More on responsible orphan care

"Better Care Network" is another good site that works on behalf of promoting and protecting children's rights.  Look them up!

1. Founding and Purpose of the Better Care Network

Children need and have a right to be cared for by their parents and to grow up in a family environment. This has been recognized through years of experience and research as well as formally recognized under national and international laws, including the United Nations

Convention of the Rights of the Child. Yet millions of children live in residential institutions; no one knows just how many. Around the world, over one million children have been orphaned or separated due to armed conflict, and 15 million children under the age of 15 years
of age have lost one or both parents to AIDS. In many countries, institutions remain a major care response to poverty or family breakdown. In many more, few or no mechanism exist to ensure the most appropriate placements, encourage and support guardianship and adoption arrangements, and to provide support and monitoring for foster families.

Recognizing the urgent need for concerted action, a group of organizations concerned about children without adequate care came together to form the Better Care Network (BCN) in 2003. The purpose of the BCN is to facilitate active information exchange and collaboration
on these issues and advocate for technically sound policy and programmatic action on global, regional, and national levels in order to:Reduce instances of separation and abandonment of children;
Reunite children outside family care with their families, wherever possible and appropriate;
Increase, strengthen and support family and community-based care options for children who cannot be cared for by their parents;

Establish international and national standards for all forms of care for children without adequate family care and mechanisms for ensuring compliance; and that residential institutions are used in a very limited manner and only when appropriate.

The BCN is guided by the UNCRC and the 2003 Stockholm Conference on Residential Care.

Mikey went home with his family at age 14 months! Mom and twin brother died when Mikey was born. Dad and aunty will care for Mikey. This family came together to work at reuniting with Mikey!