Displaying 1 - 10 of 86
On the 27th of March 2024, the UN Independent Expert on Albinism held a consultation workshop on ‘Children with Albinism and the Right to a Family Life’ in preparation for her official report to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). For those who were unable to attend there is an additional opportunity to watch a recording of the workshop and contribute your views on the UN Independent Expert’s recommendations.
Further information:
Children with albinism in the African region are at risk of family separation due to: (i) societal discrimination,…
The transition of individual residential care services for children is a critical part of child protection and care systems reform. It is one of several critical measures required of governments to implement commitments made at the international level to phase out the institutionalization of children and reorientate the system towards family-based care.1 To support the scaling up of transitioning residential care services, and to ensure it is done in a manner that is safe, effective and puts children’s best interests first, certain factors need to be in place at the system level to create…
This report represents a summary of presentations and discussions of the 5th Biennial International Conference on Alternative Care for Children in Asia held throughout the two days in Kathmandu, Nepal, in September 2023. BICON is an inter-agency cooperation of eight international organisations focused on alternative care for children.
Over 53 speakers and 300 participants, including over 50 young people with care experience, from across Asia and beyond joined us and shared their perspectives. BICON was also streamed to participants around the world.
As well as a summary…
If you’ve watched The Love You Give, you’ll recognise Peter Kamau and his gorgeous son Jedd, who featured in this docustory about orphanages.
Following the death of his parents and separation from his siblings, Peter was raised in an institution in Kenya. The experience had such a profound effect on him that he co-founded Child In Family Focus, an organisation which champions family based care for orphaned and vulnerable children. Even though Kenya now has a moratorium on the registration of new residential care institutions, the country remains one of the most popular destinations…
Orphanage volunteers may have the best of intentions - but they may unwittingly be doing more harm than good, as one ex-volunteer discovered.
At the age of 17, the idea of volunteering in an orphanage seemed like a rewarding, ethical and helpful thing to do. She found an organisation to travel with and booked on a trip to Kenya.
Looking back, she now questions the ease at which was able to sign up to volunteer in an orphanage, and the unsupervised access, without any child protection checks, to vulnerable children. Today, she feels that her trip was form of exploitation -…
One of our partner organisations and creator of the orphanage volunteering alternative Rok Kern programme, Children in Families was invited to speak about volunteering at an International School in Phnom Penh.
Following, this one student, Annie*, shared her thoughts in a blog about the 'buzz' you get from volunteering in an orphanage. She invites other volunteers to think beyond the 'buzz' to consider the emotional impact on the children and to channel their good intentions and excitement about volunteering into being catalysts for change.
"The important thing to remember is…
When Eliza was a teenager, her dream was to volunteer in orphanages all over the world. So when she turned 18, she packed her bags and headed to Guatemala to volunteer in an orphanage. Her first task was to sort through a container of goods that had been donated to the orphanage from the USA. Inside the container was a pair of snow skis. She remembers realising in that moment that she was a bit like the skis: very well intentioned, but not much use in the context of a Guatemalan orphanage. At the time, she spoke very little Spanish and had minimal experience working with children.
This was…
Ethical volunteering abroad and alternatives to orphanage volunteering
If you’re reading this it is probably because you’re aware that sometimes volunteering abroad can cause more harm than good. But with thousands of volunteering programs available in countries across Africa, Asia and South America, it can be very difficult, as a prospective volunteer, to know which one to choose.
The debate around the pros and cons of international volunteering has been raging for the past decade. With hundreds of articles, blog posts and exposés out there, both in favour and against…
ReThink Orphanages is a global cross-sector coalition working to prevent family separation and child institutionalization by shifting the way volunteers and donors support vulnerable children overseas.
Decades of research show that growing up, separated from family, in a residential care institution, such as an orphanage, is harmful to a child's development and well-being. This has led to a global effort to shift away from institutional care towards family-based care.
But well-meaning support for orphanages – through donations, volunteering, tourist trips…
Introducción
Este Informe Temático sobre voluntariado, volunturismo, turismo de orfanatos y tráfico de huérfanos fue elaborado para aportar lineamientos a los Gobiernos, los responsables de políticas y otros responsables de la toma de decisiones. También respalda la implementación de los compromisos internacionales asumidos en el contexto de la Resolución de la Asamblea General de la ONU 2019 sobre los Derechos de los niños y las niñas privados del cuidado parental. Explica de qué modo tomar las medidas apropiadas para abordar y prevenir los daños asociados al voluntariado en…