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Twenty years on
9 November 2009
On 9 November 2009, celebrations across Europe marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the trigger for a series of revolutions that signaled the end of communism in Europe. While some were relatively peaceful, the revolution in Romania culminated in the execution of President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife on Christmas Day 1989.
As journalists arrived in Romania to report on the revolution, the world’s media discovered a new story: the horrendous conditions in which children were kept in state-run institutions. Harrowing images of Romania’s unwanted children appeared on TVs and in newspapers throughout the world. In the face of international criticism, Romania was forced to change its approach to institutional care.
Yet the 200,000 children who lived in these institutions were not exclusive to Romania. Large, residential institutions were common across Central and Eastern Europe. Up to a million children still live in these conditions. Most are not orphans. They are locked up for a range of, often complex reasons: for some it’s because of the lack of affordable and accessible health, education and social services. For others, it’s because of the institutionalisation of specific groups of children – the disabled, Roma children, refugees, children with special educational needs and children in conflict with the law.
Lumos is working to transform childcare and family services, working with governments to implement long-term, strategic change.
We believe that all children should be raised in a safe and caring family setting.
We believe that every child has the right to a happy and confident childhood.
We believe that disability, ethnicity and poverty are not reasons to lock children away.
