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Workshop to discuss findings of report on alternative child care in Syria
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Al Thara- 23-3-2011
Alternative child care should be a last resort. This was one of the main points discussed during the workshop about alternative child care in Syria hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in cooperation with UNICEF on March 16 and 17. This unprecedented conference featured Mr. Nigel Cantwell, an expert from the International Social Services Organization (ISS) who took part in the drafting of the Children’s Rights Charter; he addressed several important points.
For the first time in Syria, a report regarding the status of alternative child care has been drafted. It recommends coordination on alternative child care among NGOs, charities, governmental ministries, and international organizations.
The report reveals a large number of deficiencies in the application of social services in Syria. It also outlines measures needed to improve child social services in Syria:
• The need to establish a comprehensive database of children who receive care in Syria under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor that includes current information, collected annually from all relevant facilities operating in the country.
• Alternative child care should only be a last resort. It is important for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor to assume more responsibility and regulate the existing mechanisms of prevention and protection for children who are unable to obtain sufficient support from their families.
• The experience of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor along with its social partners in the field of caring for and integration of children with special needs should be used as a model for improving child social services.
A dual approach is necessary:
1. Increased awareness
2. Provision of more local options for individual referral and care
• There seems to be consensus among experts in Syria that child beggars, homeless children, and abused and sexually exploited girls should not be excluded but considered as children who are threatened and in need of protection. Furthermore these should not be deemed criminals but should be brought into the system of child care. They should be treated with lenience and not stigmatized. Therefore the law should be revised to exculpate them and to permit child care centers to supervise them and offer them temporary shelter.
• The alternative child care system in the vast majority of cases in Syria is currently limited to two models: long-term care for orphans and children from disadvantaged families and short-term care for homeless, begging, and abused children. The choice is made according to whether the child is an orphan or from a broken home. The placement law needs to be revised and family services organizations need to be improved.
• It’s important to improve initial screening and standards of quality care as well as upgrading professional qualifications to include motivation and training in accordance with international standards. In addition, the management of facilities and the rules for accepting and accommodating children at the national level should follow the currently accepted practices and standards of the United Nations in the field of alternative child care. An independent oversight commission should be established and meet periodically to supervise the service providers.
• The cooperation between the government and the private sector is a strong basis for meeting the needs of disadvantaged children who are at risk of being deprived of parental care in Syria. In addition to the cooperation between the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and the care providers, it is important to encourage NGO’s and governmental bodies concerned with social development and family affairs, women’s rights, and religious matters to participate in making broad practical standing policies to alleviate poverty, to prevent child abandonment, and to support at-risk families by providing more support for and inclusion of illegitimate children and orphans. The role of the legal system regarding alternative child care must be given greater importance.
These matters were discussed in detail during the workshop. On the first day, Mr. Cantwell elucidated the main conclusions of the report and the international standards for alternative child care and the importance of minimizing reliance on it. He also focused on balanced alternative child care in regards to the family and agencies with a view to develop a national strategy for alternative child care in Syria.
The three working groups played an important role during the two days in applying their experience and expertise in alternative child care. They also formulated suggestions regarding children who should fall within the scope of social welfare such as orphans and children of unknown origin along with vagrants and street urchins plus children who are victims of violence, abuse, and exploitation. There was a vigorous discussion on current follow-up methods and their shortcomings. There is a need for classification of orphans, placement standards, legal amendments for protection of children and overall improvement of alternative child care.
The Director of Social Services in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, Maher Rizq, ended the workshop with a brief summary of recommendations that came out of the conference:
• The priority is to keep children with their families if at all possible.
• Alternative child care should be a last resort.
• Appropriate standards for organizations and programs must be set along with the creation of new kinds of alternative child care.
• Community outreach is needed; in this regard the Ministries of Endowments and Information must play a special role.
• An information system is needed to assess the scope of the problem.
• A monitoring and follow-up system is required to allow the associations to play a greater role.
• Alternative child care should continue beyond the age of 18 until the person becomes self-supporting.
• The law needs to be amended without delay to create standards committees for the programs.
Nigel Cantwell said, “The report on alternative child care gives a picture of its current state in Syria. It constitutes a good springboard for developing alternative child care in Syria. I have faith in the role of the state in intervening and overseeing the activities of alternative child care both public and private to ensure a variety of care options not confined to institutions but to search for a broad range of new choices.
Regarding alternative child care and children’s rights in Syria, he said,
“I have touched on the shared interest of the public and private sectors in developing and reforming the field of alternative child care. This is a positive sign, as shown by the optimism of the conference participants. Their recommendations have enabled us to form a better understanding of the situation in Syria. This serves as a foundation for further, more specialized discussions.”
Bisan Albunni, the manager of UNICEF’s children’s protection program, said,
“This conference is a follow-up to last year’s initiative which was the first of its kind in Syria. The most important goal of this workshop is for all the concerned parties to agree on the next stage for the work plan to develop solutions for strengthening the family. This coincides with the guiding principles of the UN for alternative child care with a view to develop a database and the necessity of avoiding the need for alternative child care.
Finally, in a time when many people view alternative child care as simply a place that provides food and clothing, it should be more than that. Childcare institutions should be a last resort after all other options have been exhausted within the nuclear and extended families. This workshop is meant to raise new awareness of the continuing importance of the issue and to ensure more participation in this field from all sectors charitable, religious, and civil.
Thara E- Magazine No. 275 ,23/3/2011
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