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In preparation for the Expert Meeting on Alternative Care and Family Support in the Baltic Sea Region - held in Tallinn, Estonia in May 2015 - the Children’s Unit in cooperation with the Expert Group for Cooperation on Children at Risk conducted a mapping of family support and alternative care services in the Baltic Sea Region Member States. The objective of this mapping was to analyse the situation, assess the achievements since the 2005 Ministerial Forum and to identify relevant opportunities and challenges for the future.
This report documents, assesses, and analyses the state of…
Government representatives, experts and professionals from the Baltic Sea Region including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation, Sweden and wider Europe gathered at a two-day expert meeting in Tallinn, Estonia and, together, endorsed a set of recommendations and action plan on alternative care and family support on 6 May 2015. This report provides an overview of the meeting and the presentations and discussions that took place on the topics of regional cooperation on alternative care, promoting quality care for children in the…
This background paper was developed as part of a regional study which gathered relevant data and information on family support and alternative care in the eleven Member States of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS): Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation and Sweden. The aim of this study was to identify progress and challenges in preventing family separation and safeguarding the rights of children in alternative care in the region. This background paper offers a comprehensive and detailed overview of the situation of…
This issue brief from the UNHCR highlights key messages from UNHCR in regards to alternative care, including the importance of making alternative care arrangements based on the best interests of the child and using residential or institutional care only as a very last resort. The brief defines the role of the UNHCR in alternative care as well as key concepts of alternative care. The brief reviews the types of alternative care and key actions that UNHCR and its partners can do to ensure the best interests of the child in alternative care. The brief concludes with some examples of the…
In 2013 the Better Care Network (BCN) initiated a regional inter-agency initiative in Eastern and Southern Africa to build and share knowledge, advocate for care reform and technically sound policy and practices to strengthen families and provide appropriate alternative care in the region.
As a result of a consultative mapping, this regional learning was planned to bring together organizations involved in family strengthening and alternative care to provide a forum to share information, build collaboration and prioritise needs in three interlinked thematic areas…
The present volume contains the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly from 15 September to 24 December 2009, as well as the information requested by the Assembly in section C, paragraph 3, of its resolution 54/248 of 23 December 1999. Decisions adopted by the Assembly during this period appear in volume II. Resolutions and decisions adopted subsequently during the sixty-fourth session will be published in volume III.
Resolutions related to children’s care include the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, 2001–2010, Assistance to…
On the 22nd October 2013, three Latin American presidents (Costa Rica, Honduras and Paraguay) gave their support to a new regional campaign in the Latin American and Caribbean region launched to end the placement of children under three years of age in institutions. This ‘Call to action’ is led by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the Latin American and Caribbean Chapter of the Global Movement for Children (MMI-CLAC), the Latin American Foster Care Network (RELAF), the …
General Comment 14 issued by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, refers to article 3(1), of the Convention on the Rights of the Child that asserts the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration in all actions or decisions that concern him or her (in both the public and private spheres). The General Comment defines the requirements for due consideration of the child’s best interests, in judicial and administrative decisions as well as all other actions concerning the child,…
20 years on from the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), evidence suggests an alarming lack of progress in achieving children’s fundamental rights to grow up in a loving family environment. Research, particularly from less developed regions, shows a substantial and growing number of children without parental care, with devastating impacts on children’s rights. In recognition of this problem, child rights activists have campaigned for the 20th anniversary to coincide with the agreement of UN guidelines aimed at preventing family separation, and ensuring…
The past six years have seen increasing engagement by the international community on HIV, AIDS and children. One of the eight Millennium Development Goals set by governments in 2000 relates directly to HIV and AIDS. In 2001, at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, governments pledged to protect children affected by the disease. Global commitment to combat the impact of HIV and AIDS on children was again outlined in 2002 in ‘A World Fit for Children’, the outcome document of the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children. More recently, in June 2006, the UN…