WORLD WITHOUT ORPHANS

WORLD WITHOUT ORPHANS www.worldwithoutorphans.org Summary THE NEED: One of the biggest challenges facing the Christian Church today is the ever-in...
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WORLD

WITHOUT ORPHANS

www.worldwithoutorphans.org

Summary THE NEED: One of the biggest challenges facing the Christian Church today is the ever-increasing number of children growing up without the loving care of their parents and without knowing their Heavenly Father. UNICEF has identified approximately 153 million children around the world as orphans. If all of these children were counted as a single nation, they would comprise the ninth largest nation in the world, slightly smaller than Bangladesh and slightly larger than the total population of Russia. The children of this “Orphan Nation” are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, and they are severely ill equipped to survive and thrive as adults, even when they have “graduated” from the best possible institutional care available. God knows all orphaned children by name, and He has a purpose for each of them. He is the Father of the fatherless, and His dream is that the Orphan Nation will disappear from the face of the earth. This can happen only when each child has a permanent, “forever” family. “Father of the fatherless… is God in his Holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families” (Psalm 68.5–6). Beyond the moral implications of ignoring this crisis, there are grave social, economic and even security consequences if progress is not made in rectifying the curWWO’s immediate goals are to: ▶▶ Break down social, legal, and infrastructural barriers that prevent children from being adopted or fostered by loving families in their home countries, or reunited with rehabilitated biological families.

rent situation. Because the Orphan Nation is a global crisis, it demands a global response. THE SOLUTION: World Without Orphans (WWO) is one such global response that was born from the understanding of God’s heart for orphans and His clear mandate from Scripture for the Church to care for them. Launched in 2012 and modeled after the successful nationallevel program of the Alliance for Ukraine Without Orphans, the WWO is a movement towards Christian leaders, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and government officials working together to develop national-level solutions to care for orphans and vulnerable children through family-based care. The vision of the movement is for every child to grow and flourish in a loving, permanent family, and to know the Heavenly Father. If all Christians would come together in their churches, with their families, and as individuals, we could address the orphan challenge and bring closure to this escalating crisis. World Without Orphans National Christian Foundation 11625 Rainwater Drive, Suite 500 Alpharetta, GA 30009 717-461-2273 www.worldwithoutorphans.org [email protected] ▶▶ Identify and train national Christian leaders to use their influence and networks to change cultural attitudes towards adoption and foster care. ▶▶ Provide platforms for national leaders to collaborate with other regional and global leaders on efforts directed towards family based care for orphans.

Revised and updated Edition, 2014

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WORLD WITHOUT ORPHANS

Where Are They?

Top ten countries by absolute number of orphans COUNTRY

# OF ORPHANS

1

INDIA

31 000 000

2

CHINA

20 600 000

3

NIGERIA

12 000 000

4

BANGLADESH

4 800 000

5

ETHIOPIA

4 800 000

6

INDONESIA

4 700 000

7

CONGO

4 200 000

8

PAKISTAN

4 200 000

9

BRAZIL

3 700 000

SOUTH AFRICA

3 400 000

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Who Are The Orphans? There is no easy answer to the seemingly simple question of “Who is an orphan?” However, the way we define these children has very important implications for our capacity to help them. Historically, orphans were children who had lost both of their parents, usually through death. UNICEF has expanded this definition to include children who have lost one of their parents. The Bible seems to use the words “orphan” and “fatherless” interchangeably which supports a broader definition. Consider also James 1:27 that ties together caring for orphans and widows, single mothers. Contemporary child welfare practice focuses also on children who have lost their families through abandonment, even though one or both of their parents may still be alive. Therefore, in a broader sense an orphan is a child who has lost one or both parents or

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has been abandoned by or separated from them. Some children, born with disabilities, become orphans because their families and communities lack the skills and re- sources to meet their special develop- mental needs. Still other children may be removed from their families to ensure their safety, protecting them from child abuse, neglect, and other forms of child endangerment. Many orphans grow to adulthood without permanent family connections, and they often “graduate” to the streets, homeless and jobless, being drawn into lives of crime to support themselves. The most vulnerable may be trafficked into various forms of indentured servitude in other nations. Orphan children may be considered “at-risk” in the most fundamental sense. With- out the nurturance, support, and consistency of a permanent loving family in a stable, supportive community, orphaned children are faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Top ten countries by the percentage of orphans to the total population of children COUNTRY 1

ZIMBABWE

2

LESOTHO

3

# OF ORPHANS

 %

1 400 000

22,67

200 000

20,99

ZAMBIA

1 300 000

20,73

4

MOZAMBIQUE

2 100 000

19,25

5

SWAZILAND

100 000

18,73

6

SOUTH AFRICA

3 400 000

18,49

7

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

45 000

18,22

8

CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.

