The race was part of a UNICEF campaign.
As part of the UNICEF’s national campaign “Every Child Needs a Family”, the Milky Way charity race was organised in the centre of Zagreb on Sunday. The revenue from the entry fees will be channelled towards helping foster families which take care of the youngest children and their education, reports Večernji List on September 10, 2018.
In the morning, a children’s race was held at King Tomislav Square, accompanied by numerous educational and fun activities for the whole family. The five- and ten-kilometre races for adult runners were scheduled for the afternoon, with the start and the finish at Eugen Kvaternik (Kvaternikov trg) Square.
The race is part of the “Every Child Needs a Family” campaign, launched jointly by the UNICEF and the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy, in co-operation with the Forum for Quality Foster Care. Its goal is to increase the number of foster parents and provide caring foster families for the youngest children who are currently growing up in institutions.
“We are running so that each child would live in the family environment. We still have children who are forced to live in institutional care and this is the reality we want to change. This year, we will give our support to foster parents and those who will become foster parents, with the greatest focus on the youngest children for whom the accommodation in institutions is the most harmful,” said the head of UNICEF’s office in Croatia, Valentina Otmačić.
According to the latest data, foster families with children and young people take care of 2,259 persons. Out of 814 children who are accommodated in homes for children without adequate parental care, 169 of them live in housing communities as part of an organised housing programme with the support of educators.
Translated from Večernji List.
