Advisory Board

BCN is an interagency collaboration formed to enhance understanding and action across sectors and agencies. The Advisory Board of BCN serves as the executive leadership of the Network and the Secretariat operates under its guidance and direction. 

The organizations represented in the BCN Advisory Board include some of the most influential organizations involved in care for children globally. Over the past ten years, the membership of the Advisory Board has expanded and now includes: the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) and the Office of HIV/AIDS (OHA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Family For Every Child, RELAF, Save the Children UK, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

While the views represented on this site does not necessarily imply the views of our Advisory Board member agencies, membership on the Advisory Board implies an institutional commitment to the ethos of the BCN.

The Guiding Principles of the Better Care Network are available online. 

As an inter-agency network BCN is not an independent legal entity. In line with its current strategic plan (2014-2017), BCN has been implementing key changes to its governance, management and administration to reflect its maturity as a network. Its fiscal and hosting arrangements have evolved to better enable BCN to operate as an independent network organization. BCN moved to its own office space in November 2015, and in July 2016 it became a fiscally sponsored project of Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

 

Profiles of the BCN Advisory Board members:

Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) of USAID 

DCOF supports programs that help families and communities provide the necessary care, protection, and support for children in need: children affected by armed conflict; street children; children with disabilities; and children otherwise separated from appropriate care-giving situations. Within these categories, DCOF programs are based in the community and carried out by members of the community; Allow children to participate and make decisions and seek to address both the physical and emotional needs of families and children while respecting their religious and cultural practices.

Family for Every Child is a diverse, global network of local civil society organisations, working together to improve the lives of vulnerable children around the world. The network provides a platform for sharing and amplifying the expertise of its members on children's care and protection, locally, regionally and globally. Family for Every Child works with others who share its vision to enable significantly more children to grow up in secure families and access temporary, quality alternative care when needed. Familyfor Every Child was registered as a charity in 2012. In 2014 the Assembly of Members elected the first member-led Board of Trustees, who are supported by a secretariat team. There are currently 27 members with the aim to grow to at least 40 members by 2018.

Office of HIV/AIDS (OHA) of USAID 

Since the inception of its HIV/AIDS program in 1986, USAID has been at the forefront of the global AIDS crisis and a technical leader within the fields of Pediatric AIDS care and treatment and support for children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.  The office of HIV/AIDS at USAID is a key partner in the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest and most diverse HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment initiative in the world.

RELAF 

Established in 2003, RELAF promotes and supports the initiatives of 

governments and NGOs towards the de-institutionalization of children, the development of family-based alternative care and the prevention of the separation of children from their birth families. The network is made up of hundreds of NGOs, children, adolescents, families, professionals, carers, researchers, staff of institutions, government employees and authorities, policy-makers, trainers, consultants, teachers, social workers and mental health workers, among others. RELAF has also published several multi-disciplinary pieces of research on the issue. The scope of its actions can be found throughout South America, Central America, the Islands of the Caribbean and Mexico. At a global level, it is part of the Working Group on Children without Parental Care of the NGO Group for the CRC, in which it participates actively, contributing to the global advocacy strategies from a Latin American point of view.

Save the Children UK 

Child protection is one of Save the Children UK's (SC UK) four main policy priorities. The SC UK Child Protection Team leads organizational policy relating to child protection. All of the team's work seeks to improve children's access to, and the quality of, local and national care and protection systems. SC UK supports programming in around 40 countries worldwide to build and promote systemic solutions to several child protection issues including child trafficking and exploitation, neglect, and children affected by armed conflict. SC UK helps to shape organization-wide policy positions and advocate at the international level for global policy change in relation to child protection. 

UNICEF 

UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence.  The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries,UNICEF support child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic and girls education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.