370 000

17,31

9

LIBERIA

340 000

16,86

10

ANGOLA

1 500 000

16,63

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WORLD WITHOUT ORPHANS

> 10 % OF ALL CHILDREN ARE ORPHANS

THE MAP OF GLOBAL ORPHAN CHALLENGE

5–10 % < 5 % N/A

U. S.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

ICELAND

CANADA

FINLAND

NORWAY

SWEDEN ESTONIA

LATVIA

DENMARK

IRELAND

LITHUANIA

UNITED KINGDOM NETHERLANDS

GERMANY

BELGIUM

BELARUS

POLAND SLOVAKIA

FRANCE

SWITZERLANDLIECHTENSTEIN

AUSTRIA HUNGARY

UNITED STATES

CROATIA

BOSNIA SERBIA AND HERZEGOVINA

SAN MARINO

MONACO

ANDORRA

PORTUGAL

MONTENEGRO

BULGARIA

MALTA

TUNISIA

CYPRUS

IRAQ

LEBANON

AFGHANISTAN

HAITI DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

MAURITANIA

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

CAPE VERDE

DOMINICA

LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA

SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES

GRENADA

VENEZUELA (BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF)

PANAMA

COLOMBIA

MALI

NIGER

CHAD

SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS SAINT LUCIA

NICARAGUA

COSTA RICA

BARBADOS

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

GUYANA

SENEGAL GAMBIA

GUINEA-BISSAU

GUINEA

SIERRA LEONE

LIBERIA

BURKINA FASO BENIN TOGO

COTE GHANA D'IVOIRE

EGYPT

QATAR

SUDAN

BRAZIL BOLIVIA (PLURINATIONAL STATE OF)

PARAGUAY

NAMIBIA

LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

VIET NAM

PHILIPPINES

CAMBODIA

MARSHALL ISLANDS

PALAU

SRI LANKA MALDIVES

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

MICRONESIA (FEDERATED STATES OF)

MALAYSIA

SEYCHELLES

INDONESIA

KIRIBATI

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

MOZAMBIQUE

SOUTH AFRICA

SAMOA

FIJI

MAURITIUS

MADAGASCAR

SWAZILAND

NIUE

TUVALU

VANUATU

ZIMBABWE

LESOTHO

SOLOMON ISLANDS

TIMOR-LESTE

MALAWI

BOTSWANA

NAURU

SINGAPORE

COMOROS

ZAMBIA

MYANMAR

THAILAND

SOMALIA

DEMOCRATIC RWANDA REPUBLIC OF THE BURUNDI CONGO UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

CHILE URUGUAY

YEMEN

KENYA

ANGOLA

BANGLADESH

DJIBOUTI

UGANDA

CONGO

PERU

OMAN

CAMEROON

GABON

BHUTAN

INDIA

ETHIOPIA

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

EQUATORIAL GUINEA SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE

NEPAL

PAKISTAN

BAHRAIN

ERITREA

NIGERIA

SURINAME

ECUADOR

JAPAN

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

CHINA

TAJIKISTAN

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

HONDURAS

EL SALVADOR

IRAN (Islamic Republic of)

