Missing: Children Without Parental Care in International Development Policy

This paper draws on EveryChild's programmes in 17 countries, and on an extensive literature review and consultations with over 400 children.1 It argues that in addition to urgent reform of child care systems, it is also essential that those working in fields such as social protection, juvenile justice, health and education recognise the importance of children without parental care. In short, children without parental care must be mainstreamed, rather than missing from the international development agenda. A failure do this will be another barrier to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and condemn a generation of children to a life of abuse and neglect without the support and protection of parents.

This paper is divided into six sections. Following the introduction, the second section provides evidence on the large and increasing number of children without parental care. The third section highlights the devastating impact that this worrying trend is having on children's rights. The fourth section outlines the complex array of causes behind a loss of parental care, and explains the consequent need for a holistic approach to the problem. This section details recommendations for those working in the fields of social protection, child protection and child care reform, education, health, juvenile justice and child trafficking and migration. The fifth section provides further impetus to arguments for urgent action on the growing number of children without parental care by summarising the links between the MDGs and the number of children separated from their parents. Here, it is argued that a growing number of children without parental care is both a cause and a consequence of slow progress against some of the MDGs. The final section outlines calls for action around the full implementation of the UN guidelines, the mainstreaming of this issue in UK government international development policy, the inclusion of relevant indicators and in post-MDG frameworks.