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This resolution on orphanage trafficking was adopted by consensus at the 147th IPU Assembly and endorsed by 180 parliaments.
According to this article from Forced Migration Review, when the majority of aid comes from external sources, it can cause those who receive the aid to feel powerless. External aid, along with the stress of protracted displacement can force changes in family structures and caregiving practices, thus threatening the family structure. In the most extreme cases, researchers found that parents may leave the family or a child, rationalising that the children would be better off without the parent or on their own.
This article focuses on the Gihembe camp in Rwanda, which…
The primary objective of this document is to provide a “linking and learning forum” for member organizations of the Parenting in Africa Network (PAN). The document, which highlights best practices in parenting and family strengthening interventions, is also intended as an advocacy tool to promote skillful parenting. The document evaluates several programs and interventions throughout Africa, most of which are implemented by PAN members and which are all aimed at strengthening families for the wellbeing of children. All of the programs surveyed regard parents and caregivers as significant…
This publication, produced by the Parenting in Africa Network (PAN), highlights the skillful parenting practices of several pastoral communities in Africa, including the Gabra and the Maasai people in Kenya, the Bozo community in Mali, the Ndebele of South Africa, and the Swahili community of the coastal strip of Africa. The aspects of parenting highlighted are: pre-birth mother care, post birth mother and child care, instilling skills in responsibility and respect, child-parent interaction, the role of fathers, sexuality and puberty, preparation for marriage, care of vulnerable children, and…
Informal kinship care practices are widespread in the West Central Africa region. An estimated 15.8% of children in West Central Africa do not live with their biological parents. However, only a very small number (0.002%) live in formal alternative care (including residential care) while the majority live in informal care alternatives, especially with their extended family in kinship care. A regional Save the Children participatory research initiative 2012-2013 was undertaken to build knowledge on endogenous care practices within families and communities, especially informal kinship…
In this paper, Bright Drah argues that the response to the orphan crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has focused mainly on mobilizing and distributing material resources to households with orphans. Only a few anthropologists have interrogated the frameworks and values on which the projects for orphans are based. The paper provides an analysis of the trends in foster-care research in Africa and the author suggests that current ethnographic data on foster-care practices do not adequately reflect the changing context of fostering in that continent. In particular, the measures employed in these studies…
The dominant global perception that sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing an “AIDS orphan crisis”, coupled with growing trends in international voluntourism, has fostered a potentially high-risk situation for already vulnerable young children in the region. This article reviews the current discourse on what is being called a crisis of care for children, as well as literature on out-of-home/family care and its adverse impacts on child development. We also describe an emerging “AIDS orphan tourism”, and show how short-term attachments formed between children in group residential care and…
Following a participatory process with delegates and the organizing committee, the Conference Declarations and Recommendations set forth collective priorities and commitments for: improving knowledge, skills, and capacity for supporting family based care; enhancing the legislative and policy environment for children in need of care; and strengthening coordination, participation and partnerships across the continent to promote better care and reduce the use of institutions.
Increasing adult mortality due to HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa raises considerable concerns about the welfare of surviving children. Studies have found substantial variability across countries in the negative impacts of orphanhood on child health and education. One hypothesis for this variability is the resilience of the extended family network in some countries to care for orphans—networks under increasing pressure by the sheer number of orphans in many settings.
Using household survey data from 21 countries in Africa, this study examines trends in orphanhood and living…
Many North American Christians feel compelled to respond to the care and protection needs of children deeply affected by the global AIDS pandemic. This paper provides clear and evidence-based insights into how the Christian community can best direct their efforts.
Institutional care settings (orphanages) are a common response to caring for orphans and at-risk children and youth, but a growing body of global research shows that institutional care presents great social and psychological risks for young children. Among these risks is the reduced ability to form lasting attachments, community…