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In this case study, Coordinating Comprehensive Care of Children (4Children) documents and evaluates the work of Pact's Yekokeb Berhan Program for Highly Vulnerable Children (HVC) in Ethiopia. The case study is one of three case studies developed by 4Children at the request of the Office of HIV and AIDS at USAID to share and promote learning from OVC programs which have implemented successful interventions to increase HIV testing and services (HTS) for children.
This case study includes a background on Ethiopia and the context of its health and social welfare services,…
The world is facing a hidden crisis in childcare. That crisis is leaving millions of children without the support they need, with damaging consequences for their future. It is also having severe impacts on three generations of women – on mothers, grandmothers and daughters.
There is an urgent need to solve the global care crisis to improve the lives of both women and children and to grow economies. There are 671 million children under five in the world today. Given labour force participation rates that exceed 60% globally, a large number of these children…
Research strongly suggests that children are best served by care that is as safe, nurturing and as close to family as is feasible for the given situation. Many care organizations that have long served children in large scale residential settings desire to shift decisively toward family-based solutions. However, transitioning from residential care to family-based care can be difficult, even intimidating. The organizations profiled in these case studies have pioneered effective transitions from residential to family-based care. For these studies, they have generously shared from their…
This video features a segment of a talk on the effects of care environments on children, hosted by the Christian Alliance for Orphans. The key speakers featured include Dr. Kathryn Whetten & Dr. Charles Nelson, who discuss the Positive Outcomes for Orphans study (POFO) and the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), respectively.
Dr. Nelson speaks about the institutionalization of children and its impact on the brain development of institutionalized children. Many children in institutions, says Dr. Nelson, experience isolation, a lack of response to distress, a…
Retrak is a faith-based non-governmental organisation working with orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia and other countries. Retrak uses the contents of key international legal frameworks such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) to help inform their work with children. Utilising the International Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children as a guiding framework as well as the growing body of evidence showing negative effects of institutional care on children’s development…
This assessment conducted by FHI 360, with support from Ethiopia's Ministry of Women, Youth and Children Affairs (MoWYCA) and the OAK Foundation aimed to generate evidence about formal community and family- based alternative child care services and service providing agencies in Ethiopia, with a particular focus on magnitude, quality and quality-assurance mechanisms. The assessment was conducted in five selected regions (Addis Ababa; Afar; Amhara; Oromia; and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region…
Permanency for Children: The Development of the BCS Global Foster-to-Adopt Pilot Project in Ethiopia
This report provides initial documentation of a pilot program launched by Bethany Christian Services in 2009 in Ethiopia. An estimated 5 million Ethiopian children (0-17) were identified as having lost one or both parents, as a result of HIV and AIDS, other diseases such as TB and malaria, extreme poverty and famine and migration (2005). This situation has left families financially stretched beyond their limits in providing the traditional model of orphan support and has resulted in increased reliance on institutional care. In order to address this situation the Bethany Christian…
In this report, Retrak examines the situation of girls living on the streets in Kampala, Uganda and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and provides recommendations for necessary development programs such scaling up services and building new facilities for street girls. The research focused on gaining a deeper understanding of the situation for girls on the streets of these two cities, and guiding Retrak and other street children practitioners on the methods and programs that would best meet their needs.
The research in both locations adopted a qualitative method as primary data was received directly…
Factors underlying the vulnerability of children and lack of appropriate parental care include HIV and AIDS, natural disasters, internal migration, and chronic poverty. These factors have been documented as the main reasons children lack parental care on a global level and, more specifically, on the African continent. The same paradigm may be applied to the situation in Ethiopia. With approximately five million orphaned and vulnerable children, the need for alternative care options for vulnerable children is growing. The increase in the number of children requiring…
This paper, which was presented at a workshop organized by the Network for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children, discusses the experience of Jerusalem Association Children’s Homes (JACH) on de-institutionalization. This paper also discusses the process of reunification and reintegration through various strategies and activities designed and implemented by JACH.
Having accumulated experience and expertise, JACH has gradually decreased the number of children in the institutions and has made a strategic shift to community-based childcare projects. JACH has initiated such projects in…