SAUDI ARABIA

JAMAICA

BELIZE

TURKMENISTAN

KUWAIT

CUBA GUATEMALA

AZERBAIJAN

JORDAN

ALGERIA

BAHAMAS

MEXICO

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

ISRAEL

MOROCCO

UZBEKISTAN

ARMENIA

TURKEY

GREECE

DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

KYRGYZSTAN

GEORGIA

THE FORMER YUGOSLAV

ALBANIAREPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

SPAIN

MONGOLIA

MOLDOVA

ROMANIA

SLOVENIA

ITALY

KAZAKHSTAN

UKRAINE

CZECH REPUBLIC

LUXEMBOURG

AUSTRALIA

COOK ISLANDS TONGA

ARGENTINA

NEW ZEALAND

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WORLD WITHOUT ORPHANS Vision and Mission of WWO The World Without Orphans (WWO) movement was begun with the vision that all orphans and vulnerable children will be given the opportunity to grow in loving and caring families and will know their Heavenly Father. Our mission is to inform, equip, and mobilize the Body of Christ around the world to help make this possible. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world”. James 1:27. What is World Without Orphans? The initial vision for World Without Orphans came from believers in Ukraine, who began to meet together in 2009 to discuss the possibility of forming an Alliance for Ukraine Without Orphans. With 30,000 adoptable children in orphanages in Ukraine and over 30,000 Christian churches, they calculated that if just one family in each church in Ukraine adopted an orphan, orphanages would be emptied. It was their dream to see Ukraine become the first country in the world where national Christians would empty orphanages by adopting children. Though it was only officially launched in November 2010, Ukraine Without Orphans is already transforming Ukraine. The number of adoptions by Ukrainians is growing every year. There is a waiting list for Ukrainian families wanting to adopt children under the age of seven, and most orphaned children are now being placed into families instead of going to orphanages. The number of babies who are abandoned in birth hospitals decreased 50% in the last 4 years. This is unprecedented in Eastern Europe! Not only that, but the spark from Ukraine has spread to believers in other countries, leading them to start

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their own “Without Orphans” movements in Russia, Belarus, Romania, Moldova, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan. It is amazing to watch how the vision for providing a family for every orphan has caught fire in the hearts of believers in different places of the world. We believe that this vision has the power to transform nations and it is our hearts’ desire that this movement would catch hold around the world, and that believers across the globe would unite to fight for a World without Orphans.

Several beliefs underpin the World Without Orphans movement: ▶▶ All children have inherent value in God’s eyes and an unconditional right to holistic development, to enable them to live up to the potential that their God has given them.

▶▶ The very best environment for all children is a loving and caring family  – parents, siblings, and extended family members for life… a family to call their own and to come home to forever. ▶▶ God cares in a special way for the fatherless, and He commissions the Church, and thus every Christian, to do everything in their power to help orphaned children. The first is to inform the Body of Christ and its leaders, to broaden their under- standing both of the problems faced by orphaned children and the potential ways they can contribute to devising effective solutions. We provide re- search data on the status of orphans in different parts of the world, and disseminate information on the most effective, empirically supported models of caring for and serving orphaned children. The second strategy is to mobilize. We seek to establish, promote, and sustain national, regional, and global networks that involve

It is with the understanding of God’s heart for orphans and His clear man- date from Scripture for the Church to care for them that the World Without Orphans (WWO) movement is being birthed. It is not a project or an organization, but a vision that Christians around the world can have a significant impact on the orphan challenge. It is an acknowledgement that God is moving through His Church around the world and He desires that every child would grow and flourish in a loving, permanent family and know their Heavenly Father.

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WORLD WITHOUT ORPHANS churches and their members, non-governmental service organizations, business communities, the media, and governmental agencies who, together, can develop orphan advocacy movements in their own countries and communities. The third strategy is to equip. We provide opportunities for our partner advocates to fully understand the special needs of orphaned children and the best resources and strategies to serve them. We promote communication within and among orphan networks, helping advocates share their successes and failures and learn from each other as they design and test working models to improve services to orphans and families.

WWO is ready to provide national orphan care movements around the world with: ▶▶ Consulting in the establishment and growth of national orphan care initiatives. ▶▶ Assistance with national and regional conference development. ▶▶ Bringing national leaders together on a regional and global level to share ideas and resources, as well as to develop strategies, and to help each other share the vision. ▶▶ Assistance in the development of an online orphan care resources directory for their language.

▶▶ Consulting in the use of mass media, social networking, and publicity to bring awareness of orphans and their needs. ▶▶ Help to develop prayer movements for orphans. ▶▶ Encouragement and assistance to pastors and other church leaders to establish and support orphan care and adoption movements in their own nations. ▶▶ Development of resources and events to help families understand how they can bring orphans into their families and their lives, through adoption, foster care, mentorship, guardianship, and other forms of family based care.

