Disability Rights International is a human rights organization dedicated to protecting the human rights and promoting the full community integration of persons with disabilities worldwide.

This bill represents everything we’ve been working on for over two decades. All children — especially children with disabilities — need our support to live and grow up in a loving family. And they need protection against being placed in orphanages or other institutions.

—   Laurie Ahern, President, Disability Rights International

Warning: Viewers may find some images in this report distressing.

BBC News has gained access to institutions in Ukraine where widespread abuse and mistreatment of disabled people has been uncovered. Around 100,000 children and young people live in these institutions, which pre-date the war with Russia. Human rights investigators say Ukraine should not join the European Union until it closes these institutions. The Ukrainian government has promised a series of reforms over the past few years, acknowledging that its system of institutionalisation needs to change.

30-second PSA for Disability Rights International's (DRI) Worldwide Campaign to End the Institutionalization of Children.

60-second PSA for Disability Rights International's (DRI) Worldwide Campaign to End the Institutionalization of Children

Russia’s War Creates Orphanage Crisis In Ukraine. More than 11 million people have fled Ukraine as a result of Russia’s invasion. But many of most the vulnerable — mentally and physically disabled children — have been left behind.

Footage from a 2019 investigation by Disability Rights International into Bulgaria's child care system reveals that despite "system reforms" children with disabilities are still experiencing inadequate care, pervasive inactivity, and emotional neglect. Though larger institutions have been replaced by smaller group homes, the conditions are strikingly similar to institutions and orphanages the world over.