On 21st September 2023, the Governments of Canada and Zambia, in partnership with UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage and the Child Marriage Monitoring Mechanism, hosted a High-Level Side Event during the Seventy-Eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The event was titled 'Charting Brighter Futures: Utilizing Data for Accelerated Action to End Child Marriage and Achieve SDG 5.3'.

To commemorate their 10th anniversary as an Alliance, this year’s Symposium took place on October 26, 2023, and offered a retrospective view of the Cape Town conference and the impact it achieved, both in the participating countries and globally. Then, through a deep dive into the experiences of three other countries— Romania, Rwanda and Viet Nam—it will explore the different ways countries have made progress in strengthening their workforce over the past decade and will highlight the continuing and emerging challenges facing the workforce in each country.

Tiegan Boyens, ATD Fourth World and Teen Advocacy

Judge Raul Pangalangan International Criminal Court Judge (2015 – 2021)

Dr Rhiannon Evans, Reader in DECIPHer, discusses a systematic review taken of international evidence to understand what programmes work for improving the mental health of care-experienced children & young people, how they work, and what might be the challenges to delivery and engagement.

Daniela Mamaliga, Director of Partnerships for Every Child, presents the findings and conclusions of a comprehensive 2022 financial assessment conducted by CTWWC in six residential institutions. The financial assessments aimed to inform political decisions on the future of the six institutions, including their transformation/reorganization plans. Ms. Mamaliga highlights that though the average annual cost for caring for a child is increasing in all six institutions, even as number of children and staff is decreasing in some of them.

“When we talk about equity and efficiency and what is right for children, when we provide services to families and children, we need to make sure that we are not just investing wisely, but that we are reaching out more broadly to all children in need."

As an experienced social worker and practice lead at Social Work Scotland, Vivien Thomson shares valuable insights underscoring the importance of investing in the social service workforce to drive meaningful care reform. Drawing from lessons learned in Scotland's Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) policy framework, Ms. Thomson, illuminates the critical role of social workers and the need to empower them as the glue that holds together multi-agency teams.

This article uses life history research to reveal a new understanding of institutional care. The study draws on interviews with care leavers from a Latvian orphanage who narrate life histories and identify critical life events and moments of resistance to times of adversity.