UNICEF and ATFBank launch social project to prevent 0-3 child abandonment in Kazakhstan
ASTANA. October 18. KAZINFORM The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the AFTBank joint-stock company (JSC), launched a social project called «In the warm hands" to prevent the abandonment of children aged 0-3 in Kazakhstan. A press conference of UNICEF Representative Jun Kukita and Romeo Collina, Chair of ATFBank, to announce the project was held in 9 October 2012 in Almaty.
Hundreds of children in Kazakhstan are deprived of parental care and placed in the state-run residential care institutions every year. Currently 1,500 children of age 0-3 are placed in infant homes in the country. 65% of these children have no parents and need family care and home environment. The remainig 35% of children have parents or single mothers who cannot care for them due to the lack of parental skills, poor living or housing conditions, and/or proper social and medical services to address children's needs, the press release of the UNICEF Kazakhstan reads.
UNICEF and AFTBank, which is a member of UniCredit Foundation, united their efforts to assist the Government of Kazakhstan establish a comprehensive and multi-sectoral mechanism to prevent the abandonment of children aged 0-3 in the country.
"We believe that business should understand its social responsibility and actively participate in the social projects. That is why we decided to launch a project «In warm hands" directed to decrease rate of newborn children abandonment together with UNICEF which has a colossal experience and uses the best international practices. Within this project we have created an affinity card [eng. affinity - involvement], which would help everyone participate in the projects and make its own contribution, '' Romeo Collina, Chair of the ATFBank JSC, told the press conference.
The international studies and practice proves that the situation of children living in state care institutions is disturbing; institutionalization - no matter how well intentioned - hinders intellectual, physical, emotional and social development. Many institutionalized children in Kazakhstan spend their entire infancy, childhood and adolescence in institutions, losing all contact with their families.
"Our goal is to prevent 0-3 child abandonment in the country, so that newborn babies stay with their mothers or, in case of unpreventable abandonment, are adopted or fostered and grow in a family environment. We are very pleased that ATFBank showed keen interest in corporate social responsibility initiative and selected UNICEF as their partner. We are joining our hands together to help babies and mothers stay together in a warm family environment", said at the press conference Jun Kukita, UNICEF Representative in Kazakhstan.