BCN Initiatives

UN Guidelines for the Appropriate Use and Conditions of Alternative Care for Children

The draft guidelines are now available in four languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian

The projected international guidelines seek to ensure that, on the one hand, children do not find themselves in out-of-home care unnecessarily and, on the other, out-of-home care provided is of a type and quality that corresponds to the rights and specific needs of the child concerned. They are designed to promote, facilitate and guide the progressive implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in this particular area of concern. The non-binding Guidelines, ultimately for adoption by the United Nations General Assembly, address not only governments but also international bodies and organisations, civil society, professionals, voluntary organisations and the private sector to the extent that they are directly or indirectly involved with organising, providing or monitoring out-of-home care for children.

A first draft of the guidelines was developed by NGOs in a working group on children without parental care, convened by International Social Service when the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended the development of international standards in this sphere following the Day of General Discussion in September 2005. UNICEF has also been closely involved in the drafting process, and the Better Care Network's advisory group reviewed and commented on the guidelines. Young people have also been included in the consultations, providing valuable insight into matters that affect them.

In May, 2006, the draft guidelines were submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Committee reviewed and strengthened the guidelines in preparation for informal technical review by UN member states.

In August, 2006 the Brazilian government hosted an inter-governmental meeting of technical experts to further refine and strengthen the guidelines. The two-day meeting, held in Brasilia, drew over 40 governments representing all the regions of the world. The meeting was extremely positive. Amongst other developments, a 15-country "Group of Friends" review board was established at the meeting to facilitate further revisions.

On the basis of the current draft text, the CRC committee has expressed its support for Brazil's efforts to finalize the draft Guidelines with a view for their adoption by the UN General Assembly.

Brazil is planning further consultations on the text prior to its submission to the UN General Assembly; the first of these may be in the form of a meeting for the "Group of Friends" in Geneva in July.

Better Care Network partners remain committed to promoting the use and understanding of the UN Draft Guidelines on Alternative Care. Two presentations on the guidelines have been developed by International Social Service: “Development of International Standards for the Protection of Children Deprived of Parental Care,” which explores the background, purpose, scope and main orientations; and “The Draft United Nations Guidelines on the Alternative Care of Children: An Ethical Framework on the Path to Adoption as a Permanent Protection Measure”, which draws particular attention to the discussion of adoption as a child protection measure.

Watch this space for more information!

If you would like to learn more about the International Guidelines for Children Without Parental Care, please contact us. We will post developments and new drafts on this page as they become available.

National Chapters

On November 8^th 2007, the first national chapter of the Better Care Network was launched in the Netherlands. BCN Netherlands was formed by International NGOs and donors in the Netherlands with the aim of raising awareness about appropriate forms of alternative care among the many Dutch groups and organizations working on these issues. Founding members have designated small amounts of funding to hire a part-time coordinator. Working groups will be formed around areas of common interest, and clear linkages with the international BCN are being established. Click here to visit their web site – which is in Dutch.

If you are interested in learning more about creating a national chapter of the Better Care Network, please contact us.

Advocacy

The Better Care Network has an active working group on advocacy, which has opened up constructive dialogue with faith-based partners, bi-lateral organizations and non- governmental organizations on these issues. Advocacy meetings and consultations are convened wherever appropriate and possible. In addition, the Network is developing a paper that outlines the range of alternative care options that should be in place for children. To learn more about some of the advocacy work, and how it relates to the Network's structure, visit the advisory group page, or contact us.

Monitoring Guide for Children in Formal Care

Outside of countries in the industrialized world, there is little reliable and consistent country-by-country data on the number of children in formal care, why they were placed there, when their case was last reviewed, whether they have a surviving parent, etc. In an effort to stimulate the collection of this data, the Better Care Network will be publishing a monitoring guide for children in formal care, which will contain a set of indicators, and details about how to collect data against each. The monitoring guide will likely be ready in the first part of 2008, at which point it will be widely distributed to governments and relevant agencies and organizations. To learn more about the Monitoring Guide for Children in Formal Care, please contact us.