▶▶ Training and other opportunities for professional development. ▶▶ Information-sharing among all the world’s orphan advocacy networks to encourage and inspire each nation as it moves toward the vision to see and live in a world without orphans. Connection with the 4/14  Window and Transform World Movements A significant development in the vision for a World Without Orphans came at the 4–14  Window Global Summit in Singapore in the fall of 2011. The 4–14  Window Movement is calling the Global Church to radically change the way we view children and to respond to their strategic importance and rightful place in His Kingdom. A thousand Christian leaders from one hundred countries at- tended this event. A number of these were orphan care leaders from the US, Ukraine, Russia and several other countries who considered how a global movement for orphans could work in tandem with the 4–14  Window Movement. During discussions with Luis Bush, a servant leader of the 4–14  Window Movement, the need to support the Global Church in addressing the orphan challenge was confirmed. The group recognized that a global orphan care movement must not operate independently, but rather as an integral part of the Body of Christ, with the responsibility to learn from, work with and serve the Church. Luis Bush is also a servant leader for the Transform World Movement, which was birthed out of a prayer movement in Indonesia. At his recommendation, the Transform World Movement recognized orphans as one of seven global challenges that were addressed at the Transform World Global Challenges Summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 5–9, 2012. Ruslan Maliuta was invited to facilitate the Orphan Challenge with a view of launching the World Without Orphans movement.

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WORLD WITHOUT ORPHANS Transform World Global Challenges Summit 2012, Indonesia Over 400 Christian leaders from fifty two countries attended the Transform World Global Challenges summit, and each participated in a working group to address one of the seven challenges. Forty-five delegates representing fifteen countries from almost all continents met to work on developing the World Without Orphans global orphan care initiative. Four days of intense work resulted in a refined vision, five expected outcomes, and a seven-year action plan for the World Without Orphans effort to promote the placement of children in families within their lo-

cal con- texts. When many Christians hear the word “orphan,” what quickly comes to mind is either international adoption or orphanages. International adoption allows a small percentage of orphans to be placed in families, but the number of children needing families is much greater. Research shows that orphanages and other forms of institutional care are not the best solutions for the healthy development of children. A significant change in mindset is needed for many Christians to shift to a family-based approach in caring for orphans and vulnerable children. This includes families who are opening their home to care for the fatherless, but it may also mean biological families or kinship care- givers who need to be encouraged and strengthened to prevent

children from being put at risk in the first place. Orphan Challenge delegates also worked in groups divided by spheres, such as business, church, media, government etc, and had an opportunity to explore both opportunities and difficulties with- in these arenas as they relate to the cause of the fatherless. WWO Expected Outcomes for 2020 ■■ NATIONAL MOVEMENTS  – Thirty national orphan care movements are initiated through cooperation of churches and NGO’s in agreement with common biblically-based values, as evidenced by an active team of several groups representing multiple regions in the country. ■■ CHURCH MOBILIZATION  – 50% of Christian churches around the world are aware of the orphan crisis in their community, nation, region, and around the world. 75% of churches in countries with national movements are motivated to action and equipped with the most effective strategies and resources to respond to t he need. ■■ PERMANENCY FOR CHILDREN  – Permanency of children in families is perceived and promoted globally as a primary goal in caring for orphans and vulnerable children. A paradigm shift from institutional to family-based strategies has occurred in churches, NGO’s and governments in countries with national movement. ■■ PREVENTION  – Parents know and understand the steps to creating a healthy, safe and strong family unit where children are living with and being nurtured by loving parents.

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■■ CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT  – There
 is a comprehensive best-practice, evidenced based collection of resources available for distribution and training for those persons working with or for orphans.
Capacity is evident in the orphan nation, and demonstrated by a competent, confident and committed group of volunteers, workers, parents, and leaders who are working together for a World Without Orphans. The Orphan Assessment The first step in resolving any problem is to understand it. There is an urgent need to complete comprehensive assessments of the presence and location of orphans in every country in the world so we fully understand the scope of the problem and the needs of the children, and develop the best possible solutions. These assessments should include accurate and up-to-date information about the number of children that need permanent placement with a new family, numbers of children living in orphan- ages and other institutions, children living on the streets, and children in other impermanent forms of care. We also need data about children who suffer from abuse, neglect, or exploitation and who have been removed from their parents, either temporarily or permanently, to ensure their safety. An example of the findings of one such assessment, done in Ukraine, is presented below. Armed with accurate information, orphan care networks can begin recruiting and mobilizing advocates to de- sign nationspecific strategies to begin to address this problem.

