In Spring 2021 the Centre for European Studies started to implement Practice Exchange on Deinstitutionalization for Children with Disabilities (hereinafter Practice Exchange). This project has become possible thanks to cooperation of the Global Campus Human rights and the Right Livelihood Foundation.
The goal of the Practice Exchange project is to broaden the empirical knowledge and develop the strategic skills in effective management of the deinstitutionalization programs for children with disabilities in 6 countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA). According to the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty (2019) 5,4 million children live in institutions, where each third has a disability. The countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia fall under the highest numbers of children living in institutions.
In June 2021, the Center for European Studies hosted a regional conference on Deinstitutionalization of children with disabilities. The scholars, practitioners, and expert in the field from Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Bulgaria exchanged with their country policies, positive developments, practices, and issues in deinstitutionalization for children with disabilities in their countries. The following briefs summaries the context of country.