Advocacy at Lumos

For more than 20 years, Lumos has used its global advocacy platform to drive meaningful change for children and families. Over that time, significant progress has been made in advancing international policies and legislation that support care reform.

Preventing children from being separated from their families requires action across multiple sectors. The factors that place children at risk of institutionalisation are interconnected, which means lasting change can only be achieved through collaborative, cross-sector action.

 
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Evidence-based advocacy
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A defining feature of our approach is that our advocacy is rooted in evidence and informed directly by our programme work. By drawing on insights, data and lived experience from the children, families and communities we support, we are able to champion solutions that are practical, effective and grounded in real-world outcomes. This close connection between programmes and advocacy strengthens our credibility, ensures that our policy recommendations reflect what works in practice, and helps drive lasting systemic change for children worldwide.

 

Above: Lumos took to the floor at the United Nations in Geneva to deliver a statement before an Intergovernmental Working Group developing an international treaty on the right to education.

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Our advocacy focus

Today, our advocacy work therefore primarily focuses on three critical issues that contribute to family separation and institutionalisation: access to education, violence against children, and the rights of children with disabilities. Systems change, globally and within countries, relies upon effective cross-sectoral working and alignment of actors across sector siloes. By addressing these interconnected challenges and demonstrating the ways in which care reform is central to these agendas, we can help create the conditions in which every child can grow up in a safe and loving family.

 

Working across governments to foster momentum

We also actively engage with multilateral bodies and processes, including the European Union, the African Union, and the UK FCDO campaign on Children’s Care Reform. By working with these influential bodies, we ensure the momentum of care reform spreads beyond just the countries where Lumos works.

 
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Our advocacy thematic areas
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Education

Access to safe, inclusive, and quality education within communities plays a critical role in preventing family separation. Children should never have to leave their families in order to access education. By supporting access to education within local communities, we help ensure that all children can enjoy both their right to learn and their right to grow up in a family.
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Ending violence against children

Violence against children is both a cause and a consequence of institutionalisation. Lumos recognises that institutional care in itself constitutes a form of violence against children. We advocate for coordinated, global action to address these interconnected issues and ensure every child can grow up safe, protected, and free from harm.
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Rights of children with disabilities

Children with disabilities are disproportionately represented in institutional care systems. Lumos works to ensure that all children with disabilities can grow up and thrive in family-based care, with no child left behind. We collaborate closely with disability rights organisations to advance inclusive policies and practices that uphold the rights of every child.
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Building partnerships for change

Lumos works alongside a wide range of partners, including Family for Every Child, Inclusion International, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and Disability Rights International. Together, we are expanding support for care reform, strengthening our understanding of effective solutions, and driving sustainable change across different regions and sectors. Fostering meaningful dialogue and exchange across sectors and siloes is critical to making change for children.

Read more about our attendance at the Global Disability Summit.

 

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Pictured: Lumos attends the 2025 Global Disability Summit with Dumitrița Cropivnițchi, a child rights and disability rights advocate. We engaged with governments to prioritise children with disabilities within the reform of child care and protection systems, and make tangible commitments in the area.
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Centring lived experience

The voices of people with lived experience of care and child protection systems are central to Lumos’ advocacy. Children and young people with care experience have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives, and their insights are essential to creating effective and responsive policies.

 

Find out more
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Above: Lumos was joined by two Lumos Youth Advocates at the United Nations during a Lumos-hosted Side Event on the subject of education during armed conflict.
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