Joanne Rowling, known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of Harry Potter, a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has sold over 600 million copies, been translated into 84 languages, and spawned a global media franchise including films and video games. The Casual Vacancy (2012) was her first novel for adults. She writes Cormoran Strike, an ongoing crime fiction series, under the alias Robert Galbraith.
An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusive. There may be substance abuse or mental illness in the biological home, or the parent may simply be unwilling to care for the child. The legal responsibility for the support of abandoned children differs from country to country, and within countries. Government-run orphanages have been phased out in most developed countries during the latter half of the 20th century but continue to operate in many other regions internationally. It is now generally accepted that orphanages are detrimental to the emotional wellbeing of children, and government support goes instead towards supporting the family unit.
Emma Harriet Nicholson, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne is a British politician, who has been a life peer since 1997. She was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Torridge and West Devon in 1987, before switching to the Liberal Democrats in 1995. She was also the Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for South East England from 1999 to 2009. In 2016, she announced she was re-joining the Conservative Party "with tremendous pleasure". In 2017, Baroness Nicholson was appointed as Prime Minister's Trade Envoy for Kazakhstan.
Bonnie Francesca Wright is an English actress, filmmaker, and environmental activist. She is best known for her role as Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter film series.
In sociology, institutionalisation is the process of embedding some conception within an organization, social system, or society as a whole. The term may also be used to refer to committing a particular individual or group to an institution, such as a mental or welfare institution. The term may also be used in a political sense to apply to the creation or organization of governmental institutions or particular bodies responsible for overseeing or implementing policy, for example in welfare or development. During the period of the Industrial Revolution in Europe many countries went through a period of "institutionalization", which saw a large expansion and development of the role of government within society, particularly into areas seen previously as the private sphere. Institutionalization is also seen as an important part of the process of modernization in developing countries, involving again the expansion and improved organization of government structures.
The European Social Democratic Party is a centre-left, populist social-democratic political party in Moldova. Established in 1997, the party holds pro-European views, and is an associate member of the Party of European Socialists (PES) and a full member of the Socialist International. According to its statute, the PSDE pleads that Moldova is an independent, sovereign, and democratic state, based on law, and integrated in the united family of European democracies. Reflecting former leader Marian Lupu's views, but also the strong influence of the Moldovan Orthodox Church, the party is more conservative on social issues, such as LGBT rights.
Evanna Patricia Lynch is an Irish actress and activist. She is best known for portraying Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter film series.
Hope and Homes for Children (HHC) is a British registered charity operating and working with children, their families and communities in several countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Africa, to help children grow up in safe and productive environments. The charity moves children out of institutions into family-based care, helps keep together families who are at risk of breakdown due to the pressures of poverty, disease or conflict, and works to prevent child abandonment.
Deinstitutionalisation is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. In the 1950s and 1960s, it led to the closure of many psychiatric hospitals, as patients were increasingly cared for at home, in halfway houses, group homes, and clinics, in regular hospitals, or not at all.
A cage bed is a bed with either metal bars or netting designed to restrain a person of any given age, including children, within the boundaries of the bed. They were once commonplace in Central and Eastern Europe and used to restrain disabled people, including autistic people and those with learning difficulties, epilepsy, hyperactivity and mental health problems in psychiatric institutions. As of 2014, the Mental Disability Advocacy Center says cage beds are used in Greece, the Czech Republic and Romania.
Lumos, formerly known as Children's High Level Group and briefly as The Children's Voice, is an international non-governmental charity (NGO) founded by the author of the Harry Potter book series, J. K. Rowling. Lumos promotes an end to the institutionalisation of children worldwide.
Mihai Ghimpu is a Moldovan politician who served as President of the Moldovan Parliament and Acting President of Moldova from 2009 to 2010. He was member of Parliament of Moldova from 1990 to 1998 and from 2009 to 2019. Ghimpu held the position of leader of Liberal Party (PL) from 1998 to 2018.
Orphanhood in Romania became prevalent as a consequence of the Socialist Republic of Romania's natalist policy under Nicolae Ceaușescu. Its effectiveness led to an increase in birth rates at the expense of adequate family planning and reproductive rights. Its consequences were most felt with the collapse of the regime's social safety net during the 1980's Romanian austerity period, which led to widespread institutional neglect of the needs of orphans, with severe consequences in their health, including high rates of HIV infection in children, and well-being. A series of international and governmental interventions have taken place since the 1990s to improve the conditions in orphanages and reform the country's child protection system.
Deinstitutionalisation is the process of reforming child care systems and closing down orphanages and children's institutions, finding new placements for children currently resident and setting up replacement services to support vulnerable families in non-institutional ways. It became common place in many developed countries in the post war period. It has been taking place in Eastern Europe since the fall of communism and is now encouraged by the EU for new entrants. It is also starting to take hold in Africa and Asia although often at individual institutions rather than statewide. New systems generally cost less than those they replace as many more children are kept within their own family. Although these goals have been made internationally, they are actively being working towards as reform and new reforms are put into practice slowly as is fit for each country.
Street children or orphans in some Eastern European countries face problems such as malnutrition, HIV, lack of resources, victimization though child sex tourism, social stigmatization and discrimination.
The Party of Action and Solidarity is a liberal political party in Moldova. The PAS was founded by Maia Sandu, the former Minister of Education and the incumbent president of Moldova. A pro-European party, it is an observer of the European People's Party (EPP) and the International Democracy Union (IDU).
Transinstitutionalisation is the phenomenon where inmates released from one therapeutic community move into other institutions, either as planned move or as an unforeseen consequence. For instance, when the residential mental hospitals in the United States were closed as the result of a political policy change, the prison population increased by an equivalent number.
Edmund James Stephen Sonuga-Barke,, is a developmental psychologist and academic. He has held professorships at King's College London and the University of Southampton (1997–2017).
Robert Glover is founder and executive director of the UK children's charity Care for Children. Glover also works as an advisor to the Chinese government on social welfare for disadvantaged children.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Romania refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Romania. A small branch was formed in Bucharest in 1991. As of 2023, there were 3,103 members in fifteen congregations.
