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This video case study was developed as a part of the Transitioning Models of Care Assessment Tool training package. It is 1 of 8 video case studies exploring different aspects of learning on transitioning residential care services. To access the full set of case studies or the training package, visit the BCN Transition Hub.
An Exploration of Poverty as a Consumption Object: Voluntourist’s Stories from an Orphanage in Nepal
This paper examines the understanding of poverty emerging in voluntourists’ accounts of their first-hand experiences of poverty alleviation. Based on the ethnography of an orphanage in Nepal, the authors show that despite voluntourists’ good intentions and even (self-)criticism of the volunteer tourism approach to poverty relief, their accounts tend to consolidate rather regressive ideas about poverty. They draw on post-colonial and post-development theory to illuminate specific ways in which the old Orientalist tropes and discourses of othering are perpetuated in this novel neoliberal form…
In childcare institutions (CCIs) in India, children with mild or moderate levels of disability are often placed with non-disabled children for care and protection. Generally, children with intellectual disability (ID), learning disability, hearing and speech impairment and multiple disabilities with ID are found to be living in these CCIs.
In this best practice article, the challenges faced by these children with disabilities and the potential for inclusion within the CCI are discussed based on the field action project intervention of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS),…
This is the summary report for a pilot project spearheaded by Miracle Foundation India with its two partner organizations which were two Children's Care Institutions (CCIs) in the Indore District in central India. The goal of the pilot was to ‘create a replicable model for other CCIs to effectively implement family based and alternative care through systemic change by engaging multiple stakeholders’.
The four key objectives for pilot project included:
- Creating a model for other CCIs by putting together learnings and best practices
- Showcase a…
Orphanage trafficking is a form of child trafficking, in which children are removed from their families, often under false pretences, and transferred or recruited into child care institutions where they often face various forms of exploitation for profit. When a child is trafficked in this way, their identity is frequently falsified so in documents they appear to be an orphan – a process known as ‘paper orphaning’. The exploitation of children in these circumstances ranges from sexual abuse to forced labour, begging, or being sold for illegal adoption or servitude. Some are trafficked for…
Orphanage trafficking involves the recruitment and/or transfer of children to residential care institutions for a purpose of exploitation and profit. It typically takes place in lower- and middle-income countries where child protection services systems are highly privatised, under-regulated, and primarily funded by overseas sources. In such circumstances, residential care is used prolifically and inappropriately as a response to child vulnerability, including a lack of access to education.
This study assesses and maps the legal, policy and procedural frameworks in both domestic and…
Abstract
This article compares and contrasts two humanitarian emergencies and their impact on Nepal: these are the Nepal earthquake in 2015 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It explains how each emergency has impacted children without parental care or at risk of family separation, with specific reference to orphanage trafficking, voluntourism, child institutionalisation and family preservation. In relation to each emergency, the article considers the role of disaster preparedness; the roles of the Nepal government, the international community and civil society; and the significance of one…
Abstract
Literature on orphanage tourism considers the motives of Western volunteers and the problematic nature of their compulsion to ‘help’ vulnerable children in the Global South. Orphanage tourism is also increasingly adopted into ‘rescue ideologies’ (Howard, 2016) and anti-trafficking/‘modern slavery’ campaigns. The perspectives of children involved, however, are missing from these discourses. This article draws on original empirical data to explore the narratives of young Nepali adults who lived in Kathmandu orphanages as children. Through these narratives, the article explores the…
This presentation was delivered by Marinus van IJzendoorn at a 18 November 2020 meeting of the Evidence for Impact Working Group, a working group of the recently launched Transforming Children's Care Global Collaborative Platform. The aims of the presentation were to present evidence of the harmful impacts of institutionalization on children, demonstrate some of the benefits of deinstitutionalization for getting children back on track, and raise questions about gap-year volunteers working in orphanages. Click the 'Settings' icon to view this video with French or Spanish subtitles. Access the…
The India Alternative Care Network (IACN) came into effect in March 2020. It is hosted at Butterflies and is supported by UNICEF. IACN brings together an array of practitioners, academicians, policy advocates and organisations working on improving the well-being and protection of children without parental care or at risk of separation. Through the online and offline initiatives, IACN aims to work on strengthening policy and practice on…