In 2025, Hope and Homes for Children opened its regional Office in Hong Kong, marking a new chapter in our work to end the institutionalisation of children and strengthen family care across Asia. Hong Kong’s position as a global and regional hub makes it the ideal base for driving collaboration, influencing policy, and mobilising resources to accelerate care reform. From here, we will bring together governments, international organisations, local NGOs, donors, academic partners, and care-experienced advocates to transform child protection systems across the region.

A Catalyst for Regional Momentum

Our Hong Kong office is not just an administrative hub—it is a catalyst for change. By creating a stronger regional presence, we will:

• Build momentum for reform by connecting practitioners and policymakers across borders.
• Amplify youth and family voices to ensure reforms are rooted in lived experience.
• Strengthen regional advocacy platforms such as BICON.Asia, the Biennial International Conference on Alternative Care for Children in Asia, where Hope and Homes for Children plays a leading role.
• Support governments and partners in designing, resourcing, and implementing strategies to move away from orphanages and towards family and community-based care.

A Knowledge Hub for Asia

The Hong Kong office will serve as a Knowledge and Learning Hub—a space where best practices, research, and lessons learned are gathered and shared to inform policy and practice across the region. From pioneering work in India and Nepal, to partnerships in other Asian countries, our hub will help scale successful models and provide technical assistance tailored to national contexts.

Our Vision for Asia

Every child deserves to grow up in the love and protection of a family, not an institution. By establishing our Hong Kong regional office, Hope and Homes for Children will be better positioned to work with governments, donors, and partners across Asia to make this vision a reality.

Regional Initiatives

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Hope and Homes for Children is doing something about that.

Today, Monday 14^th July, investigators will finally be moving diggers in to open up a mass grave on the site of a now closed orphanage, St Mary’s, in County Galway, Ireland.

According to the 2021 Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, approximately 3,200 children were confined in St Mary’s during the 36 years it was in operation. 796 of those children are known to have died during that time – an average of 22 per year. That’s a catastrophic mortality rate of 220 children per 1,000 over the period. To put that in context, the current under five mortality rate of Ireland is 3.8 children per 1,000.

St Mary’s was part of an industrial complex of abuse and neglect. The same 2021 report, which reviewed the experiences of children and young mothers nationally, between 1922 and 1998, estimated that 9,000 children, or 1 in 7 born in those orphanages, died within them. A mortality rate of 143 per 1,000. Even 85 years ago, in 1940, an already high national infant mortality was much less than half that level at approximately 66 per 1,000.

Just as St Mary’s did not exist in isolation of the wider Irish experience, neither does the Irish experience sit in isolation of the wider international experience. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project evidenced that for children under 3, confined in orphanage settings in Romania, Russia and China, they lost one month of physical growth for every three months of confinement. Delays in physical growth like this, as indicated via stunting (low height-for-age) and wasting (low weight-for-height), can significantly increase mortality rates in children, especially infants.  

The 2020 Lancet Commission review on Institutionalisation and Deinstitutionalisation robustly documents serious health and developmental harms resulting from institutionalisation, which are well-established causal factors of elevated infant mortality. Indeed, Harvard University’s Centre on the Developing Child has built up a similarly robust evidence base over the years.

Research into the consequences of the process of institutionalisation, which impacts children in all orphanage settings, goes back over more than 120 years to early studies of mortality rates in US orphanages, and the figures are harrowing: virtually all infants admitted into institutional care died, with mortality vastly exceeding typical urban infant rates of that era. Indeed, Dr. Dwight Chapin, analysing institutionalised infants in nine major U.S. cities in the early 20^th Century, provided evidence that nearly 100% of children under 2 in orphanages and foundling institutions died.

None of this is news to the survivors of St Mary’s. Mr PJ Haverty, who spent the first six years of his life in confinement there. Mr Haverty, who was recently interviewed by the BBC was clear that he was lucky to survive, and described the home as a prison. Sadly, this is not unusual for orphanage settings. The 2019 UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty (A/74/136), addressing orphanages as places that inherently deprive children of freedom, stated:

“Institutions, by their very nature, are unable to operate without depriving children of their liberty: physical restraints, isolation and solitary confinement occur in some institutions, which are particularly egregious examples of deprivation of liberty, in some instances amounting to torture or ill-treatment.”

