This document summarizes the content of the 6-7 October 2016 Network Meeting of National Statistical Offices. The event comprised of a number of presentations on topics related to the SDGs and data on children in alternative care. 

According to this article from the Voice of America, migrant children in Greece will begin school next week.  The Greek Education Minister states that 1,500 children will be taught at 20 public schools or in classrooms at six refugee camps starting Monday.

In this article from NEWSok, Zaidoon Khalaf shares his experiences while attempting to reunify with his family Germany.

This article from the BBC shares the stories of children in Greece who have been removed from their families and are being held at hospitals for months at a time.

In this video, a boy in a shelter in Athens, Greece shares his story of migration to Europe and the trials and challenges he has endured.

Council of Europe Secretary General Jagland sent a letter to Heads of Government of all 47 states of the Council of Europe to urge them to better ensure the safety and proper treatment of asylum-seeking and refugee children entering Europe. He also outlined a list of priority measures. 

The UN Refugee Agency and UNICEF are setting up 20 centers to support and protect children and families fleeing war and persecution as they move across Europe’s well-worn migration routes. The centers, known as Blue Dot Hubs, are intended to provide a safe place for children and families facing risks once they arrive in Greece and move along the Balkan migratory route, which includes the former republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. In these hubs, children can play and their families can receive services and counseling.

The objective of the project is to reduce the numbers of unaccompanied children who go missing. This project addresses how the issue of the disappearance of an unaccompanied child is tackled in different Member States and promotes promising strategies and behaviours related to the prevention and response to disappearances.

Lumos, an international non-profit organisation founded by J.K. Rowling to help countries reform their services for disadvantaged children, has begun working with partners in Greece to help bring about reforms for institutionalised children. Lumos hosted a conference in Athens supporting deinstitutionalisation in Greece which was attended by over 70 policymakers, children’s welfare professionals, and civil society delegates. 

This fact sheet provides an overview of the numbers of children in institutional care in Greece.