This report is based on a synthesis of eight assessments of the implementation of the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (“the Guidelines”) in Benin, Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The purpose of the ‘Imbeleko and social connectedness’ project was to conduct a cross-sectional study in order to explore and describe indigenous ways of care and support to inform policy and intervention.

There has been a significant growth in the use of formal kinship care in the UK and Ireland in the last 20 years. The paper charts some of the reasons for the 'organic growth' of kinship care and the multiple dynamics that have shaped this.

This Kinship Care Album was produced as part of a regional participatory research initiative undertaken by Save the Children to build knowledge on endogenous care practices within families and communities, especially informal kinship care. The Album is a compilation of documentation by children who participated in the research, including resource maps, body maps, photos of focus group discussions and observations by child researchers, pictures and letters from children highlighting their experiences of living in kinship care, their views and recommendations about life in kinship care.

Zero to Three, a US based non profit organization working to inform, train and support professionals, policy makers and parents to improve the lives of infants and toddlers, combined the evidence from research on early childhood development with feedback from focus groups with families, friends, and neighbors who act as care givers to develop a range of practical resources to strengthen care practices with children between the ages of 0 and 3.

This paper paves the way to ensuring that challenges faced by informal caregivers are addressed in a manner that will make them more supportive to orphans.

This paper, 'Children in Informal Care', was produced in response to a knowledge gap on informal care and to help determine the relevance and applicability of the 2009 Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children to informal alternative care. The authors asked the questions “what constitutes ‘informal care’?”, “what forms of informal care are there?”, “who needs informal care?”, and “can they be clearly defined?”

This paper is based on The Latin American Report: The situation of children in Latin America without parental care or at risk of losing it. Contexts, causes and responses, which was prepared using reports from 13 countries in the region. The paper gives an overview of the state of one of the most fundamental rights - the right to parental care, a keystone for the right to live in a family and a community.

This report, prepared for UNICEF East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) assesses the capacity in Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia to manage alternative care systems for children.

Explores the disparity in support given to children in formal foster care in the United States compared to those in informal kin arrangements