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WORLD WITHOUT ORPHANS

Map of Orphanhood in Ukraine: a key to understanding the numbers

E-mail: [email protected] www.ukrainabezsyrit.com Tel.: +380 93 494 04 03 03055, Кyiv, P.b. 185, Ukraine

Chernihiv Lutsk Sumy

Rivne Kyiv

Best areas in Ukraine (0.5% of children are orphans) Average areas in Ukraine (1.2% of children are orphans) Worst areas in Ukraine (1.9% of children are orphans)

Zhytomyr

Lviv

Kharkiv Ternopil

Poltava

Khmelnitskyi Uzhgorod

Cherkasy

Vinnytsia

Ivano-Frankivsk

Dnipropetrivsk

Total number of children in Ukraine

8,000,000 (17,8% of the country population)

Chernivtsi

96,000

1,500,000

Zaporizhia

children are being raised by a single parent

250,000

Mykolaiv

17,000 children become orphans

11,000

are in foster care and family type orphanages

Odesa Kherson

up to

63,000

live with guardians

22,000

live in institutions/ orphanages for children

are available for adoption, 90% of them are either over 5 years old, have illnesses or disabilities or are part of a sibling group

35,000 have been adopted since

Simferopol

Ukraine’s independence

27,000

12,000 orphans turn 18-year's old, the age of legal independence Every year

The path towards a Ukraine without orphans consists of concrete daily actions directed to help every child have the opportunity to be raised in a loving family. Join us in this movement, so that at least one life of an orphan would be changed for the better! LET’S OPEN OUR HEARTS AND HOMES TO THE CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN DEPRIVED OF PARENTAL LOVE AND CARE!

Action Steps

▶▶ adoption;

Once each country understands the scope of the Orphan Challenge in their nation, it can develop constructive strategies to address it. The following guiding principles will underpin our work.

▶▶ guardianship;

■■ Not all orphans need a new family. Many of them already live in families who can be strengthened to ensure permanence and safety for these children. We must support these families and the communities that care for them. ■■ There is a spectrum of models of care for orphaned children: ▶▶ strengthening their own immediate and extended families;

■■ Careful and thoughtful planning should go into any nation’s program model on behalf of orphans. Prevention programs at all levels is critical.

Donetsk

In addition to orphans, there are over 40,000 children living in institutions who do not have official orphan status

Out of those children:

Every year

Luhansk

Kirovohrad

children experience abuse, brutal treatment and exploitation Children who have the legal status of an orphan:

■■ If children have lost their own families and there is no hope of reuniting them, then adoption or guardianship should be the aim of our efforts.

▶▶ foster care. We need to build all of these options concurrently, to produce a range of family care options for a nation’s children. We also need to encourage absent fathers and their extended families as placement options for orphaned children. ■■ Orphanages and child care institutions are the least effective and often the most detrimental forms of care for orphans. We understand the use of these facilities as emergency placement options for some children, but we should not consider them an adequate permanent placement for any child.

Following the Lord’s favor, we are determined to creatively use all means possible to motivate the global Body of Christ to a place of faith and obedience where caring for orphans and adoption will become so normal that many will think it’s synonymous with following Christ.

es that we are in the initial steps of developing a global movement for orphans. This is a huge task and no single organization, church, or even network would be able to do it on its own. It will require the input and service of many dedicated believers who are passionate to see children without families be placed in healthy homes. Together with our current national part- ner networks and alliances and national leaders from many other countries, we warm- ly welcome others to join this movement and would like to offer a variety of next steps for those who want to get involved. ▶▶ Receive updates about the development of a global orphan care movement; ▶▶ Get involved with WWO Facilitation Team;

How to get involved The World Without Orphans Facilitation Team, an international group of orphan care leaders, advocates, and experts, recogniz-

▶▶ Help to initiative an orphan care movement in your nation or region.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WOULD LIKE TO BE PART OF THIS MOVEMENT, PLEASE CONTACT US AT:

[email protected] www.worldwithoutorphans.org

Acknowledgment This paper is being developed with contributions from a number of great experts and I would like to specifically thank Anita Deyneka, Karmen Friesen, Judy Rycus, Steve Weber, Lori Drexler, Peter Billingham and Luis Bush for their insights, ideas, and any other support they provided in creating of this document. Ruslan Maliuta, International Facilitator, World Without Orphans

▶▶ reuniting children in care with their own families;

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World Without Orphans National Christian Foundation 11625 Rainwater Drive, Suite 500 Alpharetta, GA 30009 717-461-2273 www.worldwithoutorphans.org [email protected]