e-3756 Foreign affairs
Petition to the House of Commons
Whereas:
Research shows institutionalizing children has devastating long-term physical, emotional and social impacts;
Of the 5.4 million children currently living in orphanages worldwide, 80 percent have a living relative who could care for them;
In low-income countries, foreign donations, volunteering and orphanage tourism create profit that drives a demand separating children from families and into institutions;
Countries allowing flow of volunteers and donations to foreign orphanages undermine other nations’ child protection systems and may inadvertently enable child rights violations;
Canada ratified the UN General Assembly’s Convention on the Rights of the Child including an additional 2019 resolution calling for the end of orphanages and institutionalized care for children;
Article 35(t) urges all States to begin “enacting and enforcing legislation to prevent and combat the trafficking and exploitation of children in care facilities and address the harms related to volunteering programs in orphanages, including in the context of tourism, which can lead to trafficking and exploitation”; and
As a signatory to this resolution, Canada must act to address our role in supporting orphanage systems and the exploitation of children around the world.
We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to instruct the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development to study:
1. Canada’s commitments under the Convention of the Rights of the Child to address child exploitation in orphanages and recommend actions to meet them to the government; and
2. The advisability of a Canadian travel advisory and information campaign to raise awareness on the damaging impacts of supporting and volunteering in orphanages and promote alternatives.
Whereas:
Research shows institutionalizing children has devastating long-term physical, emotional and social impacts;
Of the 5.4 million children currently living in orphanages worldwide, 80 percent have a living relative who could care for them;
In low-income countries, foreign donations, volunteering and orphanage tourism create profit that drives a demand separating children from families and into institutions;
Countries allowing flow of volunteers and donations to foreign orphanages undermine other nations’ child protection systems and may inadvertently enable child rights violations;
Canada ratified the UN General Assembly’s Convention on the Rights of the Child including an additional 2019 resolution calling for the end of orphanages and institutionalized care for children;
Article 35(t) urges all States to begin “enacting and enforcing legislation to prevent and combat the trafficking and exploitation of children in care facilities and address the harms related to volunteering programs in orphanages, including in the context of tourism, which can lead to trafficking and exploitation”; and
As a signatory to this resolution, Canada must act to address our role in supporting orphanage systems and the exploitation of children around the world.
We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to instruct the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development to study:
1. Canada’s commitments under the Convention of the Rights of the Child to address child exploitation in orphanages and recommend actions to meet them to the government; and
2. The advisability of a Canadian travel advisory and information campaign to raise awareness on the damaging impacts of supporting and volunteering in orphanages and promote alternatives.