Memorandum to the Albanian Government Orphans and other children deprived of parental care

In November 2009 Amnesty International wrote to the government of Albania outlining in a Memorandum the organization’s concerns related to orphans and other children deprived of parental care. The Memorandum, which follows, made specific and practical recommendations to the Albanian authorities in order to ensure the implementation of Albania’s obligations under both domestic and international law.

The Memorandum drew attention to draft Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (Guidelines) which were subsequently adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 18 December 2010. These Guidelines are “intended to enhance the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and of relevant provisions of other international instruments regarding the protection and well-being of children who are deprived of parental care or who are at risk of being so.” (Guideline 1) Their purpose is also to “Assist and encourage governments to better implement their responsibilities and obligations in these respects, bearing in mind the economic, social and cultural conditions prevailing in each State” (Guideline 2c).

The Memorandum included a number of recommendations, based on international treaties ratified by Albania, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as on the Guidelines. They reflect Amnesty International’s research and experience in Albania over the past three years, acquired in the course of discussions with central and local authorities, staff working in state and non-state residential institutions for children in alternative care and children and young people who have been placed in care. The recommendations also owe much to the work of Albanian governmental and non-governmental experts in the field of alternative care for children, and of recent studies, carried out by Albanian and foreign experts.