UNICEF conference puts the spotlight on closing institutions for children

17 February 12

Some of the world's leading experts in childcare reform met in Bulgaria this week to discuss plans to close down baby orphanages across the country and place the children in loving families.

Despite sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall, the 'Effects of Institutionalisation on Young Children and Post Institutionalisation Support' conference went ahead as planned in Sofia on Tuesday (February 15).

Hosted by the French Embassy and led by UNICEF, the summit focused on the thousands of Bulgarian children under the age of three who continue to be abandoned to orphanages - or institutions, as they are more commonly known in Eastern Europe.

As well as Hope and Homes for Children representatives, the conference's panel included Government representatives, institution owners, psychiatrists and pediatricians, as well as Boris Cyrulnik - the leading French Neuropsychiatrist and lecturer at Tulon University.

Much of the discussion centred on the Bulgarian Government's groundbreaking work to close its network of 24 baby institutions. Approximately 8,000 children are currently growing up in institutions across Bulgaria. An estimated 2,500 of them are under the age of three and live in 24 designated institutions for babies – the highest number in the EU. Only two per cent of these babies are actually orphans, with most having been abandoned due to poverty, parental neglect or family breakdown.

"The purpose of the conference in Sofia this week was to raise awareness of Bulgaria's pledge to roll out Deinstitutionalisation (DI) –  the closure of institutions and the development of alternative family-based care services -  on a national scale," said Galya Pourcheva-Bisset, our Regional Manager for Central and Eastern Europe.

"Bulgaria's shift towards an orphanage-free childcare system makes it one of the most progressive reformers in childcare across the region."

With our help, Bulgaria closed its first baby institution in Teteven last year. All 32 infants were reunited with their birth families, fostered or adopted. The landmark project was in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and scientific research which shows how institutions are detrimental to a child's physical and cognitive well-being.

We are now working with the Bulgarian Government to plan the closure of further eight baby institutions by 2014, meaning 400 young children will be placed back into family environments.

Read more about our work in Bulgaria.