Save the Children is working to strengthen the capacity of families to care for their children and supports the development of family-based alternative care options for children who cannot remain with their families.
Millions of children are living without the loving, nurturing care that allows them to be safe and grow up enjoying their childhood. Children are neglected, abandoned or separated from their families as a result of chronic poverty, parental illness, stigma or discrimination, migration, war or displacement. Many times children end up in institutional care.
The number of children living without appropriate care is staggering.
• This world is home to 18.3 million orphans1.
• There are more than 15 million children under the age of 18 who
have lost one or both parents to AIDS2.
• More than one million children are trafficked every year3.
• An estimated eight million children around the world are living in
care institutions, such as orphanages4.
• In the last decade, an estimated 20 million children were forced
to flee their homes5.
• More than one million have been orphaned or separated from
their families by an emergency6.
Who are children without appropriate care?
'Children without appropriate care' encompasses a broad range of children who are not receiving suitable, continuous and quality care, nurture and guidance at a physical, emotional, social and psychological level from either their families or from other primary carers that are meant to replace the family environment and are responsible for their well-being and development.
This includes neglected and/or abused children in their families, children living on the street, children in institutions or other forms of poor quality alternative care, and children on the move, including child refugees, child migrants and trafficked children and those who are at risk of requiring alternative care..
A short video-clip on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the protection of children, produced by Save the Children in connection with the ICASA (International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa), 2011.