Before the genocide in Rwanda, which claimed the lives of nearly one million people, there were three orphanages in the country, says this article from All Africa. After the genocide, foreign aid organizations established orphanages around the country and the number grew to 34. Most of the institutions were managed and/or funded by foreign faith-based organizations or private international donors. Some of these institutions became money-making operations wherein children were often exploited and funds misappropriated. In 2012, the Rwandan Government launched the “Strategy for National Child Care Reform” which aimed to close down the orphanages and build “sustainable child care and protection systems.” The National Commission for Children was charged with overseeing the reintegration of children into families and other organizations have taken on the objective so that these children have now been reunited with parents, grandparents, relatives, or placed into adoptive homes instead of institutions.
