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OHCHR, UNICEF Launch Campaign to Protect Children, Prevent Harmful and Unnecessary Institutionalization

Following the release of two new reports which document violations and abuses of children in state-run homes, OHCHR and UNICEF today launched a campaign to end the practice of sending children under the age of three into state-run institutional care.

The reports revealed that across Europe and Central Asia, including inside the European Union, more than a million children and adults are living in long-term residential care, where they languish -- often for a lifetime.  The reports state that hundreds of thousands of babies with disabilities are routinely placed in state-run homes, severely hampering their development.  Many suffer in appalling conditions.

Download At Home or in a Home – Formal care and adoption of children in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Download the Call to Action

Tags: ["child protection", "instituional care", "call to action"] By Unicef
Published July 12, 2011 10:40 AM - Last modified Apr. 17, 2013 4:41 PM