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HRFC Newsletter No. 5, January - June 2006

Organisation aims and activities: "rights of a child first"

i. To alleviate the suffering and thus improve the living condition of millions of underprivileged children /orphan care.
ii. To provide a safe home and family environment to orphans and children living in difficulties.
iii. Orphan care through Community Care/family Reintegration
iv. Advocacy and lobby for UNCRC

Further details:

OUR global Agenda:” deinstitutionalization”- a new school of thought----
” deinstitutionalization”-The main goal of the pilot project is to reintegrate children from institutional homes (mainly from Orphanages) in to families, along in the line of UNCRC.

CONCEPT NOTE
Orphan Reintegration Pilot Project
                    Charfassion Orphanage, Charfassion, Bhola, Bangladesh
                     Implementing agency- Human Rights-First the child

Orphans are some of the most underprivileged children in the world. With few exceptions, children without parents are deprived of many of the basic rights listed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, such as food, shelter, education, and a family environment.
The prevailing approach by government and non-government organizations wishing to aid the orphan population involves institutional homes. Although such homes provide orphans with the basic necessities of survival, they deprive children of the right to live in a family environment. Many children identified as “orphans” possess a family network comprised in many cases of mothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives. Most orphans are placed in institutional homes not because they have no family, but because their extended family network can no longer afford to care for them. Removing orphans from their families is almost always an emotionally painful process for both the children and the family.
A new school of thought has emerged recently regarding orphan care. Often referred to as “deinstitutionalization” or “reintegration” policy, the premise of this concept is to reintegrate children from institutional homes back into their families. The goal of such a program is to respect the right of the child to grow up within a family environment. This program does not intend to do away with institutional homes, for they will always remain necessary for the children in the worst circumstances, but it will make institutional homes the last resort for social services. Whenever possible, all efforts should be made to enable orphans to live in a family environment. The fundamental objective behind reintegration philosophy is to redirect international policy regarding orphan care along the lines of the UNCRC.
The purpose of this concept note is to propose the initiation of a 5-year pilot project based on the principle of reintegration at Charfassion Orphanage, Bangladesh. Charfassion Orphanage houses 100 boys between the ages of 6 and 18 from all seven upazilas of Bhola district. It was founded in 1971 in response to the devastating 1970 Bhola tidal bore which killed an estimated 300,000 people. Bhola Island is a coastal district that suffers greatly from climatic phenomena such as monsoons, floods, river erosion, cyclones, and tidal bores. Because of the dangers posed to the region by the climate, Bhola district remains one of the poorest and least-developed areas of Bangladesh. It has a significant orphan population due to the men who die every year in flood-related accidents. There is no doubt that Charfassion Orphanage is addressing a very real need of the local community. However, keeping children in an institutional home denies them of their rights as specified by the UNCRC. Children would benefit more from a reintegration program that would allow them to return to their family environments.
The Main Goal:
“Deinstitutionalization”- The main goal of this pilot program is to reintegrate children from institutional homes back in to families and could be an important step towards redirecting the global agenda regarding institutional childcare along the lines of the UNCRC
Objectives:
• To fulfill the basic right of children to grow up in a family environment.
• To provide children with all the emotional, social, and practical benefits of a
family network.
• To monitor and guarantee the long-term success of the reintegration process.
• To educate the local community about children’s rights and orphan issues.
• To build the capacity of caregivers to support children.
• To ensure that the 100 spaces at Charfassion Orphanage are given to the neediest children of Bhola district.
• To reach out to the girl orphan population.
Expected Outcome:
• Staff hiring and training to carry out a 5-year pilot program.
• Research into why each child left his home and what is needed to allow each
child to return.
• Research into cultural and religious values affecting the transition.
• Case work with individual families to develop relationships based on trust and
understanding in order to better facilitate reintegration.
• Psycho-social counseling to help children through the reintegration process.
• Administration of the support needed to allow each child to reintegrate.
• Community Care Committee to oversee the long-term effects of reintegration.
• Income-generating activities to enable families to support themselves and the
children.
• UNCRC community awareness program.
• Outreach program to help the girl orphan population.
• Networking with other organizations dealing with orphan care, community Development and human rights.
Progress indicators:
The numbers of children that are successfully reintegrated.

Operational level: Community-based

Works with age groups : Children 0 - 18

Organisation type: NGO - non governmental organisation

Organisation mandate: Lobby governments and the United Nations, Provide training or education on child rights, Research child rights, Undertake legal casework on behalf of children, Work directly with children, Work in partnership with organisations, Work with media and press

Areas of expertise: Child labour and working children, Children and education, Children and health, Children and participation, Children and the media, Children and violence, Children in armed conflict, Children in conflict with the law, Children living with HIV/AIDS, Children with disabilities, Children without parental care, Children working and living on the street, Emergency relief, Environment and habitat, Gender and girls, Individual cases of violations, Minority or indigenous children, Refugee and unaccompanied children, Reporting to and monitoring the CRC, Rights based programming, Sexual exploitation of children

Countries in which this organisation works: Bangladesh

Other organisations based in Bangladesh:

Organisations working in similar fields:

Last updated 08/05/2009 11:24:14

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