1034 unaccompanied children in Vavuniyaa camps - NCPA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 September 2009, 16:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) said Saturday that there are 1034 unaccompanied children in the camps where internally displaced people are held in Vavuniyaa. “Of the 1034 children 250 were handed over to close relatives while the guardianship of 300 children is yet to be determined. Another 300 were handed over to three orphanages - two in Vavuniyaa and the other in Mannaar,” Mr. Jagath Wellawatte, NCPA Chairman, said.

He added that the rest of the unaccompanied children will be handed over to SOS villages.

Discussions are underway to introduce a foster parent scheme to support all vulnerable children, especially in the post-war zones.

NCPA is looking into the possibility of taking a census of children parallel to the census of citizens and property planned to be taken in the year 2011.

Even though a census of citizens and property is taken every 10 years, a separate census of children has not taken place in the past.

Last official survey on children took place in 1999 - some 10 years ago.

NCPA is currently holding discussions with the relevant authorities including the Department of Probation and Childcare to facilitate an official survey and a census of children, he said.