BICON

BICON 2023 Final Report

The BICON Conference Organising Committee is excited to publish the Final Report of the 5th BICON Conference on Alternative Care for Children in Asia. This report presents the highlights and main findings of the two-day conference, held on September 6-7, 2023, in Kathmandu, Nepal, and online.

Read the report here

Download the 5th BICON report

BICON is an inter-agency cooperation of 8 leading international NGOs focused on alternative care for children.

Since 2014, BICON has been a leading conference focusing on the rights of children and young people without parental care (CWPC).The 5th Biennial International Conference on Alternative Care for Children in Asia (BICON) was hosted on 6-7th September 2023, in Kathmandu, Nepal, and online.During two days, over 300 child rights practitioners, government actors, academics, and people with lived care experience discussed regional and national challenges around alternative care and trends related to care reform and children’s rights in Asia.

Watch videos from the 5th BICON

Day One

Day Two

Watch videos from the 4th BICON

BICON Conference 2023

More than 300 delegates from across the globe participated in BICON 2023, which included interactive workshops, plenaries and panel discussions to explore:

Strategies to address unnecessary family separation in Asia, including for children with disabilities and children on the move
Regional approaches and practices to formal and informal kinship care, foster care, and guardianship
Policies and practices to support children and young people leaving care
Social welfare workforce development and systems strengthening
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children in alternative care, and their protection during and post-pandemic and other emergency responses

Previously hosted by Udayan Care and now, most importantly, delivered by young people as experts with lived experience as well as a coalition of organisations consisting of Better Care Network; Family for Every Child; Forget Me Not, Hope and Homes for Children; Lumos; Save the Children; SOS Children’s Villages; Udayan Care. BICON has SAIEVAC as technical partners.BICONs are conceived as a regional advocacy platform to bring stakeholders working on child and youth care together for sharing, learning and connecting. The BICON 2023 is an important event for stakeholders to work together to drive regional care reform and encourage governments to prioritise this topic. The conference directly cements Asia’s place in the global debates around children's rights, children in alternative care, care reform and related topics informed by those with lived care experience are at the heart of BICON.

Reflections from BICON 2021

Since 2014, the Biennial International Conference on Alternative Care for Children in Asia (BICON) has been an important event focussed on the rights of children and young people without parental care (CWPC). Due to the unprecedented and unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we hosted the 4th Annual BICON online, with practitioners, policymakers, academics, young people with lived experience, discussing regional challenges, best practices and emerging issues related to alternative care and child rights in Asia.BICON 2021 was a platform to reflect on the best practices and experiences that had transpired so far and consider the next steps and implications for country-level systems reforms for the future, building regional momentum, and maintaining an ongoing global discussion.Key recommendations emerged around the following themes :

Recommendations to prevent separation and ensure all children grow up in safe and nurturing families
Recommendations to ensure suitable quality alternative care services are available and accessible
Recommendations to transform the care system towards family- and community based care