This article examines challenges in Sri Lanka’s child protection system for children with disabilities, drawing on insights from 11 professionals to identify critical gaps in policy, services, and societal attitudes. It proposes eight practical, cost-conscious strategies to strengthen disability-inclusive protection aligned with the UN CRPD, offering lessons for global child protection reform.

Panama, Uganda, Sri Lanka and Czech Republic among those newly committing to totally prohibit violence against under-18s.

This document produced by CERI presents the outcomes of an informative assessment and stakeholder interviews focused on the rights of children with disabilities (CWD) within Sri Lanka’s child protection system. The primary objective is to provide evidence-based recommendations to align the child protection system with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

On March 20, 2024, an immersive simulation lab event took place in Sri Lanka. Child protection allies from the Western Province of Sri Lanka gathered for a hands-on experience aimed at transitioning from a system reliant on child care institutions to one focused on promoting family-based care and strengthening family initiatives.

The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has taken necessary action with regard to the recent reports of Sri Lankan children being trafficked overseas, State Minister of Women and Child Affairs Geetha Kumarasinghe said today.&nb

This is a series of written interviews conducted with care-experienced persons from Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka who have had experience with alternative care. These interviews were published in the September 2023 issue of the Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond journal.

This article explores the steady move towards family-based care in Sri Lanka over the last decade. The country has given priority to family strengthening and strong gatekeeping mechanisms to prevent children from being unnecessarily separated from their families.

In this editorial, Ian Forber-Pratt, editor of this tenth anniversary edition of the Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond, gives an of alternative care in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. 

Sri Lanka government officials visited the state of Rajasthan in India to view family-based care models that will inform Sri Lanka’s child protection system as the country transitions into an innovative approach that supports children in family settings. CERI, in partnership with UNICEF Sri Lanka and UNICEF India, hosted the delegation’s visit to family-strengthening, foster care, and group foster care models implemented by Foster Care Society and the Department of Child Rights in Rajasthan.

This report provides a summary of the learning exchange that took place around family-based care (family strengthening, foster care, specialized group care) in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India on August 24 - 28, 2022.