British public favours orphanages in emergencies, poll finds - but aid agency warns of "misguided kindness"

Source: Save the Children

Date: 20 Dec 2010

Monday 20 December 2010

61% of British people think that building orphanages for children whose parents are missing or dead after a humanitarian crisis is a good idea, according to a new YouGov survey commissioned by Save the Children. The poll also found that 14% of people think that adopting those children out of the crisis country and placing them with a family in a wealthier and more stable country is a good thing.

But when asked about their own children, only 1% said if their child was orphaned during a humanitarian crisis in the UK the best thing to do would be to place them in an orphanage.

Some 92% said the best option would be for them to be adopted or fostered by relatives or a family from their own community or culture – rather than adopted by a family in another country (2%).

In a report published today, Save the Children warns that people who support orphanages or international adoption in the belief that they are doing the best for children suffering after a major emergency could in fact be putting those children in even more danger, and that often the best way to protect children is to keep them with people they know well and trust in their community.

The report, 'Misguided Kindness', says that putting children who have been separated from or lost their parents after a major emergency into orphanages, or evacuating them overseas, may mean they are permanently separated from their families or in the worst cases condemned to live in bad conditions where they can be vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. This may cause long term psychological damage and endanger children's health and wellbeing, with children under three particularly vulnerable.

The report comes at the end of 2010 – one of the worst years on record for humanitarian emergencies. This Christmas, the aid agency is urging people wanting to help children hit by emergencies to donate to organisations that are working to keep families together through family tracing and support, rather than giving direct to orphanages.

For example, nine year old Marie-Ange was separated from her family in Haiti when the earthquake hit in January 2010 and was fortunately taken in by a family for two months before being reunited with her family with help from Save the Children.

Joanne Doyle, report author and child protection adviser, said: "In the wake of devastating humanitarian crises, like last year's earthquake in Haiti, it is all too easy to get caught up in emotion and feel an overwhelming urge to support orphanages or build new ones for children or send them overseas for adoption.

"But this misguided kindness can actually cause significant harm to children and families who are already suffering and it may lead to them being permanently separated from each other.

"People may think that a child living in a brightly painted new orphanage may be more appealing than the image of one being cared for by relatives or a foster family in the humble surroundings of their home. But the best way to protect children is often to keep them with people they know and trust, even if reuniting them with their family may take weeks or months. It's usually much more cost-effective to support children within families than build orphanages, so we can help more children this way."

"Misguided Kindness" highlights:

• That four out of five children living in orphanages or other institutions have one or both parents who are still alive, according to research from developing countries.

• Even very short stays in institutional care can be extremely harmful for babies and young children. Some research suggests that for every three months a young child lives in an institution they may lose one month of development.

• The existence of orphanages can encourage poorer families to put their children in them in the hope that they will be better cared for after an emergency. According to a report released by Save the Children last year, in Aceh, Indonesia 97.5% of the children placed in residential care in the aftermath of the Boxing Day tsunami in Indonesia had been placed there by their families so they could receive an education.

• Poor 'gate-keeping' means children may be admitted to orphanages without proper checks to establish if their families are alive and whether it might be possible to reunite them with them, or other adults they know. In the worst cases, orphanages may even block family reunification efforts if they rely on having a certain number of children in their care in order to continue to receive financial assistance or donations.

• Well intentioned attempts to rescue children who may still have families by evacuating or adopting them outside of their communities or placing them in orphanages, not only goes against international guidelines but can be extremely harmful. It can also take funding away from much needed services that could support families to care for their children and help rebuild communities

For interviews call a Save the Children media officer on 07831 650409

Notes to editors:

• Save the Children's report Misguided kindness is a review of research done by leading humanitarian agencies and child protection experts. It is available for download: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/54_13615.htm

• Save the Children's survey: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2125 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 8th - 10th December 2010. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

• Save the Children's earlier report, "Keeping Children Out of Harmful Institutions: Why we should be investing in family-based care" published in November 2009 reported that "Contrary to common assumptions, the overwhelming majority of children (at least four out of five) in care institutions have one or both parents alive." It is available for download http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/54_9678.htm

• Save the Children's work We work to reunite children with their families around the world – from the earthquake in Haiti to the Burma cyclone - and have done for many years. After the genocide in Rwanda, we co-ordinated a reunification programme with the Red Cross which lead to more than 56,000 children being reunited with their families over six years.

• To make a donation to Save the Children's Emergency Fund for Children go to www.savethechildren.org.uk/cef or call 0207 012 6400