While the horror stories of the orphanages of 1990s Romania were widely publicised, the conditions facing children in neighbouring Moldova are not well known.
Widespread poverty and a lack of basic social services are blamed for a situation which aid groups argue violates a child’s right to a family, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In the capital, Chisinau, the institutions are surprisingly well maintained.
From the outside, the one I was able to visit looked like a school, with plants and a play area, while inside there were pictures on the walls and toys on display.
Yet the first thing you notice is how quiet it is: dozens of young children live in the institution, but you do not hear any noise.
The toys are not being played with; instead children are lying in cots. In one room is a group of about a dozen toddlers.
These youngsters rarely go outside, says Lavinia (not her real name), who works with Hope and Homes for Children, a charity that tries to return children to their families.
Instead, the children spend almost all of their time in just two rooms.
In the corner, a disabled child is left lying in vomit.
No pictures indoors are allowed.
The manager says there are not enough staff to take the children outside, although there appear to be more staff than children.
Lavinia is clearly frustrated by the attitude, but there is little she can do, even though she is working with local authorities on reforming childcare services.
"What we need is to inform and educate families," she says.
"If we can develop family alternatives, this would prevent more children having to live like this."
In another room, 10 newborns lie alone in cots. The institution’s manager does not know their sexes.
The standards are shocking for Sarah Butterworth, a UK mental-health specialist on children in care who is visiting at the same time.
"[Knowing] how the brain develops in the first few months of life means I can only imagine the damage that is happening before our eyes," she says.
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