I have met children who have been chemically restrained to prevent them telling their story of confinement, and I have seen many more who have been locked in rooms with metal doors, barred windows, in orphanages with barbed wire perimeters. In many countries. When children are isolated from their communities and families like this, hidden away, they become extremely vulnerable to abuse. Recently, one of our local partner organisations was able to rescue 36 blind children from an orphanage in which every single one of them had been sexually abused by the staff. In multiple locations we have identified and alerted authorities to orphanages that have been run as brothels. Sexual violence, torture and trafficking are very real risks to many children confined in orphanages around the world.

Globally, there are 5.4 million children locked away in orphanages. They face de-humanising routines, depersonalised care, neglect and exposure to extreme protection risks. As a consequence, children who would otherwise have lived are dying. Right now. And in this regard, the experience of my own colleague, Otto, articulates the deeply moving impact of that in his own life, in an article run by The Times.

There are no places for orphanages in the 21^st Century. Anywhere.

And it doesn’t have to be this way, because here’s the thing, the vast majority of children confined within them are not orphans. More than 80% of them have one or more biological parents still alive, while many more have extended family. That means, with the right support, we can get them #BackToFamily. For those children for whom this is not possible, we should not be punishing them with confinement, but developing alternative forms of family care, including supporting kinship care options with relatives, and where appropriate, properly supported foster care.

Here’s the really good news, all the evidence that Hope and Homes for Children has collected from its frontline experiences of transitioning children out of orphanages and into family care, demonstrates very significant improvements in development, cognition and well-being, to the extent that children catch up to where they should be. And get this, because there is so much money locked up in huge orphanage economies around the world, much of what is needed to deliver reform already exists in the system, and can be unlocked. When it is, the dividends are immense, including improved educational outcomes, improved earning potential, improved health outcomes, and above all, hope for those who need it most.

Hope and Homes for Children has proven all this can be delivered at scale. When we first began our work in Romania, more than 100,000 children were confined within its system of institutions. We have helped to reduce that to less than 1,700. In Moldova we have helped to reduce the number of children confined from 13,000 to less than 800. In Rwanda we have less than 180 children to get #BackToFamily, and in Bulgaria we have just 2 institutions left to close. We are contributing to the foundations for similar success in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, India and Nepal, and most recently, Madagascar. Our local partners and local teams, all of whom are nationals of their own countries, are developing home-grown, locally appropriate and sustainable solutions that are progressing national reform in ways that are saving as well as transforming children’s lives for the better. And we are seeing increasing levels of international interest and support. Despite the troubles that the world faces, we still have hope. We always have hope.

If you can, please share this post, and support the work of Hope and Homes for Children. You will not only be helping to prevent the deaths, abuse and neglect of children confined in orphanages, but will be offering them a future they might otherwise never have enjoyed.

Thank you.

Mark Waddington CBE

Chief Executive, Hope and Homes for Children

*Names have been changed to protect identities.

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Why do we celebrate Mother’s Day?

At its heart, Mother’s Day is about gratitude. It’s a time to recognise the unconditional love, care and sacrifices that mothers make every day. Whether they’re biological, adoptive, foster or maternal figures, mothers shape lives, nurture futures, and provide the warmth of a family.

However, Mother’s Day is also a day of reflection and inclusivity. Not everyone has the opportunity to celebrate it with their mother. Some people have lost their mothers, some have strained relationships, and of course many children are confined in orphanages far from the love and care of family.

At Hope and Homes for Children, we advocate for children like Tabita, who are separated from their families. We ensure that they experience the love and security that every child deserves.

Tabita’s story

Tabita* was just four when she was taken away from her family because they couldn’t afford her education.

“There was no good school in our village,” explains Megha*, Tabita’s mum. Unable to pay for school, an orphanage seemed like Tabita’s chance at a better future. “I didn’t want to send her away,” recalls Megha. “It felt like an explosion in my heart.”

Tabita still remembers those first fearful nights away from home. “They lined us up, stripped us naked and made us take a bath. I didn’t understand. I was terrified.”

Tabita lived in the orphanage for six long years. When she was sick, no one took care of her. She often went to sleep hungry. And instead of receiving the education her mum had dreamed for her, Tabita received regular physical abuse.

“We were beaten a lot,” she remembers. “We were always afraid. If one of us made a mistake, we were all punished. I longed to escape and go back home.”

Taken away from her family at such a young age, Tabita forgot her own mother’s face. She even forgot her native language.

When our local partners began closing Tabita’s orphanage and reuniting the children inside with their families, at long last Tabita saw her mother for the first time in years. “She was covered in lice,” Megha remembers tearfully. “We both cried a lot.”

