By Hon. Anne Musiwa, Special Rapporteur for Children in the African Union and Member of the Working Group on Orphanage Trafficking for the Interparliamentary Taskforce on Human Trafficking.
35 million African children are living without parental care, but we have the power to change their futures by becoming informed and taking decisive action.[i]Children are being harmed by a surge in separation and abandonment as they are removed from their caregivers and placed in exploitative institutions or end up on the streets. National Foster Care Month is a crucial time to explore the role of foster care as a better alternative to orphanages since foster care, when done right, has immense potential to prevent orphanage exploitation and human trafficking.[ii]
Family Cohesion Undermined
Many African families’ cohesion has been undermined by orphanhood, abuse, war, violence, diseases, poverty, natural disasters, stigma, discrimination, and disabilities. A staggering 80% of children in orphanages have at least one living parent.[iii] These children are lured away from their families with false promises of better care, only to be stripped of their identity and subjected to depersonalized, regimented treatment. The institutions meant to protect them become breeding grounds for exploitation and abuse.
Well-meaning western charitable volunteers often inadvertently perpetuate and enable this abuse. Unaware of the risks and profit-driven motives of these orphanages, visitors engage with the children, oblivious to the attachment issues and psychological trauma they may be causing. Children, coerced into assuming an orphan identity, are exploited to attract donations, their unique stories and personalities erased.
Family-Based Care: The Way Forward
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child guides nations to ensure every child receives the care, protection, and support they deserve.[iv] It emphasizes that for the full and harmonious development of a child’s personality, they should grow up in a family environment filled with happiness, love, and understanding. The Charter ensures African children are protected and nurtured within the family and community, enabling them to achieve their full potential and develop a sense of identity and belonging.
Research shows the detrimental effects of institutionalization on children’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Family-based care models like guardianship, foster care, local adoption, and kinship care, offer significant advantages. These models provide children with stability, the opportunity to remain within their cultural context, and a sense of identity and belonging. Children often prefer to stay within or return to their own families.
The first randomized controlled trial comparing foster care to institutional care, the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, demonstrated the enduring benefits of foster care.[v] The positive effects extend beyond two decades, emphasizing foster-care’s long-term efficacy in promoting child well-being. It can create nurturing environments that facilitate emotional growth, stimulate cognitive development, and cultivate a sense of belonging.
Preventing Orphanage Trafficking and Human Trafficking
Orphanages are high-risk environments for child exploitation, including trafficking.[vi] Studies underscore the vulnerability of children within residential care settings and the absence of adequate safeguards. Article 16 of the African Children’s Charter underscores the imperative to shield children from practices that may perpetuate any form of discrimination or abuse, including sexual abuse. Transitioning to family-based care can effectively diminish the risk of orphanage trafficking
Challenges and the Way Forward
Foster care offers advantages, but challenges persist, such as the shortage of foster families and the need for trauma-informed care. Addressing these challenges requires collaborative efforts from governments, communities, and organizations. Every foster care system model should be contextual, addressing the realities of different countries and communities. Child separation from biological parents should be as rare as possible and preserving the children’s socioemotional well-being is key.
Action Steps
As leaders and decision-makers who value family, it is our duty to work tirelessly to keep children out of alternative care through preventive and supportive interventions for families at risk. We must progressively remove children from institutions across our continent and reinstate the family unit.
We must transform our individual actions, refusing to engage in orphanage tourism and raising awareness about its harmful effects. We must support charities that work to strengthen families and communities, rather than perpetuating a system of exploitation. Governments must take decisive action, criminalizing the recruitment of children into exploitative institutions and strengthening regulations to protect vulnerable children. The Interparliamentary Taskforce on Human Trafficking is committed to addressing these issues and collaborating with stakeholders to combat orphanage trafficking and human trafficking.
Reclaiming the Family
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child recognizes the vital role of the family in a child’s life. Only families can provide the love, sense of belonging, and identity that children need to grow and feel part of society. By exposing the dark reality of orphanage tourism and taking action to combat this form of modern-day slavery, we can break the cycle of exploitation and restore the fundamental rights of every child.
Together, we can create a world where no child is subjected to the trauma and abuse of exploitative orphanages, and where every child has the chance to thrive in the love and security of a family. Let us stand united in our commitment to reclaiming the family for every child in Africa, ensuring that the principles enshrined in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child become a reality for every child.
[i] SOS Children’s Villages International, Continental Study on Children Without Parental Care in Africa, 2023. Available at: SOS Children’s Villages.
[ii] Knopf, A. (2023), “Foster Care Better than Orphanage Care,” The Brown University Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology Update, 25: 7-7.
[iii] Evie Browne, ‘Children in Care Institutions,’ K4D Helpdesk Report, 2017. [Accessed May 15, 2024], available at: Institute of Development Studies
[iv] African Union, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, 1990. [Accessed: May 15, 2024], available at: African Union
[v] Nelson, C. A., Fox, N. A., & Zeanah, C. H., Bucharest Early Intervention Project. [Accessed May 15, 2024], available at: Bucharest Early Intervention Project
[vi] ReThink Orphanages, Addressing the Trafficking and Exploitation of Children in Orphanage Voluntourism, Submission to OHCHR, 2023. [Accessed: May 10, 2024], available at: OHCHR
