Institutions Nearly 60,000 children in Central Asia are being brought up in childcare institutions, according to a recent UNICEF report. With the ongoing Ukraine war and rising inflation, the organization says that more than four million children remain in poverty lines, making the child poverty rate in Europe and Central Asia rise by 19%.
As of August 15, 2024, despite knowing the evils of keeping children in care institutions and separating them from family, however, in the five Central Asian countries, hundreds of thousands of children aged 0-17 live in these facilities. The report shows that around 203 children per 100,000 are found in residential care in this region against the global average of 105 per 100,000.
Although there has been a move in Central Asia toward declining numbers of children in residential care, there are an excess number of children with impairments experiencing their lives in residential settings. In Kazakhstan, the percentage of children with disabilities living in residential care increased between 2015 and 2021. Once again, it is clear that deep-seated social norms and limited community service provision for such children continue to exist there. The report noted how “the number of children in residential care is, to a large extent, an indicator of the efficiency of a country’s child protection system.” The higher proportion means that the system is not working to keep the family unit together.
According to research studies, children in residential care are exposed to violence and neglect while being deprived of basic social, emotional, and intellectual development.
More investment should be made in support services for families, said Dominik, UNICEF’s Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia. “It’s very harmful and can have a lifelong impact on children.” At the same time he noted that even though the number of children in alternative care continues to decrease over the years, further efforts are needed to ensure that no child is placed in such care due to lack of income for reasons of disability or lack of access to necessary services.