Tabita’s Reintegration Officer with our partner The Himalayan Innovative Society supported Tabita’s family with everything they needed to bring her home. We provided counselling, food and school supplies, covering Tabita’s tuition fees so she’d never be separated from Megha again. At last, Tabita was freed from the orphanage and reunited with her family. Where she belongs.

“I’m very happy to be living back home,” Tabita says. “Most of all I enjoy playing with my sisters. And talking and sharing with my mother.”

Sensitivity and understanding on Mother’s Day:

While Mother’s Day is a joyful celebration for many, it can be painful for others. For example:

For those who have lost their mother, the day is a reminder of what’s missing.

For mothers who have lost a child, it can be one of the hardest days of the year.

For women struggling with infertility or miscarriage, it can be an isolating experience.

For children in orphanages or foster care, it may highlight the absence of a nurturing family.

This is why we must approach Mother’s Day with compassion and inclusivity. We can celebrate mothers while also recognising those who find the day difficult.

Mother’s Day and the power of family-based care

At Hope and Homes for Children, we believe that every child deserves the love of a family. In many countries, children are still placed in orphanages – cold, institutional settings that lack the safety and care that a family can provide. We work to get children Back to Family.

A mother’s love is irreplaceable, but when a biological mother isn’t present, a nurturing, loving family can change a child’s life.

We work to reunite families, support parents in crisis, and create alternative family care for children without parents.

We advocate for care system reform, pushing for policies that replace orphanages with family-based care.

On this Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate the mothers in our lives – but also support children who long for family love.

Choosing thoughtful Mother’s Day gifts

Gifts are a traditional part of Mother’s Day, allowing people to express their love and appreciation. While flowers, chocolates, and personalised items are popular choices, you can also give a gift that makes a difference.

Meaningful Mother’s Day Gift ideas:

A donation in her honour – Support a cause that helps children grow up in loving families. A charity donation on behalf of your mother can be a heartfelt and impactful way to celebrate.

Gifts that give back – Consider ethically sourced gifts, handmade crafts by mothers in need, or items that support charitable projects.

A handwritten letter – Sometimes, a simple, heartfelt message means more than any material gift. Expressing gratitude can be the most precious gift of all.

Acts of kindness – Volunteer together, support a struggling mother in your community, or sponsor a child’s future.

By choosing a gift that extends love beyond your family, you can make Mother’s Day a day of giving and hope for children who need it most.

How you can make a difference this Mother’s Day

This year, alongside showing appreciation for the mothers in your life, consider helping children who dream of having a loving family.

Donate – Help us reunite children with their families.

Spread Awareness – Share the importance of family-based care.

Send a Message of Hope – Encourage children waiting to be reunited with their loved ones.

Together, we can make Mother’s Day meaningful for every child—because no child should grow up without the love and care of a family.

The history and origins of Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day, as we know it today, has roots in ancient traditions and modern movements.

• Ancient Celebrations – The concept of honouring mothers dates back thousands of years. The Greeks and Romans held festivals for maternal goddesses like Rhea and Cybele, while early Christians celebrated “Mothering Sunday,” a day when people returned to their home churches and honoured mothers.

• Modern Mother’s Day – The official Mother’s Day was established in the United States by Anna Jarvis in 1908. Inspired by her late mother’s dedication to social causes, she campaigned for a national day to honor all mothers. By 1914, Mother’s Day became an official U.S. holiday, and the idea quickly spread worldwide.

• Global Adoption – Today, Mother’s Day is celebrated in more than 50 countries, though the date varies. While many countries, like the U.S. and Canada, observe it on the second Sunday of May, others celebrate at different times:

◦ UK & Ireland – Mothering Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent)

◦ France – Last Sunday in May

◦ Romania, Ukraine, Moldova – June 1st (aligned with Children’s Day)

◦ India and Nepal – October 7th in 2024

*Names have been changed to protect identities

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Fortunately, all the reunified children, families and communities we and our partners in Nepal – Forget Me Not and The Himalayan Innovative Society – work with are safe, and haven’t faced any significant harm from the rains.

Sadly, these disasters are happening every year and are getting worse due to climate change and the impact of development.

Many people in Nepal have been affected by the damage to transport and communications networks that disasters like these can bring. Families and villages can be cut off from one another, and important tasks like travelling to hospital or local support services become impossible.

This was the case in the most recent flooding and landslides in Nepal, which disrupted both the internet and electricity supplies, making it difficult for our partners to communicate with the families they’re supporting.

While the children and families we support are safe from this particular disaster, another heavy rainfall or landslide
may well put them at high risk of family separation and loss of life.

