In this TED Talk, poet and playwright Lemn Sissay tells his story of growing up in foster care in the UK. 

Care related section of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia's third and fourth combined report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (dated 18th October 2012).

This paper aims to raise awareness on the perverse effects of institutionalisation on children and it calls for comprehensive system reforms, starting with a transition towards family and community-based care. It highlights country level lessons learnt in the European context that demonstrate how deinstitutionalisation can be achieved in practice.

The paper calls for greater prioritisation to be given to supporting kinship carers and the children in their care, including ensuring such households are able to access social protection, and receive psycho-social and health care support and assistance with education where needed.

The lack of care and protection facing children is a global crisis with billions of children experiencing abuse, neglect or exploitation, and many millions growing up outside of families, on the streets or in harmful institutional care. This lack of adequate care and protection is commonly the result of inequalities. Children without adequate care and protection are stigmatized and have inequitable access to basic services which, severely diminishes life chances and creates a spiral of disadvantage. In order to break this spiral, the authors of this report recommend a three-pronged strategy.

This assessment examines shelter and community-based care models for victims of trafficking in Cambodia, and explores the best practices of service providers. 

This publication was prepared as a background document to inform the discussions and debates during the Fifth International Policy Conference on the African Child held on 29-30 May 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This report examines the rationale behind increasing intercountry adoption in Africa, the main thrust of international standards, the extent and magnitude of African intercountry adoption and its problems and challenges. The paper provides recommendations to this increasing trend and aims to establish a more Pan-African position on the topic of intercountry adoption.

Through a comprehensive statistical analysis and literature review, this UNICEF report provides a child rights-based up-to-date review of the situation of children under the age of three in formal care in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEECIS).

This report presents the findings from a two-year peer research project which includes the testimony of more than 300 young people with care experience in Albania, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Poland. More than 40 care leavers from the four countries were selected and trained to play an active role in the all aspects of the projects. The interviews revealed widespread inadequacies regarding the process of leaving care, promoting the research team to draw up recommendations to address them.

In the recently released outcome document of the Fifth International Policy Conference on the African Child, conference delegates call for a reversal of the current trend of resorting to intercountry adoption as a primary solution for African children in need of alternative care, and for giving prime priority to enabling all children in Africa to remain with their families and communities.