Despite significant efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that have been made since 2015, progress for children in recent years has stalled, been reversed, or has been insufficient in many countries and for millions of children. This UNICEF policy solutions report presents the evidence for a set of policies that have shown to generate important results across multiple children’s outcomes. These include child benefits, immunization, quality secondary education for girls, and early childhood nutrition and development programmes. 

This paper provides a comparative analysis of social work professionalization in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. By examining the different approaches across the countries, policymakers will have examples of practices that have been effective elsewhere and adopt these to suit the context of Malaysia.

This study protocol outlines the first randomized controlled trial of Hope Groups—a 12-session psychosocial, mental health, and parenting support program—among Ukrainians affected by war. The trial aims to assess its impact on caregiver mental health, violence prevention, and family well-being, with potential for global adaptation and scale-up in other crisis-affected settings if proven effective.

This paper aimed to assess the effectiveness of psychosocial and parenting support groups, called ’Hope Groups,’ on improvements in caregiver mental health, positive parenting, and prevention of violence against children, for families affected by the war in Ukraine, using a pre/post study design.

This guideline provides evidence-based recommendations on parenting interventions for parents and caregivers of children aged 0–17 years that are designed to reduce child maltreatment and harsh parenting, enhance the parent–child relationship, and prevent poor mental health among parents and emot

This policy brief explores how extended foster care in the U.S.—enabled by the Fostering Connections Act of 2008—can support young people aging out of foster care by providing critical resources and stable living arrangements through Independent Living Programs (ILPs) and Supervised Independent Living Placements (SILPs). It outlines the challenges these youth face, the evolution of related federal policy, and offers recommendations to strengthen support during their transition to adulthood.

Advocacy is about representing the views, wishes and needs of children and young people to professionals making decisions about their lives, and helping them to navigate the system, especially in times of transition.

This study explores the prevalence and multilevel risk factors of 1,309 Israeli Arab and Jewish adolescents’ experiences of unwelcome sexual behaviors by peers in residential care settings (RCSs) for at-risk children.

The 2024 Annual Report of the Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health highlights the Coalition’s expanding efforts to address the global mental health needs of children, youth, and caregivers.

A scoping review on the short-term (during care) outcomes of residential care at the user level (children and their families) was conducted.

The SNEH: Supporting Nurturing Enabling Happy Families compendium was developed by Miracle Foundation India as part of the first National Family Summit to showcase progress, insights, and best practices in advancing family-based care and child protection reforms in India. It builds on lessons from its “Leadership Dialogue” series and collaborations with government, civil society, and care-experienced youth.

This study advances the understanding of child separation and Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) needs in humanitarian settings.

This video shows highlights from The National Summit on “Reimagining the Care System for Children in India” held on the 30th of March, 2025, in New Delhi. The Summit aimed to foster collaboration, learning and collective action among key stakeholders from government, civil society, academia, and individuals with lived experience.

The National Summit on “Reimagining the Care System for Children in India” was held on the 30th of March, 2025, in New Delhi.

In January 2025, the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office launched an initiative to transform the lives of children globally so that all children are cared for in families and free of violence, exploitation and other harmful practices.

Through this new campaign governments, civil society, faith groups, and individuals with lived experience of care systems are calling on world leaders to join forces in a global movement that harnesses decades of international progress to ensure all children are growing up in a safe, nurturing and loving family environment. This overview calls on government leaders to join this movement.

This report makes a series of recommendations on issues affecting all types of care, including foster care, adoption, kinship care, children’s homes, and support for disabled children in the UK.

This document provides comprehensive guidelines for designing, implementing, and evaluating effective and scalable parenting programs—including by examining their costs—particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of global and regional child labor trends. The publication profiles children engaged in child labor, maps where these practices are most concentrated, and examines the critical impact on children’s access to education and learning outcomes.

The VACS Data Dashboard is a comprehensive online tool designed to provide easy access to data from the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) across more than 20 countries.

There is currently little consensus in the United Kingdom around the prevalence of violence against children: maltreatment, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, bullying, and community violence, and most existing studies focus on only a single or a few forms of violence. This study aims to produce data to highlight the current magnitude of the problem in the UK, to inform policy, drive action and allow for monitoring of progress over time.

This briefing looks at what data and statistics are available about children in care to help professionals, and the organisations they work for, make
evidence-based decisions.

Safety, or the absence of maltreatment, is the primary mandate of the child protection services (CPS) system, both for children living at home and those living away from home. Yet, few research studies have examined maltreatment in out-of-home care due to the low incidence rate and data limitations. This study used statewide administrative data to estimate the association between placement type and experiencing a maltreatment investigation or substantiation in out-of-home care.

Physical victimization by peers was examined among 1,324 Jewish and Arab adolescents, aged 11 to 19, residing in 32 residential care settings (RCS) for children at-risk in Israel.

This summary draws on the work of the UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) with and for children with disabilities to develop pathways for their full inclusion in their communities.

This study addresses a critical knowledge gap regarding alternative care in Thailand's Southern Border Provinces (Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Satun, and Songkhla), where the population is predominantly Muslim with a strong ethnic Malay identity. The research investigates various forms of alternative care, including institutional care (Pondok and Hafiz institutions, government boarding schools, private orphanages) and family-based care, examining the quality of care, available social services, and cultural context.

The Framework for Action is an interagency initiative, led by UNICEF, Save the Children and World Vision, driving global action behind efforts to strengthen child protection systems, mobilising the complex array of stakeholders at sub-national, national, regional and global levels to implement pledges and commitments to end violence against children.

