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With respect, courage and commitment, Forget Me Not honours the rights of every child and, works to ensure children are thriving, vibrant and connected to family, community and opportunity.

We exist to prevent children and young people around the world from being displaced through investing in innovative initiatives that keep children within their families and communities.

We grow our impact through leveraging local partnerships on the ground in-country, raising community awareness and advocating for change as we learn.

Our current initiatives focus on 5 key areas:

We have unfaltering commitment to strengthen healthy families and communities that value education, and empower women and children to be their very best.

Our COVID-19 response.

Follow us on Facebook for regular updates.

Read our latest Annual Reports here.

We are serious about child protection.

The Problem

The number of orphanages across the developing world has grown dramatically in recent years.

More than 80% of children in these orphanages are NOT orphans.

Globally research shows that children are taken from their families, trafficked into orphanages and used to generate funds.

This is a form of modern day slavery.

Well-meaning people who are donating to orphanages are unintentionally fuelling the Global Orphanage Crisis.

The more donations flood into orphanages, the more orphanages open and the more children are separated from their families to fill their beds.

Orphanages do not exist in developed countries because over 60 years of international research has proven that orphanages and institutionalisation has a serious and lifelong impact on children’s physical and psychological development.

Forget Me Not is a founding member of ReThink Orphanages, a cross-sector network that aims to prevent the unnecessary institutionalisation of children by shifting the way Australia engages with overseas aid and development.

ReThink Orphanages Network is represented by members from international aid and development, philanthropy, education and faith-based communities and is working with externals stakeholders from a range of sectors including government, media, and the travel industry.

This diverse network is uniquely positioned to take action on issues related to the alarming numbers of children being unnecessarily institutionalised in developing countries.

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The Solution

We want to end child trafficking into orphanages and stop the demand for ‘orphans’, through grassroots education and empowerment programs.

Currently working in Nepal, India and Uganda, we give families every opportunity of staying together and help them become self-reliant. Our approach is holistic and child-focused. Our strategy is to work collaboratively building brighter futures for children through healthcare, education and family support.

We currently work in these 5 key areas:







Learn more about ETC. our exciting initiative with the Intrepid Foundation to trial 5 tourism products as alternatives to orphanage volun/tourism.

We are a valued partner of the Australian Government, receiving funding through an Australian Aid: Friendship Grant.

Get Involved

We are always looking for help to raise awareness about the ‘orphan trade’, and raise funds required to rescue children from orphanages so they can return to their homes and families.

By supporting or sponsoring a Forget Me Not event you help raise vital funds to deliver our programs in Nepal, India and Uganda. Great things can be achieved through collaboration and aligning your self, workplace, social club or business with a great cause.
 

Start a conversation with us today!

We are recruiting a worldwide army of everyday heroes to raise awareness about the ‘orphan trade’, and raise the funds required to rescue children from orphanages (and whatever other ‘institutions’ are holding children without consent) and return each and every one to their homelands, safe with their loving families.

Join our Rescue Crew and help us rescue and reunite children with their families as soon as possible. Forget Me Not has an excellent track record and exceptional team of social and youth workers, and counsellors, in place to fulfil the challenges of rescue, family tracing, reunification and well-being monitoring.

We need you on our side, as Crew, in this work. The Rescue Crew contributes monthly to ensure that children are safe, sheltered and reunified with their families.

We also believe education is key to brighter futures. You can donate to our Remarkable Teachers Fund which employs qualified teaching staff in our Brighter Futures Study Centres in India and funds school related expenses for children in all of our programs. All donations are fully tax deductible.

Choose your own unforgettable adventure and travel with us!





Blog

Register NOW for 5th BICON

The 5th Biennial International Conference on Alternative Care for Children in Asia (BICON) will take place over two days, on 6-7th September 2023, in Kathmandu, Nepal. This event will be hosted both in person and online, with practitioners, government representatives, academicians, and young people with lived experience of care coming together to discuss regional and …

Our joint child protection workshop in Nepal

In Chitwan last month, care-experienced children and young people and more than forty participants from a number of organisations came together to share their collective wisdom at a group workshop, supported by the Martin James Foundation. The organisations were: Madi Municipality Ichchhakamana Rural Municipality Bagmati Province National Child Rights Council  The Himalayan Innovative Society Forget …

Every child has the right to connect to family, community and opportunity

Article by Sarah Sampana / The Advocate     In Nepal, there are 489 registered orphanages, housing 11,350 children.   How many children could be living in family-based care? How many children are living in orphanages that are not registered or flying under the radar?  From over 60 years of international research, we know that children who …