This report presents the main findings, conclusions, and recommendations of an evaluation of the child care and deinstitutionalisation reforms in seven countries in the Europe and Central Asia Region (Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Serbia and Tajikistan). The report offers valuable insights into the effectiveness of child protection systems and the transition from institutional care to family- and community-based alternatives. It highlights key achievements, lessons learned, and best practices, while also addressing the areas where further improvements are needed to ensure that every child can grow up in a nurturing, safe, and supportive environment.

Global migration is on the rise, and as a result, millions of children are left in their home countries while their parents migrate abroad. Little is known about the mental health of left-behind children (LBC) in Eastern Europe. The study addresses this research gap in Georgia, a leading migrant-sending country in the region.

This study explores the role that transitional centers in Armenia play in the transitioning process of leaving institutional care and entering independent adulthood.

On 24 July 2024, the Council of Europe project “Protecting the Rights of Armenian Children in Post-Conflict Context” organised a roundtable discussion with a view to support Armenia's efforts in deinstitutionalisation reform and enhance the protection of the rights of unaccompanied and separated children.

GENEVA – Georgia violated its child rights obligations by failing to take immediate intervention to address the frequent physical and psychological abuse of children who lived in a close-type orphanage run by the Georgian Orthodox Church, the UN Child Rights Committee has found.

This report presents an analysis of focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted over the course of December 2023 and January 2024 with children affected by the conflict in Ukraine, including those displaced within Ukraine as well as those in Romania, Moldova, and Georgia.

Amy and Ano are twins, but just after they were born they were taken from their mother and sold to separate families.They found out about each other by chance and as they delved into their past, they realised thousands of babies in Georgia were stolen from hospitals and sold for adoption, some as recently as 2005. Now they want answers.

A baby began her life surrounded by chaos and devastation this week. Reportedly named Aya – meaning ‘miracle’ in Arabic – she was born under the rubble of Monday’s deadly earthquake, still attached to her mother’s lifeless body by the umbilical cord when rescue workers found her.

Rachel and her husband adopted Marcus out of Guatemalan foster care as a 7-month-old infant and brought him home to Lansing, Mich. With a round face framed by a full head of dark hair, Marcus was giggly and verbal — learning names of sea animals off flashcards, impressing other adults.

This paper contributes to the scholarship on refugee law and resettlement by exploring the ways in which the crisis in the Uyghur homeland in Turkey has impacted and continues to impact Uyghurs’ refugee narratives and priorities as they reorganize their lives in the diaspora.