Only loving committed caregivers
Martha Alemayehu is Manager at SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia. The country and its children are at a critical point. Backed by years of frontline experience, one fundamental truth drives her call for action. It’s the same for children everywhere.
Only loving, committed caregivers can provide a deep sense of belonging that children need to flourish.
In Ethiopia, children under 18 are nearly 40% of the population. Poverty, climate and social trouble present immense challenges. Children end up without stable parental care. More than 35 million African children live separated from their parents. Often they remain invisible in national statistics, overlooked in budgets, and underserved by protection systems.
Four key findings
- The family remains the best environment for a child’s healthy development.
- Institutional care must be used only as a last resort and for the shortest possible time.
- Meaningful progress depends on robust policy, reliable data, and strong coordination. If the children aren’t counted, then they don’t count.
- Sustainable care systems must be rooted in communities.
Martha Alemayehu lists six urgent action points in order to move things forward for the children. Of course this needs serious policy and budgets, scaling up family and kinship care, foster care and child protection programs, coordinating organisations with better data systems.
Read her full report here.
File Image from SOS Children’s Villages
