Better Care Network highlights recent news pieces related to the issue of children's care around the world. These pieces include newspaper articles, interviews, audio or video clips, campaign launches, and more.
The Government of Zambia is piloting a Children First Software (CFS) application "that will provide a database of the vulnerable people in the country in order for them to receive support from their households as opposed to being institutionalised in centers," according to this article from the Lusaka Times.
This article from the Hindu describes the current debate between a faction of child rights advocates and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) regarding the care and placement of a group of 16 trafficked children who were illegally sold into adoption in the Mysuru district in Karnataka, India.
The World Identity Network (WIN), the United Nations Office for Project Services(UNOPS) and the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology (UN-OICT) have partnered to launch a pilot initiative that will use blockchain technology to help combat child trafficking by "securing data on an immutable ledger."
This article explores the many obstables and legal challenges that unaccompanied minors are experiencing in the judicial system in the state of Arizona in the US in their efforts to obtain legal status and be granted asylum.
This article from the Irish Times refers to a recent report from the Irish legislature (Oireachtas) which calls on the police (Gardaí) and social workers to form specialist child protection units to address gaps in services for out-of-hours social work services, and cites other recommendations from the Report on the Provision of Foster Care Services in Ireland.
This opinion piece from the Conversation discusses many of the pitfalls of international "voluntourism," and the damage it can do in struggling communities, particularly in developing contexts.
Projects Abroad, "One of the biggest 'voluntourism' companies in the world," will be discontinuing its orphanage trips at the end of this year, according to the article.
This video from the BBC exposes some of the mental health struggles that many children in care experience in the UK, sharing the story of one particular young man, Callum, who was placed in care and engaged in self-harming behavior.
This article shines light on the vulnerability to trafficking and exploitation of children in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.
This article, written by Professor Andy Bilson and published in the UK's Telegraph, highlights a new campaign launched by Hope and Homes for Children called 'End the Silence.' The campaign is designed to raise awareness on the effects of institutionalization on children, and to raise funding for the organization's deinstitionalization efforts ("closing orphanages and finding loving, family based care for children.")