World Children's Day: Ukrainians began to adopt more orphans
Children are the most vulnerable category of society. They are always acutely emotional over the consequences of the most serious social crises. In 1954, on November 20, the UN General Assembly began celebrating World Children's Day to draw attention to the problems of children's well-being.
In Ukraine, the United Nations convention of the rights of the child came into force 26 years ago, but even now not all boys and girls are fully protected. 71,000 – just as many children in Ukraine have the status of an orphan or a child deprived of parental care. Almost 14,000 children are raised in foster families and family-type children's homes.
Dozens of projects and programmes that promote adoption are operating in our country. They help parents to find children, and the kids - to find the long-awaited family warmth. However, the solution of the problem remains one of the important tasks of the society.
“Today there are more than 100,000 children who are brought up in residential institutions in Ukraine. Once they were abandoned by their relatives or became orphans under tragic circumstances,” says Natalia Baryshpolska, the Head of “Say No To Orphanhood!” programme.
“Say No To Orphanhood!” programme of Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has been operating since 2008. Experts note that only one out of ten children from the orphanage succeed in adapting to social life. However, there is a positive trend.
“In 2017, the number of boys and girls who were adopted, increased. Now there are application forms of 7,8 thousand children waiting for their families on the Center’s website. For the entire period of the portal's operation, 8,823 children were able to find a new family,” says Natalia Baryshpolska.
Moreover, on the eve of the World Children's Day, Rinat Akhmetov Foundation launched a contest for the best story “How I Met My Child” as part of the “Say No To Orphanhood!” programme. Adoptive parents, guardians, foster parents and custodial parents, who found their children on the portal, took part in the contest.
In the modern world, the idea of a happy childhood involves many factors: loving parents, friends, toys or entertainments. However, a family has always been the main thing.