Millions of persons with disabilities, children and older persons live in congregate settings. Whilst the motivation for providing such care may be well-intentioned, that is not always the case. Many of those settings are ‘institutional’, with residents denied autonomy and choice, provided with poor quality health and social care, and experiencing social isolation, neglect or abuse. This report summarises the evidence and experiences of persons living in congregate settings in general, and in terms of the impact of COVID-19, to understand the barriers to deinstitutionalisation, and to highlight the approaches that have sought to overcome those barriers.

The Care Reform Roadmap (2024-2028) lays out the strategic actions for caring for vulnerable children in Ghana, led by the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection.

This advocacy brief and video are underpinned by research confirming the high costs of violence against children to society, and the significant returns that could accrue from investments made in interventions to prevent and respond to violence against children. The research highlights the need for a paradigm shift, from viewing expenditure on the protection of children from violence as a cost to viewing it as an investment.

This toolkit, building on prior research, presents the economic rationale for investing in the prevention and response to violence against children, emphasizing that such spending should be seen as an investment rather than a cost. Part A outlines the societal and economic benefits of preventing violence, while Part B provides a step-by-step guide for practitioners to develop evidence-based investment cases to persuade governments to adopt integrated, cross-sectoral strategies.

This project explored the experiences of young people in Australia living in ‘therapeutic residential care’ to understand what helps or hinders them in building trust and feeling safe. Drawing on interviews and surveys, it shares insights directly from the young people about what works well and what could be improved.

This report presents the main findings, conclusions, and recommendations of a formative and summative evaluation of the childcare and deinstitutionalisation reforms in North Macedonia for the period of 2009 2022. The evaluation was commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Europe and Central Asia Region Office (ECARO), as part of its multi-country evaluation of the impact of national child care reforms across eight1 countries in Europe and Central Asia and was conducted by Coram International.

This study examines the role of transition plans (TPs) in supporting young people leaving youth care in Flanders, identifying ownership, integrated working, and social support as key elements for effectiveness. While TPs have strong potential to guide meaningful transitions, their success depends on flexible, person-centred design and reflective professional practice that aligns with young people’s aspirations and values.

Neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment and has serious consequences for the development of children. Assessing child neglect is challenging because it involves recognizing acts of omission rather than commissions. This study examines the influence of the assessment tool SAT-BL on the documentation of neglect.

Positioned as ethical travel, orphanage tourism commodifies vulnerable children, akin to slum and wildlife voluntourism. Rather than alleviating harm, it sustains institutionalisation and exploits children for profit. This article examines orphanage tourism through hospitality ethics, sustainable tourism and corporate social responsibility (CSR), revealing gaps in hospitality curricula that overlook the industry’s complicity.

This study explores the experiences and challenges of caregivers providing trauma-informed care to foster children in a South African care facility. Findings highlight the emotional and practical difficulties faced by caregivers and emphasize the need for targeted training and support to strengthen their capacity and well-being.

This study examined how disability status affects the well-being of children in Kenya who were reunified with families after living in residential care. It found that children with disabilities reported lower well-being and life satisfaction compared to their peers without disabilities, highlighting the need for targeted support during reunification.

The second WHO and UNICEF-facilitated Digital Dialogue, following the 2024 Global Ministerial Conference, convened over 400 participants to explore how care reform can help prevent violence against children. Co-hosted by Better Care Network, Lumos, UNICEF, and WHO, the session highlighted country experiences, regional efforts, and the urgent need for integrated, family-based solutions to end institutional violence and protect every child.

This video explores efforts to enable children with disabilities in Rwanda to grow up in safe and caring families using an integrated approach which saw collaboration between the child protection, health, education and social protection sectors.

This video describes lessons learnt from the use of supervised independent living in Uganda for adolescents and young adult care leavers.

This paper explores strategies to prevent the separation of children from their families, drawing on evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa. It highlights the importance of strong care systems, holistic family support, and coordinated services to keep children safely within their families and communities.

Supervised independent living involves a child or young person living without an adult but receiving regular supervision, guidance, mentoring and monitoring from an assigned adult mentor. This case study explores lessons learned from three non-governmental organisation (NGO) programmes in Uganda.

Over the past decade, Rwanda has reformed its care system to prioritize family-based care, with recent efforts focusing on supporting children with disabilities through a multi-sector, community-based approach. This short case study explains why this integrated model is important to prevent family separation, outlines the key components of this approach, and provides some lessons learnt from the pilot.

This country care profile provides an overview of key lessons learned in the children’s care reform process in Moldova, including successes, challenges and areas for progress, and gaps in learning and best practice.

Un aspect esențial al misiunii CTWWC, constă în acumularea și prezentarea evidențelor ce vizează reforma sistemului de îngrijire, în special aspectele referitoare la tranziția copiilor din îngrijirea rezidențială și reintegrarea în propriile familii sau plasamentul în îngrijire alternativă de tip familial și prevenirea separării sau reseparării copiilor de familie. Astfel, pentru acumularea informațiilor concludente, CTWWC a efectuat un sondaj al gospodăriilor în rândul familiilor care au beneficiat de suport în cadrul inițiativei, cu scopul de a informa autorităților publice și practicienii care activează în acest domeniu.

This one-page English-language synopsis of the full report in Romanian titled, “Ce putem învăța de la tinerii cu experiență trăită în sistemul de îngrijire din Republica Moldova?” (What can we learn from young people with lived experience in Moldova's care system?), offers a compelling peer-to-peer perspective from 56 young people who transitioned out of Moldova’s care system.

Acest raport prezintă rezultatele unui studiu participativ realizat de rețeaua Youth & Experience (Y&E), fondată de tineri cu experiență trăită în sistemul de îngrijire din Republica Moldova, realizat în perioada septembrie - decembrie 2024 cu participarea a 56 de tineri.