UN urges Poland to ban 'windows of life'
12:55
The UN's Committee on the Rights of Children (CRS) has urged Poland to prohibit "the use of baby boxes, to strengthen and promote the already existing alternatives and to consider introducing as a last resort, the possibility of anonymous hospital births."
Scattered across Poland, baby boxes, also known as windows of life allow mothers to anonymously abandon newborns. The UN's commission said these facilities "violate a child's right to an identity.”
The CRS pushes to introduce, as an alternative, a solution implemented in Germany that allows someone to anonymously abandon a baby at a hospital. When the child turns 16, he is eligible to file for the identity of the mother.
Poland's children's ombudsman Marek Michalak admitted that the windows of life are not the best solution, however, he said that "if a child is to be abandoned in a forest or another dangerous place, then of course a 'window of life' is a better choice."
