Most of children raised in Kazakhstan orphanages turn to prostitution or crime

Most of the children raised in orphanages in Kazakhstan turn to prostitution or crime, Tengrinews.kz reports citing Majilis deputy Dariga Nazarbayeva as saying at the joint meeting of the Parliament chambers. “8 billion tenge ($53 million) were allocated for maintenance of orphanages in 2012. Around 100 thousand tenge ($667) are allocated monthly per one kid. And yet the orphanages are ineffective. We know that providing food, clothes and accommodation for a child means solving only a half the problem. The children that are raised in orphanages are not ready for the adult and independent life when they grow up and leave. The orphanages cripple their souls and make them even unhappier. 70 percent of the boys raised in this system end up in jail and 60 percent of girls turn to prostitution,” Nazarbayeva said. In her view, Kazakhstan lacks a common social policy towards orphans and “the responsibility for protection of rights of such people is divided between different state authorities and has a formal and passive nature”. 1,600 children aged under 4 live in orphanages that report to the Healthcare Ministry, 800 physically challenged children are in the care of the Ministry of Labor and Social protection and around 9 thousand children are taken care of by the Ministry of Education and Science the MP said. “We believe that the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection should be the one responsible for all such children,” Nazarbayeva said. She noted that Kazakhstan residents adopt around 3 thousand children annually, “which certifies that our society is humane and good-hearted”. “The system of adoption, guardianship and patronage should be granted support through development of the new forms of patronage. So-called professional foster families should be one of the forms. The international SOS Kinderdorf fund has been successfully operating in Kazakhstan for many years. They build the family-type orphanages and children villages. The fund does miracles with fairly modest funding. We should used their model and allocated the budget money for construction of such villages,” the deputy said. By Altynai Zhumzhumina