The Maygoma Institution for Babies (Maygoma) in Khartoum State, Sudan, was established in 1961. It was designed to take care of a maximum of 80 babies and generally had a population of about 40 at any one time. At the time that the institution was established, there were close relationships between the Sudanese Government and the communist governments of Eastern Europe and this resulted in a considerable influence of Eastern European social work practices upon those in Sudan.
A study carried out in 2003 estimated that 1600 babies, mostly newborn, were being left on the streets of Khartoum or in hospitals every year. Many would die on the streets and those who were admitted to Maygoma only had a 25% chance of reaching the age of 42 . The babies were stigmatised in Khartoum society because their births were considered ‘illegal’ as well as ‘illegitimate’. The Government of Sudan, concerned about the number of babies being abandoned on the streets, set up a task force to find alternative ways to institutional care for those babies.
This report tracks the progress and celebrates the success of how a new child protection system - encompassing prevention, emergency hospital care, alternative family care (AFC) and permanent solutions - was introduced into an Islamic context. It outlines the process of transformation from an institution-based response to abandonment to one of familybased care, and the role played by Hope and Homes for Children (HHC) Sudan and others working alongside the Government of Sudan. Drawing on HHC Sudan documentation from 2003-2013; discussions with HHC staff in the UK and Sudan, discussions with representatives of public bodies including the Police Family and Child Protection Unit (FCPU) and UNICEF staff during March and July 2014, the report provides a broad overview of work undertaken over a ten year period. It highlights the most significant step changes in attitudes and the development of the essential and practical building blocks for the transformation of services for children deprived of parental care in their birth families.
What began as a reaction to the number of babies being abandoned on the streets of Khartoum has developed over the last ten years into the The National Policy on the Welfare and Protection of Children Deprived of Parental Care, underlining the Government’s commitment to ensuring that every child grows up in a family environment. Further, it seeks to recognise and celebrate the enormity of the achievements over the ten year period and to lay out the final steps to complete the process of change.
