Date: Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Time: 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CET
Children in alternative care are among the least visible in official data. Despite existing obligations, policies and reform efforts, they remain frequently missing from official statistics and national and international indicator frameworks.
Efforts to standardize the collection of data on children in alternative care remain limited by the use of inconsistent definitions and methods. Variations in how different alternative care arrangements are captured in administrative systems and surveys reduce the international comparability of data and limit the consistency of data across and within sectors at national level.
To address these challenges, UNICEF – with input from close to 100 experts – developed the International Classification of Alternative Care of Children (ICare). In March 2026, the United Nations Statistical Commission formally approved the ICare as an official statistical standard. The ICare addresses a crucial need for globally accepted operational concepts, definitions and principles to ensure a standardized approach to collecting and classifying statistical data regarding alternative care of children.
The ICare will be officially released on 15 July.
Please join this event for a presentation on the statistical classification followed by a panel discussion and question-and-answer session.
Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in French and Russian with closed captioning available in many other languages including Arabic and Spanish.