This study examines the early stages of deinstitutionalization in Zimbabwe, finding that progress is hindered by inconsistent processes, limited workforce capacity, and resistance from institutional stakeholders. It highlights the need for clearer guidelines, stronger training, and better support systems to enable effective transitions from institutional to family-based care.

This qualitative study of a community-based foster care programme in Kenya finds that successful placements depend on foster parent commitment, supportive family relationships, children’s emotional adjustment, and strong community cultural values. It highlights the importance of careful caregiver–child matching, ongoing support, and community engagement to strengthen foster care outcomes and sustainability.

This article offers an extensive theoretical and analytical interrogation of dominant trafficking discourses, with particular emphasis on Ghana, Nigeria, and the wider West African sub-region. It argues that prevailing global and national anti-trafficking frameworks often obscure children’s agency, misrecognise culturally embedded practices such as fostering and labour migration, and produce unintended harms through criminalisation and rescue-oriented interventions.

This article examines how frontline child protection practitioners in Maputo City, Mozambique experience the implementation and enforcement of child protection laws, focusing on perceived barriers and facilitators. It finds that resource constraints, legal gaps, and sociocultural norms hinder effective enforcement, while NGO support and multisectoral coordination act as key enablers, highlighting the need for increased funding, legal harmonization, and evidence-based interventions to prevent violence against children.

This article examines how national care systems for orphans and vulnerable children in Cambodia, Uganda, and Zambia are governed, drawing on case studies and a review of existing research. It highlights the gap between strong policy commitments and weak on-the-ground implementation, pointing to historical, political, and capacity-related factors that hinder effective care and protection.

This article examines the growing number of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) in Ethiopia entering institutional care or adoption and argues that effective care requires a strong theoretical and evidence-based foundation. It proposes attachment theory and research as a guiding framework to inform policy and practice, helping decision-makers assess, plan, and evaluate alternative care arrangements to better support children’s short- and long-term development.

A 14-year-old orphan, Saabirin Saylaan, was murdered by Hodan Mohamud Diiriye, the woman caring for her, after enduring months of severe abuse, prompting national outrage and protests in Galkayo.

This article argues that visiting orphanages in Kenya during holidays or as part of voluntourism, while seemingly charitable, can actually harm children by perpetuating a system that values short‑term attention over stable, family‑based care and s

This article reports how the Tanzanian government has committed to strengthening alternative care services and the management of children’s homes nationwide to ensure they meet required standards and better support child welfare and protection.

This qualitative study examines how young care leavers in Ghana are involved in decisions about their transition from residential care, revealing that despite national and international policy commitments, their participatory rights are often neglected. Findings show that care leavers frequently feel excluded or manipulated in key decisions, highlighting the need for more inclusive, rights-based approaches that recognize them as active partners in planning their post-care futures.