This Report by Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez, to the UN Human Rights Council focuses on children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It addresses the situation of children in institutions, and in particular their torture and ill-treament. 

This paper discusses how the economic rationale for investing in young children goes beyond improving quality of life during early childhood; it hinges on the belief that the benefits of these investments persist into school age and beyond.

Cinq ans après l’adoption des Lignes directrices à l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies (AGNU), cette double édition de ISS est un bref rapport d’avancement sur la situation des enfants en besoin de protection de remplacement, ou en risque de l’être.

This double edition of the ISS Monthly Review is a brief progress report on the situation of children in need of alternative care or at risk of so being, five years after the Guidelines’ acceptance at the United Nations’ General Assembly.

This publication serves as a guide for responsible voluntourism, both for volunteers and volunteer tour operators.

The February-March 2015 double edition of the ISS Monthly Review includes an article by Florence Martin, director of the Better Care Network, which provides a brief overview of the Tracking Progress project and potential implications for users of the tool. 

This opinion piece, written from the perspective of an adoptee, questions recent US intercountry adoption legislation and why no international adoptees were consulted during the drafting of the legislation.

UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti recently convened an "Expert Consultation on Family and Parenting Support," bringing together experts from fifteen countries to establish a global research framework designed at improving policies aimed at supporting families and parenting across contexts.

The webinar – the fifth in the LCRN’s series on “Occupational Therapy and MCH: An Emerging Partnership to Improve Early Family Experiences and Life Course Health Development” – features Amy Lynch, PhD, OTR/L, SCFES. The webinar will examine the impact of early adversity and trauma upon the occupational development and success of children developing in an atypical environment, including the "ripple effect" across the lifespan.

In this opinion piece from the Huffington Post, Frank Ligtvoet writes about the cost of international adoption and how those resources might be better directed to keeping families together. The piece is particularly focused on the practice of intercountry adoption amongst the U.S. Christian community.