Therefore, ongoing emergency support and proactive measures both from local authorities and NGOs are important to stop trafficking and family separation.

How we’re responding to this disaster

When an environmental disaster like this occurs, reintegration teams immediately contact reunified children and their families to ensure their safety and security. They provide counselling to children and families, and guide them towards safety nets such as local officials, and the Nepal Police hotline for immediate assistance.

In the aftermath, we work to link families with local support (whether from local authorities, community organisations or from international humanitarian efforts) – this ensures families have access to support for their basic needs without duplicating the work of others.

What are the main dangers in these situations?

Alongside the imminent threat to life caused by the floods and landslides themselves, if children lose parents, family members or carers in a disaster, then the risk of them being institutionalised or trafficked increases significantly.

Diseases such as dengue fever and diarrhoea also present a threat to health, as water supplies may become contaminated and connecting roads that bring medical support to communities become impassable.

The destruction of lives and livelihoods can also cause severe trauma, especially in children, and this can lead to people experiencing issues around their mental health which they may need professional support with.

What work is taking place now?

Together with our partners in the region we are doing all we can to ensure that children and families in Nepal are safe, including:

● Supporting national care reform and deinstitutionalisation efforts.
● Continuing advocacy work to prevent family separation and child
institutionalisation.
● Supporting the establishment of child protection and gatekeeping systems at
the provincial and local level.
● Demonstrating kinship and foster care programs.
● Supporting care-experienced young people to ensure their voices are heard.

We’ll provide an update from Nepal if anything changes, but if you’d like to find out more about our work there and how we’re helping to get children Back to Family, you can do that here.

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After years of tireless work, our team in Bulgaria has successfully closed the ‘Home for Medical and Social Care for Children’ orphanage in Kardjali.

Also known as a ‘baby home’, the orphanage housed up to 40 children. Now, thanks to you, all these children are no longer shut away. No longer afraid. No longer alone.

This orphanage closure marks another huge milestone for our team in Bulgaria. Now, there are only three orphanages left to close. Thanks to your donations, Bulgaria is heading toward an orphanage-free future.

We’re on a mission to bring children out of orphanages and back to family. Donate today.

How many children lived inside the orphanage?

Around 40 children were shut away inside the ‘Home for Medical and Social Care for Children’ institution. Most were under three. Several had disabilities.

Many struggling parents of children with disabilities can’t access the support they need. As a result, they feel pushed to place their children in orphanages. Just to find them care.

Find out more about why children end up in orphanages here.

Sadly, orphanages don’t protect children. They put them in harm’s way. The majority of children in institutional care will face violence, abuse and neglect. Children with disabilities are at an even higher risk.

Find out more about how orphanages harm children.

What was it like inside the orphanage?

One of the last remaining orphanages in Bulgaria, the ‘Home for Medical and Social Care for Children’ institution was dilapidated, with no natural light and broken play equipment. But the worst part, as remembered by Kremena Stoyanova, National Coordinator for Hope and Homes for Children South Bulgaria, was the silence.

“I always have a picture in my mind of this home. Long and very wide corridors and a rehabilitation therapist holding the hand of a two-year-old child. Footsteps clanging in the empty space. Those sounds in the darkness are the picture I want to erase.” 

Kremena Stoyanova, National Coordinator for Hope and Homes for Children South Bulgaria

Well-meaning members of the community used to raise funds for the orphanage. But as with many orphanages, it was hard to see how these efforts benefited the children. Ivanka Taushanova, our Regional Coordinator in Kardjali, remembers the first time she realised this:

“I was a teacher in a local school, and every year we did a campaign to buy toys for the children in the orphanage. When I first went to the orphanage there were no toys. Everything was quiet. There wasn’t even any childlike curiosity.” 

“Everything was quiet. There wasn’t even any childlike curiosity.” 

Ivanka Taushanova, Regional Coordinator in Kardjali

How do we bring children back to family?

After signing an MOU with the regional government in 2015, we started working on getting the children out of the orphanage and back to family, or into family-based care.

To do this, we pursue four main options:

• Reunite children with their birth families. The ideal solution, especially when 80% of children in orphanages around the world aren’t orphans.
• Reunite children with their relatives. When parents aren’t able to care for their children, we can support their immediate family members to raise them at home.
• Create new families. Through fostering or adoption, we can find children from orphanages loving new families to grow up in.
• Bring children into community-based care. Sometimes, it’s necessary for children to live in alternative community-based care spaces. This is a great solution when children have complicated or round-the-clock support needs. We ensure these spaces are family-style solutions, with a specific amount of carers to children to ensure everyone’s getting the love and attention they need.

