KINNECTED MYANMAR WAS FOUNDED IN 2015 IN RESPONSE TO THE ORPHANAGE CRISIS IN MYANMAR.
Kinnected Myanmar is registered as a local non-governmental organisation and in partnership with the governmental Department of Social Welfare. We work with multiple childcare institutions and their donors to reconnect children with their families, reintegrating them through comprehensive social work processes that focus on ensuring they are safe and sustainably supported.
THE PRIMARY AREAS of our work ARE:
A working group for orphanage directors aiming to help them understand the harmful effects of long-term residential care and subsequent institutionalisation on child development, protection and rights;
A working group for donors designed to create a peer environment for supporters as they navigate the complex transition process away from this type of residential care;
A technical unit of qualified and experienced social workers that facilitate the safe reintegration of children into their families through robust procedures; and
A community of practice focussing on community development and advocacy initiatives to prevent more children from entering the system and to strengthen existing placements.
We believe that it is in the best interest of each child to be brought up in a family environment, as institutional care can harm a child’s holistic development. For this reason, it is our vision to see children safely placed back into families or into family-based care, and for the safe closure of Residential Care Institutions across Myanmar.
What We've Achieved so far:
Kinnected Myanmar has launched a community awareness and development initiative targeting remote communities in areas that send large numbers of children into orphanages in Yangon and elsewhere. The seminars help families to understand the reality of the situation in the orphanages and the harm it is causing their children. As a result of these seminars, many families have removed their children and brought them back to their communities, or have called their children back. Kinnected Myanmar case workers have successfully and safely integrated a number of children back into their communities of origin, and are currently monitoring those placements.
