UNICEF is calling for the rights and wellbeing of migrant children to be at the heart of Europe’s immigration policy.

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.

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

This article reports on a preliminary exploration of fostering across 11 European countries, reflecting different care and education traditions.

Work is important for promoting social inclusion, especially for marginalised or economically vulnerable populations. There is also evidence that work is associated with stability and social integration for young people who have left care.

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.

This article describes the recent rise in migrants and refugees coming to Italy from Libya and other parts of North Africa, especially the large numbers of unaccompanied children, and the efforts being made by aid workers to place those children in appropriate care.

This photo series, courtesy of Save the Children, depicts the experiences of unaccompanied young people who travel from North Africa across the Mediterranean in hopes of reaching greater safety in Europe.

Esta Guía reúne una serie de programas, prácticas y políticas públicas que resultaron en la garantía del derecho a la convivencia familiar y comunitaria de niñas y niños en su primera infancia. En particular, se caracterizan por ser innovadoras o por haber obtenido buenos resultados en la protección y la restitución de este derecho. Las experiencias recopiladas abarcan programas, proyectos e iniciativas públicas, privadas o mixtas de fortalecimiento familiar, provisión de cuidados alternativos, y de reintegración familiar. 

This paper provides a brief overview of basic family structures in EU countries and a description of family breakdown and its impact on children’s wellbeing.