UN Approves Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on 20 November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution formally welcoming the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children. This initiative was inspired by a call from the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2005 for the international community to come together to develop guidelines to address the gaps between children’s rights and the reality for millions of vulnerable children. The Guidelines are the result of more than five years of negotiation and discussion.

From the beginning of this initiative, numerous child rights and child care NGOs, young people, UNICEF and academics have been involved in the development and promotion of the Guidelines, in particular through the NGO Working Group on Children without Parental Care. During this time the government of Brazil, as the convenor of the Group of Friends consisting of 17 supportive states, took the lead in ensuring intergovernmental involvement and commitment in the advancement of the Guidelines.

To start the process of dissemination, SOS Children’s Villages International and the International Social Service launched the publication “Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children: A United Nations framework”, with a foreword from Yanghee Lee, the Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. It includes the text of the Guidelines and sets of introductory questions reflecting on national policy.

Click here to download the publication (pdf, 900 kb). Printed copies of this publication can be ordered free of charge at pd-service@sos-kd.org