For more information on how we bring children back to family, read more about our solutions here.

Closing down the orphanage

Thanks to your support, on August 1st 2024, the orphanage was finally closed down. Boryana Klimentova, Programme Director of Hope and Homes for Children Bulgaria, remembers the day well.

“It was a beautiful hot day, and the sun seemed to be showing us the right way. I felt joy”

We ensured each of the children living inside were safe, secure and in loving family-style homes – through being reunited with their birth families, adoption, fostering or placement in medical centres for disabled children with 24/7 care.

What’s next?

Riding on our success, our team in Bulgaria is gearing up for the next big win. With your support, we’re ready to shut down the last three orphanages in the country and bring every child home to a loving family.

But we can’t do it without you.

Will you help us close the last remaining orphanages in Bulgaria and bring the children living inside back to family? Donate today.

The post SUCCESS: Our team closes another orphanage in Bulgaria appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

“If one of us made a mistake, all of us would get beaten – with pipes, sticks and bamboo strips. In my heart, all I felt was fear.” 

These are the words of Moti, a young man who spent the majority of his childhood confined inside an orphanage. “They took me at such a young age,” Moti, now 20, says, sitting outside his family home in Nepal. “I stayed there for 12 years. I didn’t even know I had a family.” 

Moti’s dad died young, leaving his mum, Kumari*, scrambling to raise her six children alone. Grieving her husband and unable to pay for Moti’s school fees, a local priest advised her to send him to an orphanage. Believing it was her only chance to get an education for her youngest child, Kumari agreed. Moti was only four.

“I felt bad living there,” Moti explains. “The orphanage was meant to educate, but that’s not what it did. I suffered.” Instead of receiving the care his mum was promised, Moti was exposed to violence, abuse and neglect for twelve long years. Now, he’s sharing his story to shed light on the realities of orphanages, and the importance of family for every child around the world.

Behind closed doors 

“We were beaten all the time,” Moti remembers. “They didn’t feed us well either. We still felt hungry after every meal.” Moti grew up alongside 300 other children. He received little care, love, or freedom. Even sleeping was controlled. 

“I slept in a dorm with 30 other children,” he explains. “Three rows of ten, like sardines, forced to sleep completely straight. The slightest movement and we were beaten. Was that them trying to educate us? We couldn’t even sleep how we wanted to.” 

Right now, over 10,000 children are growing up in orphanages in Nepal. Like Moti, 85% of them have living families, but were sent to an orphanage under the promise of receiving an education. In many cases, that promise was a lie. 

“We had to wake up at 4 a.m. for prayers and chores, every day. The orphanage was Christian, so Hindu children were forced to convert,” he remembers. 

“We never got to go outside. We felt like the world was only as big as the orphanage.”  

Moti’s mum, Kumari, just wanted the best for her son. What she didn’t know was that orphanages don’t help children. They harm them. Behind closed doors, children like Moti suffer.

Reuniting Moti with his family 

In 2018, our local partners The Himalayan Innovative Society (THIS) and Forget Me Not (FMN) started working inside Moti’s orphanage.  

In partnership with the Nepali government, they began the long process of closing the orphanage by reuniting the children inside with their families. Sajit Sapkota, a Reintegration Officer with THIS, began by tracing Moti’s family, counselling his mum, Kumari, and ensuring she had everything she needed to bring Moti home. Once she was ready, Sajit began preparing Moti. 

“There was talk of everyone in the orphanage finally being allowed to go home,” Moti remembers. “They asked me if I wanted to leave. Delighted, I said yes.” 

With help from Sajit, Moti was soon ready. After twelve long years, he left the orphanage and went home to his mum. 

The world outside the orphanage 

Four years later, Moti has settled in to life back at home. But after twelve years effectively confined to a prison, adjusting to life outside the orphanage was still very challenging for him, which is why our team’s ongoing support is so crucial.

“When I left the orphanage for the first time, I felt very strange. I couldn’t make sense of where I was or the world around me. So, I kept silent. Sometimes, I thought about dropping out of school.” 

But Sajit stuck by Moti’s side every step of the way. He visited regularly, offering counselling and financial support to pay for school fees, books and one-to-one tuition to help him finish school and pass his final exams.

“Sajit encouraged me to study and move ahead in life,” says Moti. “He goes to the shops with me, gets the tailor to take my measurements, and gets me school supplies to last the year. He’s helped me in ways a family usually supports a person.”  

