This report, was distributed 26 June 2015, at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST), for a high-level seminar focusing on the challenge of the institutionalisation of children in Haiti, co-hosted by the l’Institut du Bien-Être Social et de Recherches (IBESR) and USAID.

It provides background information on the effects of institutionalisation as well as the particular situation in Haiti, and draws on existing international legal and policy frameworks in favour of the transition from institutions to community-based services. It includes recommendations on how all stakeholders could work together to implement lasting change for many thousands of children.