Country Profile: Romania
Total Population: 19.3 million
Total Children under the age of 18: 4.3 million
Country situation and Challenges:
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Romania is the twelfth-largest country in Europe, and the sixth-most populous member state of the European Union. The majority of Romania's population are ethnic Romanian and religiously identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians.
35.8% of Romania's 3.7 million children are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. 400,000 school-aged children are not in school. Over 50,000 children are in the social care system and separated from their families, primarily due to poverty, violence, or abandonment.
Romania Without Orphans (ARFO):
Romania Without Orphans (ARFO) works in the areas of prevention, training and support, lobby, advocacy and collaboration.
Prevention - The best place for a child is their biological family. However, many families abandon these children because of material motivations, finances, or significant difficulties. The local community can intervene and help prevent the abandonment of children. In the instances where children lose their biological families, the answer is to find each of them a healthy family.
Training and Support - A child that has experienced trauma, even just the separation from their family, needs special attention. ARFO is helping to educate those who care for these children, in families or in the transition towards a family, to do their best.
Lobby and Advocacy - The government should be a support for families that want to adopt. Because of this, ARFO supports reducing the bureaucracy of the adoption process and ensures a smooth transition from abandonment to reintegration or adoption.
Collaboration - ARFO addresses the problem collaboratively and systemically.
Contact ARFO: https://www.romaniafaraorfani.ro/en/home/
