The purpose of this Request for Proposal for Services (RFPS) is to select and contract a service provider (SP) to research and design a compelling, evidence-based communication and advocacy strategy to mobilize greater and more sustained commitment from major decision-makers on the value of investing in community-based services in order to accelerate childcare system reforms across Europe and Central Asia.

This paper describes the diversified approaches in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia to end the placement of children under three in institutions and prevent the separation of children from their families.

The Georgian Coalition for Children and Youth Welfare presented the report ‘Georgia: The Child Protection Index: Measuring the Fulfillment of a Child’s Rights’ at a public event on June 5.

The Child Protection Index (the Index) is a comparative policy tool, organised and implemented by local and national level civil society organisations, that examines a country’s current child protection system using a common set of 626 indicators that measure a country’s policy and actions toward greater child protection. This Index measures Georgia’s efforts toward child protection in comparison with other countries in the region.

This Compendium is a compilation of the most encouraging initiatives in the area of prevention of child abandonment and relinquishment that have been implemented and tested in the CEE/CIS region.

In this UNICEF blog post, the author, Benjamin Perks, describes the many detrimental effects of institutionalization on young children and infants. The author highlights the 2012 Call to Action to eradicate placement of children under 3 in large scale institutions in Central Asia and Central and Eastern Europe and the advances made since then in reducing the numbers of children in institutions in the region.

According to the article, Children’s Rights Commissioner Leda Koursoumba argues that private adoption arrangements should be abolished and removed from a forthcoming adoption bill proposed by the Labour ministry of Cyprus.

This report includes a number of observations about the adoption situation in Armenia as well as makes diverse recommendations targeting key actors.

This report is prepared within the MONEE project of UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS. It provides an overview of alternative care in Azerbaijan.

On 10 September 2014, UNICEF and the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria co-hosted a high level Lunchtime Discussion on The right of children below three years to live in a caring and supportive family environment: examples from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The discussion took place on the margins of the September meeting of the UNICEF Executive Board and brought together over 80 participants, including members of the UNICEF Executive Board, representatives of the Permanent Missions to the UN from the CEE/CIS region, international organizations, NGOs, high level UNICEF and National Committee staff.