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One of the most apparent byproducts from the war in Liberia is the profusion of issues facing children today. Children who were former child soldiers or displaced during the war have been unable to receive the services they need to return to normalcy. As a result, children are facing abuse, sexual violence and exploitation, forced labor, kidnapping and a lack of basic necessities among other issues. Though each of these issues is considered a major violation of children’s rights and an abuse against children, they often exist in conjunction with other issues. Additionally, there is a cyclical…
This “roadmap” document outlines the recommended implementation strategies and activities for strengthening family- and community-based alternative care in Liberia. It accompanies the Guidelines on Kinship Care, Foster Care and Supported Independent Living (the Guidelines) and the Capacity Building Plan to Implement the Guidelines (CBP). The roadmap serves as a resource tool for the Government of Liberia, and its partners, for the protection of children without appropriate care through the development of alternative care, deinstitutionalization and other support services.…
In this article in the magazine Mother Jones, Kathryn Joyce, the author of a recently published book on the issue titled The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption chronicles the rapidly growing evangelical movement for international adoption in the United States since early 2000, and its impact on children and their families, with a particular focus on Liberia. She follows the story of four children adopted by a Tennessee family from Liberia, a country that had just emerged from a 14-year civil war…
Charts that accompany the Mother Jones article Orphan Fever: The Evangelical Movement’s Adoption Obsession by Kathryn Joyce, illustrating the trends in international adoptions from Liberia, Kyrgyzstan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Haiti to families in the United States.
This country care review includes the Concluding Observations for the Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted as part of its examination of Liberia's second and fourth periodic reports at the 61st Session of the Committee held between 17 September and 5 October, 2012. The Committee’s recommendations on the issue of Family Environment and Alternative Care as well as other care relevant issues are highlighted.
"Liberian children are being sold for adoption in dubious circumstances and others are living in sub-standard orphanages, according to rights groups in the West African nation," says this article from the New Humanitarian. "Some institutions, while purporting to help orphans, are charging huge sums of money for adoptions, the National Child Rights Observation Group (NACROG), said in a report this week."
"Many rogue orphanages are 'recruiting' Liberian children from their families and keeping them in appalling conditions in order to increase the aid they receive," according to this article from Red Orbit.
This double edition of the ISS Monthly Review is a brief progress report on the situation of children in need of alternative care or at risk of so being, five years after the Guidelines’ acceptance at the United Nations’ General Assembly. The review highlights brief news on adoption, an overview of alternative care reform in Liberia, a feature on Ebola and alternative care, and an update from Florence Martin, director of the Better Care Network, entitled “Tracking Progress Initiative – Monitoring the Guidelines’ Implementation” which provides a brief overview of the Tracking Progress …