“Gradually, after a year passed, I started talking to my family, friends and teachers and got along well with them. Now, if I see a new person, I want to talk to them and be their friend. And if any of my friends are struggling, I help them.” 

Now, Moti’s dream is to finish school, learn to drive, and move abroad. He’s settling in, adapting to life at home, and learning to love his new-found freedom. 
 

“To me, family means to live together, to love each other, to share our sorrows, and to belong,” he says.

“Because we got beaten a lot in the orphanage, I had a lot of fear. Thanks to the love I’ve received from everyone here at home, my fear has gradually gone away.” 

“Here, with my own bed, I am free. I can move and sleep on my own free will. And nobody can say anything about it.” 

Moti is just one of hundreds of children in Nepal who we’ve helped reunite with their families. But there are still 10,000 more. We urgently need your help bringing them home. To prevent other children from suffering the agonising hardship Moti endured for twelve years, please donate what you can today, and help keep children #SafeFromHarm and free from fear.  Thank you.

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Together with supporters, families and young people, we’re showing a better world is possible. Read our round up of the last 12 months.

Closing orphanages, transforming care

Over the past twelve months, we and our partners have celebrated the closure of seven orphanages. 

In Romania, the whole of Ilfov Country is now institution free thanks to our work in partnership with the child protection department.

In Nepal, as the result of supporting and equipping our partners to train, sensitise and lobby local municipalities over the last two years, those authorities have now closed two children’s homes in Kathmandu Valley.  More than 500 children have been supported to escape the clutches of institutions in the year so far.  Our persistent advocacy has helped the government in Bulgaria commit to close the last remaining four children’s institutions – and what’s more, they’ve asked our Bulgarian team to lead on providing technical and practical support during this process.

Supporting families in crisis

Due to our work supporting families in crisis, more than 9,000 children across ten countries who might otherwise have been separated from loving families and placed in abusive, neglectful institutions, are now safe. In support of this, the first foster care pilot is now underway in Nepal to further strengthen family care alternatives. And in South Africa, we’re training young women to open their own businesses and become economically independent, as part of our inspirational ‘active family support’ model.

Our team in Ukraine continue to display incredible fortitude – helping particularly vulnerable children and families deal with trauma, and keeping families together. We’re providing counselling, therapy and material support, as well as finding new homes and foster families for children with nowhere else to go.

Working alongside governments and the EU to ensure no child is left behind

Our work in India has received a significant seal of approval from USAID, who have committed to funding us and our partners, as we support state government efforts to transform care provision, especially in inclusion for children with disabilities.  In Rwanda, our team continue to pioneer care reform for children with disabilities. We recently secured long term funding from the EU to ‘transform disability-inclusive child protection and care for vulnerable and marginalised children and youth’.    

Winning hearts and minds, alongside young people from care

In September, we co-organised the Asia Biannual Conference for Care Reform in Kathmandu. With over 230 in person participants and around 100 online participants attending from across the region and globally, this was a hugely successful way to engage policy makers and civil society in the fight to transform child care.  We were delighted that care-experienced young people played a central in shaping the conference, and that we could support by providing a platform for their voices to be heard as they called for change.

Impact on the biggest stage

Systems reform is the most sustainable way to have large scale impact. In 2023, as a result of our direct contribution

• the South African government committed to having a National Deinstitutionalisation Policy in place by the end of the year. Together with the South African Policy and Development Nexus, we’ve helped develop and consult on the drafts. 

• The Nepalese government has included ‘deinstitutionalisation’ in their Five Year Periodic [Development] Plan for the first time ever. 
• In Moldova, we have helped review, and make recommendations for, the regulatory framework for alternative care services.

What’s next?

In 2024 we want to see even more landmark moments where governments, law and policy makers, and social workers show that they believe family based care is best for all children.  So we’ll continue to expand our reach – we’ve recently partnered with a local organisation in Kenya to provide technical support to a pilot project demonstrating that change orphanage to family care is possible in Nakuru Country.  

None of this would have been possible without the generous support of people like you – who share our belief that every child deserves the love and belonging of a safe, supported family.

Thank you!

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These are the words of Sunil*, a young boy from Nepal who was sent to an orphanage. For two long years, Sunil was homesick, lonely and afraid – until we supported his parents to bring him back where he belongs. Back to Family.

Lata never wanted to say goodbye to Sunil. All she wanted was to get her only son an education. But when she sought help, she was persuaded to place him in an orphanage. Sunil was only four.

