child’s family is investigated for purposes of possible reunification. If parents are unable or unwilling to take back their child, foster arrangements will be considered. Placing a child in foster care is the responsibility of the Commissioner of Social Welfare. The foster care period is only for duration of three months and under the supervision of Social Welfare. In 2000, a community-based initiative programme for the Most Vulnerable Children (MVC) was adopted. This initiative was in response to the increasing number of orphans, vulnerable children and the visible increase of children living and working in the streets. The programme focuses on protection, access to education and vocational life skills, food, shelter, clothing and psychological support. It aims to protect and care for the escalating number of orphans and vulnerable children within their communities rather than place them in institutions. The MVC programme is supported by UNICEF, Axious Foundation, the Global Fund and other development partners. Access to justice is also addressed through the programme, by Community Justice Facilitators (CJF) who ensure that children are not denied their rights through for example, dispossession of inheritance. To date, over 190,000 children have been supported through this programme in 32 districts. The coordination framework includes the National Steering Committee, the National Technical Committee, and District and Village MVC Committees. Child Care Services in Zanzibar - A numbers of measures have been taken by the Government of Zanzibar, NGOs and the community to provide care and maintenance for the most vulnerable children. A number of Government institutions including Children Villages (SOS), African Muslim and several NGOs provide care and maintenance to children. The MVC programme is also established in Zanzibar through the Social Welfare Department in collaboration with UNICEF. The training of identification of MVC was conducted to Social Welfare officers and child-related NGOs in all 10 Districts of Zanzibar. A total of 9105 MVC (of whom 4471 are boys and 4,634 are girls) have been reached in Zanzibar to date. 48