WORK OF HOPE AND HOMES FOR CHILDREN

That this House recognises the work of Hope and Homes for Children and Mark Waddington CBE in tirelessly campaigning for the rights and welfare of children confined to institutions; acknowledges the effort of the Government to tackle this issue through their cross-government statement announced at the Global Disability Summit 2018, which has now been included in their Global Disability Strategy; considers the urgency to take concrete action to ensure all children worldwide are raised by a loving family and not in harmful institutions; notes that the UK is in a position to lead this issue globally, having stopped this practice domestically decades ago owing to the harm caused; further notes that children who survive childhood in an institution are five hundred times more likely to commit suicide than their peers raised in families; notes disabled children can be one hundred times more likely to die in institutions than non-disabled children; considers that disabled children and adults cannot be fully included in society until these divisive institutions are eliminated everywhere; undertakes to support the work of Hope and Homes for Children and its partners in achieving their goal of having every child grow up in a loving and productive family by 2050; and implores the Government to make this a priority in its aid agenda.