Humanitarian Aid in Korea
South Korea's story about orphaned and abandoned children is one of comparative success for the international aid community. In 1986, South Korea had 18,700 orphaned and abandoned children. Many of these children never found permanent families, and those who were adopted almost always went overseas because of the stigma attached to adopted children in Korea. Today, the number of abandoned children numbers about 10,000 and more than 60% of adoptions are domestic. South Korea's medical care for orphaned children is some of the best in the world, and children's services are expanding.
Despite these successes, many challenges remain. Only 1,600 orphaned and abandoned children find permanent families. Orphans with special needs are the least likely to find a family and orphanages are in desperate need of aid to care for these children throughout their life span. Additionally, unwed mothers still face discrimination and are in need of supportive programs, such as counseling and medical care, as they make the difficult decision on whether or not to place their child for adoption.
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Holt Children's Services provides support to special needs orphans and safe delivery options to birthmothers. |
For more information on any of our humanitarian aid work in Korea, contact Ali Crandall at 781.419.0340 or acrandall@whfc.org.