Eighty Percent of children in orphanages in Haiti are not orphans

Haiti has a serious problem with child-care facilities, costing the government of Haiti (GOH) a tremendous sum of money. A study, conducted by UNICEF and Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR), determined orphanages house 80% of children, who have parents or other living relatives.

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With 70% of the Haitian population living in dire poverty, many of these families cannot afford to feed their children and abandon them. And it often takes place immediately after birth in maternity wards.

The GOH, due to budget concerns, has been forced to shutter 25 child-care facilities in the country. The 12,000 children from these facilities have been transferred to orphanages that meet green standards. IBESR inventoried 750-plus government-operated child-care facilities, assigning a rating system of "green, yellow, or red" to insure child safety.

There remain children yet to be placed from other orphanages, slated to be closed. The problem of not enough child-care facilities that meet green standards is frustrating. In order to deal with the demand of where to place children, the GOH is paying parents or closest relatives to accept their children back. Critics say this answer to not enough green-certified child-care facilities is costing the GOH too much money.

But UNICEF is pursuing an agenda to take children out of the orphanages and reunite them with family members, immediate or extended. They are arguing for a consortium of agencies: socio-economic, legal, women's reproductive rights, and education to find creative solutions to deal with this issue.

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Read more: Child Tips, Orphanage, Poverty Tips, Adoption Tips, Child abandonment, child

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