Former 'forced wife' receives Marsh Award at Tedx summit

Today, on the occasion of the Global Disability Summit, the UK Government became the first major donor of its kind to explicitly pledge support for family and community-based care for all children.

Championing families and not orphanages, Secretary of State for International Development, Penny Mordaunt, announced: “Orphanages are harmful to children and it is often those with disabilities who are placed in them the most. This needs to end, which is why I’m committed to the long-term plan to ensure all children grow up with a family of their own.”

An NGO alliance including Hope and Homes, Lumos, Save the Children and World Vision - have joined forces to echo the UK Government’s commitment and support global change for children trapped in orphanages, especially those with disabilities who are the furthest left behind. The launch ofthe new ‘Civil Society Compact [CSO Compact]’ sets out a pathway for change to help eliminate orphanages worldwide.

“Recognising that institutionalisation harms children – and that children with disabilities are overrepresented in institutions –we commit to work together toward eliminating the institutionalisation of children globally. Ensuring our organisations do not contribute towards the institutionalisation of children, directly or indirectly - and in line with international treaties and best practice, we share the UK Government’s pledge to enable all children to have the opportunity to realise their right to family care.”

World Vision is a proud signatory to the CSO Compact, which is set out in full below.

Now is the time for other governments, funders, companies and individuals to follow suit and invest in alternatives to orphanages so all children can thrive in families.

CSO COMPACT

Recognising that institutionalisation harms children’s physical, emotional, psychological and psychosocial development, the undersigned organisations pledge to work toward the end of institutionalization of children and for the promotion of family-based care.

The occasion of the first Global Disability Summit makes this a particularly appropriate moment for this commitment, since children with disabilities are often the first to enter an institution and the last to leave.

In-line with international treaties and best practice, including the UN Guidelines on the Alternative Care of Children, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we share the UK Government’s pledge to enable all children to have the opportunity to realise their right to family care and, in accordance with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development, commit to leave no child behind in this effort.

We are committed to ensuring our organisations do not, either directly or indirectly, contribute towards the institutionalisation of children. We are also committed to coordinating our activities and resources to maximise our collective efforts to support the transition to family and community-based care worldwide. Specifically, we commit to coordinating around six key themes:

Raising awareness and understanding in a way that stops the flow of funding and resources in support of orphanages and other types of institutions, and helping to redirect this support to family and community-based solutions.  We will also seek to influence our partners, supporters and donors to work in a coordinated way to do the same.

Encouraging the integration of child protection and care services with health and education support in order to promote family-based care and ensure that the wide-ranging needs of children with disabilities and their carers are met.

Advocating with decision-makers - international and national - to prevent the placement of children into institutions, and to ensure that legislation and policy are always derived from a locally developed evidence base on how to best combat the key drivers of institutionalisation.

Investing in (whether financial or in-kind) local partner capacity – civil society and local authorities – to effectively manage the transition from institutions to quality family and community-based care in ways that protect the rights of affected children.

Promoting the meaningful participation of children and young people - actively seeking out, listening to and acting on the views and opinions of the young people and children we work with, and where safe and appropriate to do so, giving them a platform to share their views and ideas more widely – paying particular attention to ensuring gender balance, and the inclusion of children with disabilities and other minority groups.

Researching and generating an evidence base about key issues such as:

·       best practice interventions to address the key drivers of institutionalisation;

·       the proliferation and poor quality of care in these institutions;

·       ways to challenge the invisibility of children in institutions, especially children with disabilities;

·       the most appropriate alternative care options for children who cannot live with their own biological family.

To achieve this we will work together to share our data, research findings, methodologies and support countries to gather better data and monitor outcomes for all children. In doing this we will seek to Increase the visibility and understanding of disability issues in children’s care and protection through wider research and routinely disaggregated data collection.

List of signatories

1.     Save the Children UK

2.     World Vision

3.     Plan International UK

4.     Human Rights Watch

5.     Islamic Relief Worldwide

6.     Disability Rights International

7.     Hope and Homes for Children

8.     Lumos

9.     DeafKidz International

10.  Home for Good

11.  Better Care Network

12.  Friends International

13.  Chance for Childhood

14.  HealthProm

15.  Forget Me Not Australia

16.  Next Generation Nepal

17.  One Sky Foundation

18.  Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children

Angela Atim Lakor, a survivor of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and now a World Vision partner, this week returns to London where she will be honoured for her contribution to building peace, tackling stigma and supporting women and children recovering from war.

Angela will present a Tedx Talk on her experience of war as a child as part of this year’s Whitehall Women event at HMS President in London on Friday 3 November. As part of the event Angela will also receive the Marsh Award for Peace-making and Peace building from the prestigious Wilton Park. She shares the award with fellow human rights campaigner Ms. Fareeda Abbas Rasho Khalaf, a member of the Yazda Yazidi women’s organization.

The infamous LRA militia abducted Angela when she was only 14. She endured sexual violence as part of the LRA's 'forced wives' system for many years. On escaping, Angela was supported at the World Vision Children of War Reintegration Centre in Gulu, Uganda. As a survivor herself she went on to co-found the Watye Ki Gen charity which supports female returnees from the Lord’s Resistance Army and their children - helping them combat the stigma that affects every area of their lives from employment to their children’s education.

World Vision's Children of War Reintegration Centre has helped rehabilitate and reintegrate nearly 15,000 former child soldiers and children born in captivity in the past decade.

Erica Hall, World Vision UK’s Technical Policy Lead on Child Protection, said, “Children are vulnerable in the face of conflict. Recent UN figures show that there were at least 14,500 grave violations against children in armed conflict last year, including recruitment, sexual violence and abductions.”