This report provides initial documentation of a pilot program launched by Bethany Christian Services in 2009 in Ethiopia. The pilot aims at moving children from institutional care to family-based care by developing alternative family care for non-relative children using a foster-to-adopt approach, working through a partnership between faith communities in Ethiopia and American faith congregations in the US.

Charts that accompany the article Orphan Fever: The Evangelical Movement’s Adoption Obsession, illustrating the trends in international adoptions from Liberia, Kyrgyzstan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Haiti to families in the United States.

Using data from three rounds of the Young Lives longitudinal survey conducted in 2002, 2006, and 2009 in Ethiopia, this paper investigates whether the death of a parent during middle childhood has different effects on a child’s schooling and psychosocial outcomes when compared with death during adolescence.

This policy brief from the World Bank provides an overview of cash transfers in African countries.

In this TED Talk, poet and playwright Lemn Sissay tells his story of growing up in foster care in the UK. 

This publication, published in French, was prepared as a background document to inform the discussions and debates during the Fifth International Policy Conference on the African Child held on 29-30 May 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This report examines the rationale behind increasing intercountry adoption in Africa, the main thrust of international standards, the extent and magnitude of African intercountry adoption and its problems and challenges. The paper provides recommendations to this increasing trend and aims to establish a more Pan-African position on the topic of intercountry adoption.

In this report, Retrak examines the situation of girls living on the streets in Kampala, Uganda and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and provides key recommendations on the development programs required to address their needs. The report urges for scaling up services, building new facilities for street girls, and building staff capacity to handle issues related to this population.

This document provides an overview of The Fifth International Policy Conference on the African Child held on 29-30 May 2012 at the United Nations Conference Center Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The overall goal of the Fifth IPC was to further the discussion on intercountry adoption and to contribute to the improvement of national laws, policies, systems and procedures relating to intercountry adoption.

Retrak’s technical brief on family reintegration for children living on the streets, acknowledges the difficulties which street children face at home and on the streets. But it also demonstrates that successful family reintegration is possible for street children when there is a focus on the individual child, building positive attachments with care-givers, strengthening families capabilities and involving the wider community.

Retrak is a UK based charity that works with street associated children in Africa to give them a real alternative to life on the street. The following success stories of outreach and reintegration show a promising model for children globally.