a volunteer company, has issued a statement against the institutionalization of children in orphanages. They have "has implemented a strict policy to help ensure that we only work with organizations that aim to transition children into permanent family environments." The statement refers to some of the research from UNICEF on the number of children who are orphaned and the number in institutions who have a living parent. It also describes some of the ways in which orphanages can be exploitative and are used as money-making operations.
"It is for this reason that we took the decision to stop working with a number of orphanages across the continent and, as of 2018, no longer have any affiliation with this type of institution. This decision was not taken lightly and was only done when sustainable and practical solutions were in place to care for the children. We believe that orphanages are not the best way to help needy children and our volunteers’ efforts would be better spent helping in transitional institutions instead," says the statement.