Photo – Mark Jones (Creative Commons)
Coming from members of one of the world’s most famous families, Harry and Meghan’s new Netflix documentary set in a Ugandan orphanage is surprising – at a time when the UK is leading a global call to end orphanages and help children find their way Back to Family.
Netflix describes Masaka Kids: A Rhythm Within as a “joyful short documentary” in which “children at a Ugandan orphanage find healing, spread hope and achieve global acclaim – one viral dance video at a time.” At face value, it is an uplifting watch. But behind that joyful framing lies a far more troubling reality about orphanages – and the harm they expose children to every day.
Across the world, 5.4 million children are confined to orphanages. Around 80% are not orphans. They have parents or extended family who love them but lack the support needed to stay together. Poverty, disability and conflict – not the absence of family – are what place children in orphanages.
The risks institutionalised children face are profound. Around half of children in orphanages experience neglect, abuse or exploitation, including trafficking. These are not isolated failures – they are systemic risks when children grow up separated from family care.
This is why influence matters. Every year, well-meaning people in the UK donate at least £500 million to overseas orphanages, often motivated by compassion and faith. But this generosity can prop up a harmful orphanage business, where children are kept in institutions to sustain funding: the more children an orphanage has, the more money it attracts.
Even highly astute, business-savvy people can be drawn in. A recent Times story revealed how Apprentice star Nick Hewer was once duped into paying to visit an overseas orphanage as a tourist, showing just how persuasive and misleading these institutions can be, even to those known for sharp commercial judgement. Mercifully, Nick went on to become a fierce champion of our cause, and has been a loyal patron for nearly 20 years.
The UK shut down its own orphanages more than 40 years ago following widespread abuse and neglect. We ended them because they harmed children. Yet today, documentaries and celebrity-backed platforms risk encouraging the public to support orphanages abroad, where in many countries orphanages remain a legacy of colonial influence, rather than child-centred care.
There are also serious safeguarding concerns when children living in orphanages are filmed and shared with global audiences. Their images and stories are broadcast permanently, often without meaningful consent or long-term protection. What may feel like awareness can quickly turn children into content. This Netflix documentary shows children in various states of undress in their bedrooms, which is doubly concerning. Would we OK with this if those children were from the UK? The answer of course would be a resounding “No!”
The evidence is clear: children thrive in families, not orphanages – no matter how joyful they appear on screen. What matters most is what happens after the cameras stop rolling. This Netflix documentary is therefore deeply troubling. It also contradicts the recently launched Global Charter on Children’s Care Reform at the United Nations – initiated by the United Kingdom – which acts as a promise from governments all around the world to stop placing children in orphanages in their own countries by supporting them to grow up in families.
In Uganda, making orphanages history is not theoretical. We have backed local organisations, such as Child’s i Foundation, to make Tororo the first orphanage-free district in the country. Every child has been helped Back to Family. Systems have changed. Communities have stepped up. It works. Tororo proves that ending orphanages is possible, in Uganda and far beyond, if we choose to invest in families rather than institutions.
Organisations for those who have experienced growing up in institutions like the Masaka Kids orphanage, such as Transform Alliance Africa, are speaking out against the dangerous emotional-driven narrative being spun by documentaries like this. And in this case, the concern is even more serious. The documentary is platforming an orphanage in Uganda — directly contradicting global evidence, policy commitments and the lived experiences of care leavers across Africa.
Documentaries like Masaka Kids may move hearts, but they risk sending the wrong message at the wrong moment. When platforms as powerful as Netflix – and figures as influential as Harry and Meghan – tell stories about children, those stories must reflect what children truly need. If this documentary sparks a conversation, let it be the right one – not about celebrating orphanages, or generating click bait dancing clips, but about helping millions of children find their way Back to Family, where they belong.
