Duchess of York puts spotlight on harmful institutions for children

17 January 12

Read our response to the decision by a Turkish court this week to charge the Duchess of York after she exposed conditions in the country's orphanages in a controversial documentary in 2008:

A Turkish court’s decision to press criminal charges against The Duchess of York after her involvement in secretly filming orphanages in the country, has once again put the media spotlight on the harmful network of institutions which continue to warehouse thousands of vulnerable children across Europe.

The UK-based charity Hope and Homes for Children is a world leader in deinstitutionalisation - the process of closing these institutions by establishing community-based family support services and moving children back into loving family environments. Our work puts into action the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – which clearly affirms a child’s right to grow up in a family environment. We believe it is imperative for the European Union to address the issue of the institutionalisation of children within member countries, as well as for those at various stages of negotiations for membership.

More than 626,000 children currently reside in children’s institutions in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth Independent States (CIS), and every year thousands more continue to be separated from their parents and enter institutions. This is usually a result of poverty, social exclusion, prejudices against disabilities and a lack of support services at community level. Most disturbingly of all is the continual institutionalisation of children with disabilities - like those highlighted in Turkish institutions by The Duchess of York. Governments across the region must commit to the protection of children's rights, the closure of all of its institutions for children, the development of quality alternative care and family support services.

In countries like Bulgaria – where the British media exposed harmful children institutions in 2007 - there is now real political will and commitment towards deinstitutionalisation. Last year Hope and Homes for Children closed the first institution for babies in the country. The success of this project gave the Bulgarian Government the evidence and confidence to scale up its childcare reform and we are now working together to close a further eight institutions for babies by 2014. The EU played a significant role in this change and is now testing new ways of providing financial support to close all Bulgaria's institutions and to develop prevention and alternative care for all children.

A host of other countries within the region are also embracing deinstitutionalisation – recognising its ability to transform young lives. In Romania, for example, the Government has pledged to close all of its remaining institutions by 2020 and in Moldova the Government has made significant progress in closing institutions for school age children. Working in partnership with Hope and Homes for Children, these countries are showing the whole of Europe how deinstitutionalisation can transform young lives and entire childcare cultures. The same political courage is now required from other EU members and aspiring member states.

Mark Waddington
CEO, Hope and Homes for Children