violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

184Violence against Children in care and justice institutionsbers of children in care institutions, the highestbeing Colombia (24,300), Brazil (24,000),Bolivia (15,600), and Chile (11,600) accordingto figures published in 2004. 36In Africa, the extended family has normallyabsorbed orphaned children and other victimsof family casualty, and rates of institutionalisationhave traditionally been low. In many Africancountries, the only orphanages that existeduntil recently were set up by missionariesbefore independence. However, today in manyAfrican countries private orphanages are nowmushrooming, as faith-based organisations,NGOs and private donors seek to respond tothe growing numbers of children orphanedby HIV/AIDS and armed conflict. 37 Evidencefrom Liberia, 38 Uganda, 39 and Zimbabwe 40 allpoints to an increased use of institutional carein recent years. Children’s rights advocatespoint out that the majority of children enteringthese institutions often have at least one livingparent or contactable relative. They arguethat these new institutions simply draw childrenout of communities, and represent fundswhich could have been better used to provideimproved support services at local level. Institutionalcare is also expensive, costing betweensix and 100 times more than community-basedfoster care, the policy response preferred bothby Governments and aid donors. 41Institutionalisation in Eastern Europeand former Soviet countriesInstitutions for children are more prevalent inCentral and Eastern Europe (CEE) and in theCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS)than any other region. During the 1960s and1970s, large numbers of institutions openedthroughout the region. Following the collapseof communist Governments, lack of alternativesupport systems for families meant thatthe widespread use of institutions continued.In 2002, an estimated 1,120,800 childrenwere in public care in 27 of the CEE, CIS andBaltic States, 54% of whom – around 605,000– were in residential facilities. 42Many of these facilities are for children withdisabilities. In 2002, an estimated 317,000children with disabilities in the region livedin residential institutions. 43 In some countries,children labelled as ‘disabled’ make up themajority of those in residential care. In Uzbekistan,for example, children with disabilities incare number almost 20,000, compared to only4,300 without disabilities. 44Ethnic minorities targetedHistorically, children from racial and ethnicminorities tend to be over-represented in care(for example in Australia, Brazil, and Canada,as mentioned above), and in many cases thistrend persists. In Romania, for example, theRoma people account for less than 10% of thecountry’s population, yet as many as 40% ofinstitutionalised children are Roma. This patternis repeated in several other countries ofEastern Europe, including Bulgaria, the CzechRepublic and Hungary. In Central and EasternEurope and ex-USSR countries generally,prejudice against ethnic minorities is reportedto have led staff in residential institutions todiscourage contact between parents and theirinstitutionalised children, and reduced fostercare and adoptive placements. 45,46