This article describes how Romania is in the final stages of closing its old orphanages, a process which began in the 1990s, when more than 100,000 children were living in such institutions.

This article highlights a major milestone in child protection reform in the Nisporeni district, where no children under the age of six are now living in residential care institutions. This achievement follows several years of coordinated efforts by UNICEF, the Moldovan government, and partners to deinstitutionalize young children and expand family-based and community care alternatives.

This qualitative study explores how educational resilience and institutional support shape the transition experiences of young people leaving residential care in Romania. Through interviews with care leavers and professionals, it examines the role of relationships, mentorship, education, and aftercare in supporting social integration.

This study examines the protection of unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) displaced by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, focusing on their vulnerability to trafficking and exploitation across European host countries. Using a mixed-methods approach, it assesses the effectiveness of existing protection systems, identifies key intersectional risks, and highlights emerging good practices, with the aim of informing improved responses to current and future large-scale child displacement crises.

This brief examines how armed conflict affects children’s development and family life, drawing on attachment theory and insights from the war in Ukraine. It highlights both the harms of war and the resilience of families, emphasizing the need for targeted support to help caregivers and professionals provide safe, stable care for children during and after conflict.

This U.S. Department of State report outlines ongoing efforts related to the protection and welfare of Ukrainian children affected by the war, with a particular focus on intercountry adoption, trafficking risks, and child protection systems.

This webinar, co-hosted by the Transforming Children's Care collaborative and Hope and Homes for Children, dove into the ground-level realities of system strengthening across three diverse national contexts: South Africa, Rwanda, and Bulgaria. Country experts shared the critical bottlenecks they encountered, the strategies that worked, the course corrections required, and the evidence of impact for children and families.

This study of young people in residential care in Romania finds that childhood trauma and maladaptive coping are linked to poorer perceived social skills, while adaptive coping is associated with better outcomes. It also shows that self-efficacy plays a key moderating role, highlighting the importance of building both confidence and adaptive coping skills to support healthy social development regardless of trauma exposure.

This blog describes a new initiative led by Lumos Foundation in partnership with UNICEF Moldova to expand early childhood intervention services for children with disabilities across Moldova, aiming to prevent family separation and improve developmental outcomes.

This brief describes how UNICEF works with the Government of Ukraine and partners, including civil society, across three mutually reinforcing pillars to improve the protection and wellbeing of children returning and reintegrating.