Young Carers Inspiration Database
Shared resource · Global effort
International Knowledge Exchange
“There is a need in all countries for young carers to be recognized, identified, analysed and supported as a distinct group of ‘vulnerable children’.”
— Saul Becker (2007)
What is this project?
This is an exploratory project developing an advisory report for Eurocarers, with the potential to inform a future international Young Carers Inspiration Database.
We are collecting awareness-raising materials from organisations worldwide to support knowledge exchange, inspire new approaches, and strengthens the recognition of young carers.
Built for NGOs, researchers, support workers, educators and others, the project aims to help countries and organisations to learn from one another, and accelerate awareness efforts.
A shared resource
for a worldwide challenge.
The Challenge
Recognition of young carers varies enormously across the world - and in many places, young carers remain largely invisible. While awareness-raising materials do exist, they are scattered across organisations and hard to find, making it difficult to know where to start. Many organisations lack the capacity or funding to create resources from scratch, yet don't know what already exists elsewhere.
The Solution
A shared global database brings awareness-raising materials from organisations worldwide into one place - easy to find, free to access. No more starting from scratch or searching in the dark. Countries further along in their young carer journey can share what works, inspiring and accelerating progress toward a world where young carers everywhere are recognised and supported.
Where do we stand with this project now?
The exploration and research phase of the Young Carers Inspiration Database is now complete. Over the past months, we have looked into how inspiring practices, programmes and initiatives supporting young carers can be gathered, shared and made accessible across borders. Based on this work, we have drawn up an advisory report and shared it with Eurocarers. The report sets out our findings and recommendations for making good practices on young carers easier to find and learn from internationally.
We are now exploring the possibilities for developing an international database in the future. This includes looking at which partners and resources would be needed to make such a database sustainable, and how it could best serve professionals, policymakers, organisations and young carers themselves.
In the meantime, we have compiled a booklet with inspiring examples ⬇️. It offers a first glimpse of what partners from around the world have submitted, and shows the wealth of approaches already in use to support young carers.