“My heart ached thinking about him, what he was eating, or whether he was eating at all,” Lata told me. “I’d tell myself that he’s still very young, that keeping him in the orphanage was for the best.” 

But what Lata didn’t know is that orphanages don’t help children, they harm them. As the one thing children need most is what no orphanage provides. A loving family. Sunil spent the next two years desperately missing his mum, dad and little sister, Shika*.

Will you help get millions of separated children like Sunil #BackToFamily? Donate today.

The truth about orphanages in Nepal

As a Reintegration Officer for Hope and Homes for Children’s local partners in Nepal, it’s my job to reunite children like Sunil with their families.

Right now, there are over 10,000 children living in 400 orphanages across the country. The sad truth is that 85% of them have families that could take care of them. But instead of receiving support, parents like Lata feel pressured to send their children away. And children like Sunil suffer.

Why Sunil was sent to an orphanage

Sunil’s family is part of the indigenous Chepang community – one of the most marginalised groups in Nepal. Before being pressured to come out of the jungle, the Chepang were self-sufficient, hunting and foraging to survive. Now, with limited income and opportunities, 90% of Chepang families live below the poverty line – earning on average just £39 per person, per year.  

Struggling to pay for basics like food and school fees, many Chepang parents worry about how they’ll raise their children. As a result, they buckle under pressure from orphanages to send their children away. Just like Lata did. 

“Whenever I’d see him, Sunil used to beg me to take him home,” Lata told me. “He’d cry whenever I’d visit. I felt like crying too.” 

Many Chepang children like Sunil are sent to orphanages under the guise of getting an education. But instead, they’re trafficked into orphanages tourist districts – often to help elicit donations from well-meaning, but sadly mistaken tourists.

What Sunil needed more than anything was to go back to family. And that’s exactly what my team set out to find him. 

Bringing Sunil back to family

In partnership with the local government, my team started to work on bringing the children in Sunil’s orphanage back to family.

After we traced Lata and Hari, Sunil’s dad, I worked with them to find out what they needed to bring Sunil home. Education was their top priority, so we ensured they could afford school supplies for Sunil, including uniform, books and stationery and a daily lunch box for school. 

Soon, Lata reclaimed her confidence. “My child needs to know who I am,” she told me. “I need to feel his love, and he needs to feel mine.”  

At last, after two long years, they felt ready to bring Sunil back to family.

Home at last

The day Sunil returned was an unforgettable day for the whole family. At last, they were reunited.

“We celebrated by playing music and dancing to my favourite song,” Sunil remembers. “The thing I love most about my mum is when she sings. And I love when my dad plays with me.” 

“Things used to be difficult,” Lata told me. “But it’s been easier with all the help we’ve received. I’m very happy. I want to thank the ones who’ve supported us. May they be blessed for looking after the little ones.” 

“I’m just so happy that my son has come home,” said Hari. “Today, we play together, eat together and have our ‘us’ time. Thank you so much for making this happen.” 

When I see Sunil with his family smiling and being happy, I always imagine this scene of a little baby sparrow who has finally found his way home back to his nest with his mother. It makes me so emotional to imagine this baby sparrow returning back home. 

Will you help millions of children like Sunil get #BackToFamily? Donate today.

*Names changed to protect identity. | All photos by Kishor Sharma / Hope and Homes for Children

The post “I don’t like the orphanage. Please let me come home” – Sunil’s journey back to family appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

Thankfully, we’re glad to report that all the staff from our local partners Forget Me Not Nepal (FMN) and The Himalayan Innovative Society (THIS), based in Kathmandu and Western Nepal are safe. We’re also thankful to share that all the children and families we support – including those in Karnali Province, the area affected – are also safe. However, some houses where the children and families live are damaged.

We know that in emergencies, the risk of children ending up in orphanages always increases. As a result of Friday’s deadly earthquake, some children will tragically be grieving one or both parents. Destruction of homes and livelihoods means many mothers and fathers – some newly widowed – will be pushed deeper into poverty and increasingly worried about how to put food on the table. When families struggle to provide for their children, orphanages are mistakenly often seen as the solution, due to widespread misinformation that orphanages offer better alternative care for children.

Increased pressure on families

These sets of circumstances increase the pressure on struggling parents to send their children away to orphanages. They also increase the likelihood that children without parents, families or trusted adults to protect them will be exploited and trafficked into orphanages. Often this is so that the children can help elicit donations from well-meaning, but misinformed, tourists and donors – as we saw following the two devastating earthquakes in April and May 2015.

