Genesis of the project:

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Over the past few decades, a significant number of international adoptions have taken place from abroad to France. More and more people adopted in the 80s, 90s or early 2000s feel the legitimate need to research their origins and access their right to identity.

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This research is a complex process and not without risk. Thus being able to support them is today the great challenge to be met by the central authorities and all those involved in adoption, as evidenced by recommendation number 31 of the special commission of July 2022 on the practical operation of the Hague Convention of 1993 on child protection and cooperation in intercountry adoption .

Throughout the year, ISS members work together in working groups on topics related to ISS core activities.

At the 2022 International Council, a working group on Search for Origins, led by Sandrine PEPIT, Director of ISS France, Droit d'Enfance - Fondation Méquignon was established. An increasing number of adoptees are searching for their origins and at the same time, many countries are introducing specialized post adoption support and services.

The ISS Network already has a vast expertise in providing pre and post adoption services and would like to build further on this expertise and knowledge by mapping search for origins services offered by ISS network members, building capacities of ISS members end partners and develop advocacy and policy papers.

International Social Service Australia Het Afstammingscentrum

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I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION

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B. Measures taken to harmonize law and policy with the provisions of the Convention

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11. In the context of the improved legal framework for the protection of children, appropriate strategies have been developed on the basis of the following principles, which are to be found in the text of the Convention: assistance for families with one or more children to care for; every child has the right to a permanent family; every effort must be made to ensure that children placed in institutional care are reintegrated into their own family; when the natural or adoptive parents are incapable of caring for the child, the latter shall be considered to be in need of placement, temporarily or permanently, in a substitute family; every special measure for the protection of the minor must take into account the general principle according to which "the needs of the child come first" and must take the wishes of the child into consideration; the development of minors who are the subject of a protective measure must be monitored and that measure must be changed if the needs and interests of the child so require; preventive steps must be taken to ensure that the minor is not exploited, neglected or abused; everything must be done to enable all the rights accorded to the child by the law to be exercised, solely in his interests.

Hope and Homes for Children, together with ECPAT, Terres des Hommes the Netherlands, the European Disability Forum, Eurochild, Missing Children Europe, International Social Service, Child Helpline International, Child Identity Protection, LUMOS, Street Child and Save the Children, welcome the European Commission’s proposal to review Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims.

This revision is both timely and necessary. We see in this revision a long-awaited opportunity to further strengthen the Directive by adding a special mention of the phenomenon of institution-related trafficking and introducing specific measures to uphold the rights of all children, including children deprived of parental care.

The link between institutions and human trafficking was recognised by the United Nations and the Council of Europe. While the European Union has committed to supporting and promoting the transition from institutional to community and family-based care in its most relevant funding regulations and relevant policies, it has never officially recognised the connection between trafficking and institutionalisation in its policies or legislation.

Institution-related trafficking constitutes a threat to a broad range of children’s rights. Therefore, the European Union should recognise the link between child trafficking and institutions and address and prevent these grave human rights violations.

ISS is delighted to support and partner with the Alliance of Foundations for the Strengthening of Foster Care (FAE Alliance) in Chile.

The FAE Alliance, in close collaboration with Chilean child welfare authorities, Servicio Mejor Niñez, will support residential facilities seeking to transition to foster care support and community-based care in different regions of the country.

A first field mission will take place in mid-May to participate in different meetings, capacity building and awareness raising sessions with key stakeholders.

We would like to warmly thank the FAE Alliance for its strong commitment and collaboration with ISS.

Together we are one step closer to transforming children’s lives!

Racine

Over the past 20 years a significant number of intercountry adoptions have taken place from abroad to France. The adoptees of the early 2000s are now major or in the process of becoming so. Also, more and more of them feel the legitimate need to search for their origins. Because this research is a complex and not without risk, being able to support them is today the great challenge to be taken up for the central authorities and all the actors of the adoption.

In order to offer comprehensive, free and quality support to adoptees wishing to reconnect with their origins, the ISS France launched on September 29, 2021, during a webinar, the RACINE project (Search for origins, Support, Cooperation, Identification of partners, Narration, Listening).

Supported financially by the International Adoption Mission of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (Central Authority responsible for intercountry adoption) in its pilot phase, this project will focus on three countries chosen due to the large number of 'adoptions that have been carried out there and / or the large number of requests currently received by the French central authority:

Ethiopia (4,303 adoptions to France between 2001 and 2020)

Established on October 9, 2018, the International Social Service France (SSI France) is a system of the Fondation Droit d’Enfance.

Child protection foundation, founded in 1859, and recognized as being of public utility since 1866, it welcomes and supports several hundred children in Île-de-France placed under its protection by Child Welfare.

She places great importance on avoiding placement breakdowns and supporting families with the aim of avoiding placement or allowing links to be (re)created.

By developing various activities in the field of child protection, its desire is to think about the institutional journey of the child or adult as close as possible to their environment while allowing temporary removals if this proves necessary. .

In any situation, Droit d'Enfance strives to provide varied, shared and thought-out responses for each situation.

Inter-country adoption of the war-babies Following a personal request of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the U.S. Branch of the Geneva-based International Social Service (ISS/AB) was the first international non-profit organisation to come forward to advise the government concerning the war-babies. Two local voluntary agencies, the Dhaka-based Bangladesh-Central Organisation for Women Rehabilitation and the Family Planning Association, had worked with the ISS throughout the consultation and implementation phases.

Canadian initiative in adopting the war-babies Canada was one of the first countries in the world which had expressed an interest to adopt the war-babies of Bangladesh. Through personal efforts of Mother Teresa and her colleagues at Missionaries of Charity, and the government of Bangladesh's Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, two Canadian organisations got involved in adoptions. They were the Montreal-based Families for Children, a non-profit adoption agency for inter-country adoption, and the Toronto-based Kuan-Yin Foundation (pursuing relief of distressed children in the world), a non-profit adoption agency initiated by a group of enthusiastic Canadians. There were other countries such as the US, the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia, to name a few. In addition, there were many organisations, such as, the US-based Holt Adoption Program, Inc. and Terre des Hommes.

Art Buchwald

Toledo Blade

Paris—Although the immigration law which Congress passed did not make it much easier for people to get into the United States, one provision was passed that was welcomed by American citizens living abroad as well as in the United States.

The new bill provides that foreign children adopted by Americans will be allowed to migrate to the United States without having to wait for a quota number.

For the last year, if an American couple adopted a child from a country whose United States immigration quota was full, there was no way of getting the child into the United States except by an act of Congress.

Report from Technical Assistance Information Clearing House (TAICH)

American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Service, Inc. under contract with U.S. Agency for International Development