This is a series of written interviews conducted with care-experienced persons from Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka who have had experience with alternative care. These interviews were published in the September 2023 issue of the Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond journal.

In this editorial, Ian Forber-Pratt, editor of this tenth anniversary edition of the Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond, gives an of alternative care in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. 

This paper intends to capture the landscape of alternative care and its evolution in India, drawing from the review of the legal and policy framework, existing literature, and detailed discussions with Civil Society Organisations(CSOs) and State functionaries.

This Anti-Child Marriage Guide produced by World Vision aims to empower and educate users as how to best navigate regulatory hurdles that may arise when assisting children affected by child marriage. This fourth legal guide addresses frequently asked questions relating to protecting victims of child marriage in Australia, Mainland China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

This 5th webinar of the Family for Every Child Kinship Care learning series looked at the different ways in which kinship carers themselves support kinship care. Kinship Care Ireland shared how the kinship caregivers they are working with are self-advocating for greater recognition for kinship care.

Providing a safe and non-hostile environment for growth is every child's right. Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) and those in conflict with the law. This article discusses the limitations of institutional care and why there is a need to shift focus to Family-Based Alternative Care services (FBAC), especially in the context of COVID-19.

India has made remarkable progress toward ending child marriage according to this new UNICEF report, though this country remains home to the largest number of child brides worldwide. Despite advancements on many fronts, the rate of decline is not sufficient to reach the target of eliminating the practice by 2030, as set out in the Sustainable Development Goals.

This IACN report outlines the importance of families for the emotional, physical, and cognitive growth of children. The authors discuss that all efforts should be made to provide family-based care to children without parental care, and institutionalisation should be a measure of last resort for the optimum development of children. The report draws on the experiences of eight families in kinship care arrangements and the children placed with them.

Udayan Care is happy to invite you to join its full-day program on the 20th of March to be held at the India International Centre (IIC, Kamladevi complex seminar hall 1). For those who cannot join the event in person, please register for the pre and post-lunch sessions separately.

This learning brief was developed as part of Changing the Way We Care's 2022 annual report and shares learning on family-based alternative care from Guatemala, Moldova, India and Kenya and links the reader to additional CTWWC resources on the topic.