8 million children worldwide are living in institutions because they are poor, disabled or from an ethnic minority. This is a serious problem, on a massive scale, but there is a solution. Lumos works in partnership with governments, professionals and carers, communities, families and children, to transform outdated systems that drive families apart. Together with our partners we replace institutions with community based services that provide children with access to health, education and social care tailored to their individual needs. This supports families to provide the loving care their children need to develop to their full potential and build a positive future for themselves.
Institutionalisation denies children individual love and care, can damage their brain development and destroy their understanding of right and wrong. Of the 8 million children in institutions worldwide, more than 90% are not orphans. Most have families who love them and want them but they are driven into institutions because of poverty and discrimination on the grounds of disability or ethnicity.
This is a violation of their human rights and the effects last a lifetime. One study found that young adults raised in institutions are 10 times more likely to be involved in prostitution than their peers, 40 times more likely to have a criminal record and 500 times more likely to take their own lives.