We cannot let this happen.

Every child has the right to grow up in a safe loving family, not shut away in orphanages.

What we’re doing in Nepal

With our support, our local partners in Nepal work to prevent children being wrongfully separated from their families and sent to orphanages, by

• working with the government to closely monitor and close orphanages
• raising awareness and sharing the truth about the harms of institutions
• supporting families at risk of separation

Now, with vulnerable children at risk following the earthquake, our work is more important than ever.

Crisis response

In particular, our partners will be responding to the earthquake in three areas: humanitarian support, counselling support, and prevention:

Humanitarian support: Our partners will now be working closely with the local authorities in Karnali Province to ensure that vulnerable children and families are provided with food, tents, clothes, blankets, and counseling services to calm their fears and give them hope.

Counselling support: Our team will be following up with families to provide in-person and remote support and guidance – recognising that the impact of the earthquake is both immediate but also that there are now higher long-term risks of traffickers luring families to send their children to orphanages in cities.

Preventing institutionalisation and child trafficking: Our Reintegration team are in close communication with Karnali provincial and local authorities in the earthquake-affected districts – Jajarkot and Rukkum – about the need to prevent institutionalisation and alert them about the risk of children being trafficked into institutions.

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The current news cycle is overwhelming. Over the past 20 months, we’ve witnessed a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine that shows no sign of abating. Millions of children are suffering the consequences of war. Yemen faces a famine, with unprecedented levels of hunger and one of the highest rates of child malnutrition in the world. In Syria and Turkey, earthquakes have killed over 55,000. Millions more have lost their homes.

Then, shocking scenes from Israel, Gaza and the West Bank have horrified people around the world.

“The killing and maiming of children, abduction of children, attacks on hospitals and schools, and the denial of humanitarian access constitute grave violations of children’s rights”  

Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, referencing the situation in the Gaza Strip specifically as “a growing stain on our collective conscience.”

We’ve added our voice to the global community’s calling for an urgent ceasefire by all parties in the conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and an immediate and unconditional release of Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas

And now an earthquake in Nepal, where our teams are working with local authorities to support crisis response with food, tents, clothes, blankets, and counselling services to calm their fears and give them hope.

We can’t work everywhere that’s currently facing a humanitarian crisis.  But we do work globally through our advocacy for a better world for all children – free from the harm and safe from the fear they experience daily in orphanages. As part of this, we fight to implement our learning about how emergency preparedness and response should work hand in hand with care reform to keep the most vulnerable children safe.

Emergency Response – what we’ve learned

Thankfully, humanitarian actors are on the ground now, responding as fast as possible to these emergencies. But some disasters are predictable, and to build a truly fair world, we all need to prepare for them. We’ve learned here that disasters and emergencies always hit children particularly hard, and that children deprived of family support and care are especially vulnerable.

Whether it’s because they’re living in orphanages, or have become separated from their families, for example as refugees in the fog of war, without trusted, loving carers to protect and comfort them, unaccompanied children are at greatest risk of physical violence and abuse, psychological trauma, exploitation, and trafficking.

1. Prioritise the most vulnerable

All agencies working to respond to war and natural disasters must prioritise children without families. They’ll need  trusted adults to navigate their trauma. They’ll need practical help as they flee their homes and countries in fear for their lives.

2. Build focus on children without families into emergency preparation

Our work in Ukraine has shown us that the needs of children deprived of family care all too often are overlooked in emergencies, while the harm and trauma they suffer is irreversible.

As an international community of responders, we must account for their well-being and whereabouts, reunite them with their families when possible, or welcome them into supporting family environments urgently. And we must be ready with robust emergency preparedness mechanisms, explicitly designed to direct attention to children in alternative care, to limit as far as possible the harm to these children.

3. Don’t rely on orphanages as temporary response

In a crisis, for unaccompanied children and particularly children on the move, orphanages are often seen as a ‘temporary’ solution.  While well-intended, they become a long-term, established part of the care system. This locks up resources in buildings, rather than being directed towards keeping families and children together.

4. Prevention is the best cure

Ultimately, the most important thing that we’ve learned is that prevention of family separation and the strengthening of families and communities is the single most effective way of protecting children from experiencing emergency situations alone. We work directly with families and communities, and we continue to advocate for them globally, to ensure access to services in the community, and ensure that families have the financial and psychosocial support they need to keep their children at home. We continue this work so that one day, no child will have to face the horrors of war and disaster without the care of a trusted adult to support, guide and protect them.

Read our full recommendations on disaster resilience and child-centred response

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