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Here are two – very different – estimates for
the number of orphans worldwide. UNICEF estimates the number
of orphans at approximately 210 million. On the other hand,
TheWeekly.com estimates approx. 13 million. As a
compromise, let’s proceed with an estimate of 100 million
orphans worldwide.
We have seen that the percentage of such children who are in
orphanages varies greatly – from 25% in Russia, to about 17%
in the US to as little as a fraction of a percent in Uganda.
Since a weighted average approach would yield something that
is much closer to third world standards (because the vast
majority of orphans are found in the third world), we can
safely assume the percentage we are seeking is in the low
single digits.
This means that there are anywhere from two to five million
orphans in orphanages worldwide, an estimate that is inline
with the
HRW world report. source:
UNICEF
and HRW.
The vast majority of orphans are found in the third world... |
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USAID.GOV: The total number of orphans worldwide is
projected to reach 44 million by 2010
UNICEF issued the following report – Appendix I includes
tables that detail the number of orphans in Africa, Asia and
Latin America in 1990, 1995 and 2001, as well as year 2010
estimates
An article from October 10 2002 in the Weekly provides the
following statistics:
“...The number of orphans worldwide is estimated at more
than 13 million...”
source: TheWeekly.com
In Russia, however, about 25% of children left without
parental care are estimated to be living in institutions
–“Official,stock-type information from Russia shows that the
number of children left without parental care rose from
421,000 to 533,000 between 1989 and 1995 and to 637,000 by
1999. These figures suggest a huge 1.5-fold increase over
the last 10 years. In each year, about a quarter of these
children were living in institutions.” source:
broken source link
According to McLaughlin writing in USA Today - “...the
percentage of kids in institutions dropped from 57.8% in
1933 to 31% in 1962 and 17.1% in 1989...” (this is, of
course, the percentage of kids not living with their organic
family).
A report from the
WorldBank provides some statistics for the percent of
children in orphanages in 3rd world countries – Rwanda –
5,000 of 400,000 orphans living in orphanages.
Uganda – 1,300 of 1,700,000 orphans living in orphanages
This is because the cost to run an orphanage in the third
world is an order of magnitude or two higher than the foster
care option -
“Cost comparisons conducted in Uganda show the ratio of
operating costs for an orphanage to be 14 times higher than
those for community care. A 1992 study by the World Bank
found that institutional care at one facility in Tanzania
cost $1,000 per year per child, a figure six times more
expensive than the average cost of foster care in that
country. Other studies have found a ratio of 1:20, or even
up to 1:100.” -source:
UNICEF |
We invite you to speak out for the children in Romania who don’t have permanent families by signing this petition 
