Award-winning British author JK Rowling has launched her children's non-profit organisation, Lumos, in the USA.

The initiative, which was named after the light giving spell in her Harry Potter books, helps countries reform their services for disadvantaged children by moving from systems based on residential institutions and orphanages that separate children from families, to services which support them to stay together in the community. Rowling commented 'Children need families, and families need their children and I believe it is entirely possible, with concerted effort, to help to transform the way the world cares for disadvantaged children. We owe this to the eight million children living in orphanages around the world, most of whom do have parents and families who, given the right level of support, could care for them at home'.