The Start

We initiated the Dutch NGO pledge #EveryChildAFamily to be a stronger voice, together with other private initiatives, to spread the message of Every Child A Family.

The pledge was formalized at the ‘Wilde Ganzen – Partin’ day in Nijkerk, the Netherlands, on 28 of September 2019.

At the time 12 Private Initiatives participated.

The Pledge Text

We, the signatories, pledge to support children in families, not institutions*.

We endorse the importance of preventing unnecessary separation of children from their families and call for a development of family-based care options for children who need an alternative placement.

We recognise – in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children – that the family is the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of children and that formal alternative care should always be a temporary measure whilst permanent family and community-based solutions are sought.

We acknowledge the decades of research which demonstrate that institutionalisation is harmful for the health, development, and well-being of children.

We also recognise the specific needs of children at risk of separation and the importance of strengthening alternative care options which allow children to live in family settings.

We further recognise the harms caused by orphanage volunteering and we pledge not to send volunteers to orphanages.

We, the signatories, call on individuals, organisations, corporations, faith-based groups, and others who support or work with vulnerable children around the world, to join us in promoting the right of a child to grow up in a family and directing resources to strengthen families.

* We refer to the word 'institution' as mentioned in the ‘UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children’, page 5 - Art. 23