Mission:  Developing and creating initiatives to end child abandonment globally

Focus: Millions of children around the world who are orphaned are currently living in conditions of acute neglect and deprivation.  In as much as all the people of the world have not adequately understood the magnitude of this problem or made alleviating these conditions a top priority, all of these children have been abandoned by the world at large.

Each country presents a different set of conditions which contribute to large numbers of orphaned or abandoned children.  These include diseases such as AIDS, abject poverty, social preferences, and government policies, to name a few.  Large numbers of abandoned children indicate a serious pathology within a culture, and indeed within our world.  If we cannot adequately care for the most vulnerable among us, our children, how can we be said to have made any progress as human beings?  It is the most basic instinct we possess, to care for our young…and yet the number of children living in unacceptable conditions, with no hope for the future, continues to increase.

The ending of child abandonment will require a shift in thinking.  Recent studies have clearly shown the effect of institutionalization on the development of children and the dire prospects they then face for any type of quality of life or integration into society.  A new paradigm for caring for orphaned children must be given top priority by governments, businesses and philanthropic organizations, and the Golden Phoenix Foundation seeks to foster this on many levels.

Direct intervention:

By working with organizations that have already established a presence in various countries and issue areas, we will help nurture and sustain active programs which seek to better the lives of children who are currently institutionalized.  These include:

**The Orphan Medical Care Project  - Honduras and South America

    Led by Dr. Pat Mason, Director of the INOVA Fairfax International Adoption Center

**The Grace Children’s Foundation – China

   Led by President Nancy Robertson