EveryChild
4 Bath Place
Rivington Street
London
EC2A 3DR
T +44 (0)20 7749 2468
F +44 (0)20 7729 8339
Russia
Country Overview
Russia has undergone huge social, political and economic change since Gorbachev's reform of the communist system and the subsequent break-up of the Soviet Union. Inevitably, while these changes have brought about greater individual political and economic rights, the picture for most families has been one of increasing poverty and social exclusion. High levels of discrimination against children living in poverty, those with special needs and those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS are also increasingly evident.
There are an estimated 800,000 children living in institutional care in Russia today - we believe the true figure may be higher. Faced with greater levels of poverty and hardship, families often feel they have no alternative but to place their child in an institution. In many cases, because of the stigma and extreme financial pressure of bringing up a child alone, children are placed in institutions by single parents (overwhelmingly mothers).
There are almost no other alternative forms of childcare available. Traditional family support networks are slowly disintegrating and the state offers little support for families at risk of breakdown. As a result, the decision to place a child in an institution is often the first and only choice for desperate parents. Children with disabilities are at a particularly high risk of being placed in institutional care. Those parents and carers who do keep their children at home, do so with very limited support from the state.
What are the key issues?
- Poverty
- Unemployment
- Family breakdown leading to high levels of institutionalisation
- Lack of adequate child and family social services
What is EveryChild's main focus?
- Family support
- Community development
- Prevention of discrimination (especially children with disabilities or HIV/AIDS)
How is EveryChild helping?
We work closely with local government to offer support, guidance and family-based solutions to vulnerable parents to help prevent them placing their children in institutional care. Approximately 95% of all children in institutional care in Russia have at least one living parent. Often families just need a minimal level of emotional and practical support from a trained social worker - either to prevent them from placing their child in an 'orphanage' or, for those with a child already in care, to take them back home.
We also develop foster care, for instances where it is not always possible or appropriate for a child to live with their parents or where the decision to provide care outside of the biological family cannot be avoided. Specially selected and trained foster carers are able to give children, who may be quite traumatised, the opportunity to grow up in a loving family environment.
To prevent discrimination and the social exclusion of vulnerable children, we work with communities and schools to help integrate children with physical and learning disabilities into mainstream education. We have also worked in partnership with other non-governmental organisations to make a documentary film about the damaging effects of institutional care on young children. We hope that dissemination of this film will help to raise awareness and encourage reform of the current childcare system.