Vulnerable Children
The term "vulnerable children" is commonly used to refer to children in a community who are at the greatest risk of losing their basic rights to parental care, healthcare, equality, education and protection. Lift the Children uses the term "vulnerable children" to refer to all those under the age of 18 who lack, or are in danger of losing, family-based care. According to the World Bank, , "Orphans and vulnerable children are the children who, in a given local setting, are most likely to fall through the cracks of regular programs, policies and traditional safety nets and therefore need to be given special attention when programs and policy are designed and implemented."
- The separation of children from their
families can result from many causes, including abandonment, the death
of one or both parents, parents who abuse alcohol or drugs, family or community
violence, gender or cultural discrimination, displacement due to armed
conflict, human trafficking, or the inability or unwillingness of the family
to provide care.
- The roots of separation can also be found in behavior problems, relationship
difficulties, abuse, or neglect.
- Separation is also caused by larger systemic issues such as poverty,
conflict, natural disaster, or HIV/AIDS.
- Prevention of family separation is called for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 16) and is integral to the Convention the Rights of the Child (articles 5–9, 18, 24, 27-29). These rights apply to all families and children, regardless of their nationality, or status.
Source: Better Care Network, www.crin.org/bcn/
Orphanages vs. Family or Community Care
By offering shelter, clothing, food, medical care, and providing for basic educational needs, orphanages can provide an immediate and necessary solution for children who have lost parents and caregivers. In some cases, where children have been separated from their families in times of conflict or natural disaster, or in cases of physical and sexual abuse, temporary shelters can extend a critical lifeline to children in urgent need of care.
Yet orphanages and other forms of long-term residential care may unintentionally deprive children of a family setting. The very nature of these institutions makes it difficult for them to adequately support children’s healthy emotional and physical developmental needs, which extend beyond food, medical care and schooling. In the worst cases, orphanages hinder children’s development and fail to protect them from harsh treatment or conditions resembling child labor. Sexual abuse has been reported in many institutions which do not have the systems or structures to monitor and prevent it. Few developing countries have up-to-date laws to regulate orphanages, certify staff, and generally abide by international standards governing institutional care.
One study shows that providing institutional care costs six times more than local fostering. Where an institution is available, it may actually undermine the community’s (or country’s) motivation to develop family strengthening services or other initiatives that will provide the necessary supports that keep children in their families and prevent abandonment.
Lift the Children is committed to providing prevention services that strengthen
families, prevent abandonment and keep children out of orphanages.