Better Care Network highlights recent news pieces related to the issue of children's care around the world. These pieces include newspaper articles, interviews, audio or video clips, campaign launches, and more.
This article describes the negative impact voluntourism can have on communities and provides tips for those looking to volunteer or participate in ethical tourism abroad.
"Thousands of Stolen Generation children [in Australia], some just babies, have had their lives permanently affected after they were charged and given criminal records under state government policies that systematically deemed it a crime to be an Indigenous child in ‘need of protection,'" says this investigative report from NITV.
The Economist describes some of the many issues presented by institutional care in Africa and why some African countries are beginning to shift away from institutional care and toward family-based alternatives.
In efforts to prioritise family preservation, family reunification and foster care in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), adoption has become a slow process in the South African province, with only eight adoptions finalised in the first eleven months of 2016. New changes may mean more inter-country adoptions, while many domestic adoptions remain blocked or opposed by the KZN Head of Department for Social Development.
MoSD and UNICEF convened a meeting with judges, legal experts and community-based organizations to discuss strategies and plans for moving away from institutional care and strengthening Jordan's foster care system.
"There have been well substantiated reports of trafficked children in orphanages for several years," writes Harold Goodwin in WTM's Responsible Tourism Blog.
In an interview with David Bevan of ABC Radio, child protection advocate Karen Flanagan, Save the Children, discusses the harms of orphanage tourism and funding as well as the Australian government's consideration of a ban on orphanage tourism.
Jayne Cravens reviews recent trends and developments in virtual volunteering, which offers volunteer opportunities that can be completed online. Links to numerous examples, articles, and resources are included.
UK government cuts to legal aid in 2012 have greatly impacted unaccompanied migrant children, who are now denied legal aid in non-asylum cases.
Despite good intentions, volunteers and donors from Australia and the larger international community are supporting orphanages separating children from their families. Australia is seeking to curb support for orphanages in countries like Cambodia, where the trafficking of children into orphanages is a common practice.