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Radical decision to close down country’s 34 institutions has been fraught with difficulties.

“Kathryn Whetten, a professor at Duke University in the US, followed 1,357 children in institutions, and 1,480 in families in Ethiopia and Tanzania, to compare the effect of living in orphanages with family care.

Whetten published her conclusions in the scientific journal  PLOS ONE in 2014, saying that without substantial improvements in care and support, placing children back with families will not significantly improve their welfare.”

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Chris Gray and the POFO team recently published an article titled, “Potentially traumatic experiences and sexual health among orphaned and separated adolescents in five low- and middle-income countries” in AIDS Care.

The study highlights the need for caregivers, program managers, and policymakers to promote condom use for sexually active OSC and identify interventions for trauma support services. Orphans living in family-based care may also be particularly vulnerable to early sexual debut and unprotected sexual activity.

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Whole Child International

Whole Child International (WCI) is a U.S.-based non-governmental organization focused on improving the caregiving environments for vulnerable children by effecting changes within child care centers and orphanages. The “National Evaluation of Quality of Childcare in El Salvador” project is an intervention of educational trainings (for local government officials, directors, and caregivers) and technical assistance within centers.

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UNICEF reports “around 63 million adolescents between the ages of 12 to 15 years old are denied their right to an education, in addition to 58 million children of primary education that are out of school.” A new initiative between UNICEF and UNESCO Institute for Statistics with support from the Global Partnership for Education will ensure that children in more than 50 countries will have access to a good education, are ready to enter the classroom at the right age and are equipped to complete primary school.

Read the article here.

MACH Symposium- Save the Date!

The Maternal, Adolescent, and Child Health working group at Duke University will be hosting a symposium on Monday, September 28, 2015.

The event will take place at the Trent Semans Center in the Great Hall on the Duke campus.

It will be an all day event with lunch served.

Registration is free of charge and open to the public.

RSVP here!

SaveTheDate.9.28

CAFO 2014 Video

Kate Whetten and team are at the 2015 Christian Alliance for Orphans conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Please check out this Q&A video from Kate Whetten and Charles Nelson’s presentation at the 2014 CAFO conference.

 

Emotional Wellbeing

OVCs & Long-term Consequences

Educational Impact

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