SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria on Tuesday urged state governments to strengthen child protection systems and ensure that children grow up in safe, loving and nurturing family environments.
The National Director of SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, Eghosa Erhumwunse, made the call while speaking at the National Alternative Care Consultative Forum convened by the organisation under the Strengthening Child Care and Protection Systems in Nigeria project.
The project is funded by the European Union and implemented in collaboration with consortium partners, including the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Jireh Doo Foundation (JDF).
Representatives of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, the 36 states of the federation, European Union, UNICEF, Save the Children International, Plan International, BEB and other stakeholders in child protection and welfare attended the forum.
The National Director said the forum was aimed at consolidating lessons from states that had taken steps towards implementing alternative care standards, identifying gaps and securing commitments towards the adoption, domestication and implementation of the National Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children in Nigeria and its Implementation Strategy.
He said, “We gather around one fundamental promise: every child deserves the opportunity to grow up in a safe, loving and nurturing family environment.”
He urged participants to place the welfare and rights of children at the centre of discussions, stressing that every statistic on alternative care represented a child with a name, story, potential and rights.
“Behind every statistic on alternative care is a child, with a name, a story, potential and rights. That child must remain the reason we are here,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria had made progress in establishing legal and policy frameworks for child protection through instruments such as the Child Rights Act and the National Guidelines for Alternative Care.
He noted that the policy framework recognised family-based care as the preferred option for children, while residential care should only be used as a last resort and for the shortest possible period.
He disclosed that by the end of 2025, five states had formally adopted the National Guidelines into state-level practice, describing the development as an indication of what could be achieved with political commitment.
However, he warned that the existence of policies alone was insufficient to guarantee effective child protection.
“Having good policies is not the same as having a functioning system,” he said, noting that poverty, displacement, disability, conflict, abuse, neglect and inadequate family support continued to push children into residential care.
He identified inconsistent gatekeeping mechanisms, an overstretched social service workforce, fragmented data systems and inadequate financing as some of the challenges affecting alternative care implementation.
The National Director also called for greater participation of children and young people in decisions affecting them, saying those with lived experience of care should be regarded as “experts by experience”.
He stressed that alternative care reform should go beyond removing children from institutions to strengthening families and preventing unnecessary separation.
“Alternative care reform is therefore not simply about moving children out of institutions. It is about building a system strong enough to prevent unnecessary separation in the first place, where families receive support before crisis becomes separation, and where budgets reflect our policy commitments,” he said.
He called on government to take the lead in resourcing implementation, while urging development partners, the private sector, civil society organisations and care providers to support the transition towards family-based care.
The National Director further urged state delegations attending the two-day forum to make realistic and measurable commitments towards improving alternative care systems in their respective states.
He said the commitments should be “specific, time-bound”, adequately resourced and clearly owned by relevant authorities.
“Our success will not be measured by the speeches delivered, but by what changes after we leave this room: from policy to implementation, from institutional responses to family-based solutions, and from making decisions for children to making decisions with children,” he said.
He added, “Every child deserves a family. Every child deserves protection. Every child deserves to be heard. And every child deserves the opportunity to thrive.”
He expressed hope that the forum would produce concrete commitments capable of translating into lasting improvements in child protection and alternative care across Nigeria.