Master reference drawn 07.05.08 The children we work with really are that his favourite meal is chicken and In contrast, it is love and nurture that incredible. I recently met a 14 year old chips. Food of the Gods. characterises care in a family environment. boy called Alexandru in Romania. Crucial brain functions in a young child And he is loved. are triggered by the stimulation provided Alexandru was placed in institutional care by a parent lovingly interacting with them. as a baby because he was diagnosed Orphanages like the one Alexandru had 80% of the synaptic connections that a with mild epilepsy. The medical system been locked away in are associated with person will ever have are formed, pruned or believed that hospital-type environments neglect, abuse and death. In one example, strengthened during the first two years of were the best place to care for children prior to our intervention, we have seen the life as a consequence of this loving nurture, like Alexandru – away from their parents, proportion of children dying every month which institutions just cannot provide. grandparents, aunts, uncles and brothers hit 80%. And we know that violence is and sisters. experienced by up to a third of children It is estimated that there are eight million confined to some orphanage systems. children warehoused in orphanages around Left in his cot all day, with a milk bottle the world. This is a global problem, and it is clipped to the rails in the same way that There are other consequences of unacceptable. a hamster is fed water in a cage, the milk confining children to orphanages. Evidence would trickle onto his mattress and into his shows that children lose one month of During 2013, with your help, we have been ear. Over the weeks and months his ears linear growth for every three months spent able to take some very exciting steps became infected and he lost his hearing. in an orphanage and other types of toward addressing the global injustice of Deafness was associated with mental institutional care. confining children like Alexandru in loveless illness in the institutional care system and orphanages. I very much hope that you will Alexandru found himself being treated as But it is the neglect associated with enjoy reading about these achievements in if he was mentally ill. This had a profound orphanages that is so insidious. this report, and also share our excitement effect on his psychological development. for our plans for 2014. Neuroscience provides conclusive Hope and Homes for Children managed evidence that neglect – a characteristic of On behalf of all the children we work to rescue Alexandru from institutional institutional care, even when administered with and on behalf of all our volunteers care, and we’ve been able to place him as well as it can be — impairs crucial brain and staff, thank you. in a Small Family Home. development, especially among young children. This has drastic consequences on One of his carers told me that Alexandru a child’s ability to learn, socialise, care for found it difficult at first to get used to themselves and also get a job when they proper meals but the damage that has been get older. Orphanages contribute to poverty done to him is gradually being repaired. and to its transmission from one generation Mark Waddington He’s far happier now. Alexandru told me to another. Chief Executive 2 3 Reporting back In last year’s Annual Review and Plan we set ourselves some ambitious objectives for 2013 in order to bring us closer to achieving our mission. Here we highlight some of the ways in which we tackled those objectives. 1. Within the global context of our work we will draw up a number of Alecu has learning difficulties and spent country-specific strategies that will progress these countries closer six years in the Tarigrad Institution. The authorities persuaded his mother that he to national reform and benefit both present as well as future generations would receive the best educational support if he was in institutional care. Research of children through 57 Deinstitutionalisation (DI) projects. and experience has shown that this is not the case. Children are far more likely to succeed at school when their family cares for them. We believe in leading by example and In Ukraine we closed the Dnipropetrovsk which will support our ongoing work in Tuzla as our direct work with children and families Institution for children while, in Romania, well as the preparatory work to close another We have helped Alecu to return home, first continues to be at the heart of everything we closed the St Spiridon Institution in institution in Mostar. assessing and then preparing his family for we do. Botosani, located in the poorest and most his return and supporting him as he made densely populated region of the country, In Moldova we closed the Tarigrad Institution the transition back into his family. He now Throughout 2013, we continued our work to moving 119 children with disabilities out in the north of the country – a specialised attends the community school where he end institutional care across eight countries of the institution. By demonstrating that institution for children with learning difficulties. has established a good relationship with his in Central and Eastern Europe and Africa. family care can be provided for children A total of 57 children were moved out of the teacher and made new friends. Living in the with disabilities we continue to challenge Institution, 53 of whom were able to return community, he is able to develop the social We closed five institutions for children the misconception that institutional care to their families with some support from our skills and networks needed to reach his full directly and made significant progress is necessary in cases where children have team. For the four children who could not potential. Alecu is very happy to be home towards closing a further 18 institutions. severe disabilities. return to their families we found loving foster with his family. As a result of our work 1,292 children families. who were living in institutional care last Our progress towards closing the Tuzla year are now back with their families or Institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina saw in alternative family-based care. us enter into a new partnership with UNICEF 4 5 Reporting back 2. We will harness our new strategy by working as a catalyst to further expand our impact and transform the lives of many more children. We will do this during 2013 by developing strategic alliances with organisations and funders to influence reform at global level. In January 2013 we launched our new breakthrough which will transform the lives Later in the year, Dr Delia Pop, our Director organisational strategy which sets us on of hundreds of thousands of children over of Programmes, addressed a conference course to become the catalyst for the global the coming years. Read more about the held in Mexico to accelerate the process of eradication of institutional care of children. Opening Doors Campaign on page 10. Deinstitutionalisation in Latin America and promote children’s right to grow up in the We recognise that we will not realise alone During 2013 we also became members love of a family. Dr Pop was invited to our vision of a world in which children no of Child Rights Connect, an influential speak at the RELAF International Seminar longer suffer institutional care. So we are international network of NGOs which in Mexico to share our experiences of working with and through others in order connects them with the UN. In 2013 we reforming childcare in Central and Eastern to extend our global reach and ultimately became members of the network’s Working Europe and Africa. This opportunity to share bring about this change for children. Group for Children Without Parental Care learning and experience in a new location and which strengthens our role globally in with new partners will ultimately lead to the Throughout 2013 we invested our efforts advancing child rights and influencing transformation of many children’s lives and it heavily into developing strategic partnerships global policy in this area. is exciting to see that Deinstitutionalisation is and alliances with likeminded organisations. becoming a global priority. Continuing our mission to catalyse the end The launch of the Opening Doors for Europe’s of institutional care globally, we stepped up Extreme poverty and a lack of access to vital support Children campaign saw us strengthen our efforts to share knowledge and practice services made day-to-day life impossibly difficult for the our partnership with Eurochild. Jointly we with new organisations and in new parts of family of Daniel (left) and Gabriel (middle). The children's continued to influence European Union the world. desperate parents thought that placing them in an institution policy and helped deliver a monumental was their only option. With our targeted support the family have remained together and Daniel and Gabriel no longer face a childhood in an institution away from the love of their family. 6 7 Reporting back 3. We will campaign both nationally across a number of countries as well as internationally in opposition to the institutionalisation — under any circumstances — of children under three. When a child grows up in an orphanage (2009-2012), progress for babies and young influence permanent, systemic change. they are deprived of the love, care and children, as well as children with disabilities, At the request of the Ministry of Health, attention which helps them to thrive. These was limited. One of our priorities in Moldova we trained 432 members of staff from the early experiences of neglect are particularly for 2014 will be to ensure the draft Strategy is institutions to help them to understand the damaging for children aged 0-3, a crucial approved by the Parliament.