Speaking out - Children from institutions address ministerial meeting in Bishkek

Ministers from central Asian governments are meeting in Kyrgyzstan for the next three days to discuss how they can reform their child care systems. UNICEF research shows that during economic hard times even more central Asian children face abandonment in state-run institutions and maternity hospitals. It means about 160,000 children in these countries are currently growing-up in institutions; a high proportion of those abandoned are children with disabilities.

The UNICEF Central and eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States Regional Director, Steven Allen, told delegates Governments must invest in services that prevent separation of families and children. These are cost-effective and caring solutions. "In the coming years, maintaining the focus on child care reform, and investing heavily in measures to prevent children from being separated from their biological families needs to be a priority to all countries here today."

Ministers from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan were addressed by 15-year-old Maftuna – who lives in a hostel for homeless children. She talked about the importance of children being able to freely and creatively express themselves, especially if adults are to better promote children's rights. Six one minutejunior videos were shown to delegates; videos produced by children living in institutions, who described the lack of love and discrimination they face.

Afterwards, Maftuna said she hoped that if nothing else the ministers would remember one thing. "They may just be videos but they are our means of describing our problems. I hope they will not forget us and understand that that we are still here." The Child Care Reform Consultation is being held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, between May 12th and 14^th. It aims to secure government commitments to a number of child care systems reforms.

Video produced by Olga Gurova at the OneMinutesJr workshop in Bishkek

OneMinutesJr workshop in Kyrgyzstan - Day 5

A short night and another long day are behind the participants of the OneMinutesJr workshop in Bishkek, but now the films are all finished. In the afternoon, the trainers still worked on the last few films together with the young "directors" while the rest of the participants visited the circus in the Kyrgyz capital. Many of the children come from orphanages and boarding-schools in villages quite far from Bishkek, so for some of them it was a "first ever" and Anara (14) is still impressed with the animals and the acrobats when the presentation of the OneMinutesJr videos starts after dinner.

However, when the lights are off and the films the children produced over the course of the past five days come on, the circus is history and the lives and the stories of the children take center stage again. All the films are applauded by the children and their chaperones. It is once again amazing to see how many good ideas were turned into little video artworks in only five days.

In 10 days from tomorrow, experts and politicians from Central Asia, Azerbaijan and Turkey will meet for the international forum "Buillding and Reforming Child Care Systems". The films produced by the children and teenagers this week will get their next big screening at the forum - to show the decision-makers what it is really like to grow up in a child care institution in Central Asia. Everybody who participated in the workshop now hopes that the films will have an impact on the forum participants in mid-May - and maybe even a lasting impact on the children's lives.

Bishkek, Kyrgzystan - May 1, 2009 - Chris Schuepp