Compendium of Promising Practices to Ensure that Children under the age of Three Grow up in a Safe and Supportive Family Environment

The total number of children who grow up in formal care in the Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) region is estimated at 1.3 million, of which 650,000 live in residential care. Of these children, some 200,000 have disabilities, and 27,000 are under the age of three, whereas only 2 to 5 per cent of these children are orphans. The fact that the CEE/CIS region has the highest numbers in the world of children growing up separated from their families is, therefore, worrisome and alarming.

This Compendium of promising practices to ensure that children under the age of three grow up in a safe and supportive family environment is a compilation of the most encouraging initiatives in the area of prevention of child abandonment and relinquishment that have been implemented and tested in the region. UNICEF hopes that it will serve as a valuable tool for CEE/CIS countries and help accelerate national reform processes by adopting the most promising strategies, concepts and practices.