The International Conference

This is the 2016 edition of the annual conferences hosted jointly by the International Institute for the Rights of the Child (IDE) and the Centre for Children's Rights Studies at the University of Geneva (CIDE). For this “international alternative care conference”, the two hosts are partnering with several concerned international agencies that make up the Steering Group*.

The conference provides a bridge between research, policy and practice in the overall sphere of alternative care, and a much-needed space for discussion and exchange among experts, practitioners, academics, researchers, government representatives and young people with experience of alternative care.  The conference will enable those involved with alternative care issues to participate in an exceptional exercise in mutual learning and networking – helping us to move forward with necessary reforms in line with the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children. 

Participants will review the current status and thinking on alternative care and will examine promising practices for the prevention of family breakdown, family strengthening, and the provision of quality forms of alternative care, as well as pinpointing remaining challenges and obstacles for putting the Guidelines into practice. 

The conference will be held 3-5 October 2016 at the International Conference Centre in Geneva (CICG).  The confirmed conference languages are English and French.

*Steering group members include:  Better Care Network; Centre for Children's Rights Studies at the University of Geneva (CIDE); Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland (CELCIS); International Institute for the Rights of the Child (IDE); Hope and Homes for Children; International Federation of Social Workers; International Social Service (ISS); International Federation of Educative Communities (FICE); RELAF; Save the Children;  SOS Children’s Villages International &  UNICEF. «link»