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This Joint Statement the ASEAN Ministers responsible for social welfare and development outlines their concerns and commitments to action regarding meeting the needs of vulnerable people impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, including children with disabilities, children deprived of liberty, and children in institutional care, among other groups.
In the Statement, the Ministers note that they are "deeply concerned over particular risks faced by vulnerable children such as children with disabilities, children affected by migration and trafficking, children in deprived of liberty,…
This blog post from Strengthening Families For Abandoned Children (SFAC) features a decision map and accompanying guide to making decisions about where and how to place a child during a large-scale emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic.
This statement from Lumos outlines the organization's recommendations to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development regarding the institutionalization of children. The statement includes some background information on the harmful effects of institutionalization on children and highlights the existing "commitment to ending the institutionalisation of children inside the EU." The statement includes three recommendations from Lumos:
1. Ensure that the EBRD does not fund institutions for children
2. Include children in institutions as a target group for the EBRD’s…
AIDS has devastated the social and economic fabric of African societies and made orphans of a whole generation of children. Although donor agencies initially viewed the plight of orphans as a short term humanitarian disaster, they now acknowledge the long term social consequences of African children growing up without parental love and guidance. The potential for these children to form a large group of dysfunctional adults, which could further destabilise societies already weakened by AIDS, has increased the urgency of finding an effective solution to the orphan crisis.
"During the pandemic, video chats replaced in-person visits between parents and their children placed in foster care" says this article from the Marshall Project. "The effects could linger for years."
Following the disappearance of 470 street-connected children after being detained in Nairobi County, county officials claim that it is the responsibility of the federal government to house and rehabilitate the children. PesaCheck, with assistance from the International Budget Partnership in Kenya have researched where the responsibility for the care, protection and reintegration of these children lies.
With Australia's recent efforts to end orphanage tourism, Education Minister Simon Birmingham has declared that he intends to reduce the involvement and support of Asutralian schools and universities in orphanage tourism.
This news report describes how the foreign financing of orphanages in Haiti fuels the growth of a corrupt orphanage industry and enables unregistered institutions in the country to continue operating outside the law.
In 2015, over 425,000 children were placed in foster care in the United States following reported incidents of abuse and neglect. Poorly delivered services by the strained child protection system, however, can cause considerable harm to children placed in care. Transforming the child welfare system will require evidenced-based changes in service delivery, including: improved and ongoing training to child welfare workers, enhanced preventive efforts, and the reallocation of resources.
Despite good intentions, volunteers and donors from Australia and the larger international community are supporting orphanages separating children from their families. Australia is seeking to curb support for orphanages in countries like Cambodia, where the trafficking of children into orphanages is a common practice.