Caroline Vrijens new children's rights commissioner

Caroline Vrijens will be the new children's rights commissioner from 1 August. She is a lawyer by training and now works at the Youth Welfare Agency of the Flemish government.

For the appointment of the Children's Rights Commissioner, the Flemish Parliament conducted a selection procedure together with Berenschot. Caroline Vrijens was the best. The plenary approved its appointment on 22 May.

Caroline Vrijens: "It's a big responsibility, but I take it enthusiastically. Injustice has always touched me a lot. And I absolutely believe in the power of connection, connection between different perspectives and across policy areas. Standing up for children's rights from a connecting role: it comes together in the position of children's rights commissioner. "

Caroline Vrijens: "I am looking forward to stand up as a children's rights commissioner for the interests and rights of all children and young people in Flanders. Every child has the right to good care, education, room to develop and protection against all forms of violence. Together with the Children's Rights Commission team, I want to bring the perspective of children and young people even more into the political and social debate. We keep a finger on the pulse of what lives with them and what they collide with. We give a voice to those who are not heard enough, with special attention to children in vulnerable situations. "

Wednesday 22nd May 2019

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr. Katherine Zappone, has today unveiled the Government’s initial implementation plan for ‘First 5’, Ireland’s first ever strategy for early childhood.

First 5 is a radical ten-year strategy that will deliver:

1. A broader range of options for parents to balance working and caring
2. A new model of parenting support 
3. New developments in child health, including a dedicated child health workforce 
4. Reform of the Early Learning and Care (ELC) system, including a new funding model
5. A package of measures to tackle early childhood poverty

The Implementation Plan describes the ambitious steps that will be taken in the initial implementation phase – from 2019 to 2021. Its development was led by an Inter-Departmental Group chaired by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

The Government of Romania, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Labour and Social Justice, and the UNICEF in Romania Office signed today a new partnership for the benefit of Romanian and world children.

The document lays down the cooperation objectives that the two parties will pursue until 2022. Among others, one objective is to jointly promote children’s rights in Europe and in the world, through the exchange of best practices and expertise that Romania has developed over the past 30 years. A relevant example to this effect is the recent International Conference “Children's participation in EU decision and policy making”, held in Bucharest on the 6th and 7th of May, under Romania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

“Romania is firmly committed to advancing and protecting children's rights and, over the years, has made significant progress in this direction. The Romanian laws, but also the Governmental policies on children’s rights, comply with the international agreements, primarily with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (in 2019, we celebrate 30 years from its adoption), and with the standards of the European Union and Council of Europe.

In this context, I wish to emphasize the excellent cooperation that the Government and UNICEF started in 1991 and continued on multiple levels to date. UNICEF has significantly contributed to Romania’s progress in the matter of children's rights”, said Teodor Mele?canu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, with the occasion of signing the new partnership agreement.

UNICEF will continue to support the Government of Romania to implement education, health and social protection policies, with a view to ensuring fair access to quality services for all Romanian children, in particular to the vulnerable ones. To achieve this objective, UNICEF and its partners - central and local government, NGOs and children - are developing and testing models focused on reducing vulnerabilities and promoting social inclusion of the most disadvantaged groups of children.

'The world today is full of orphaned children, but it's also full of loving families who are ready and eager to adopt them'

The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bipartisan bill Monday afternoon aimed at helping streamline the international adoption process for prospective parents.

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The "Intercountry Adoption Information Act of 2019" aims to help American families keep abreast of other countries' adoption laws and any changes that could delay or halt the process.

"The world today is full of orphaned children, but it's also full of loving families who are ready and eager to adopt them," Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas) said on the House floor. "All too often American families encounter policy obstacles that delay or prevent those adoptions."

Adoption which was a taboo in the past is a choice for many couples now. It is viewed positively by society and has many benefits for the child as well as the families who are longing for children and cannot give birth or have other reasons for choosing to adopt.

Such loving families care for and raise their adopted children as if they were their own and giving them opportunities for better lives. The procedure for adoption of an orphan, abandoned or surrendered child by a non – resident Indian, overseas citizen of India and foreign prospective Indian Parents is composite and a step by step process. Due to child trafficking and other illegal activities stringent laws have been made in India to protect children who were being exploited earlier.

The main authorities involved in the process in India are CARA – Central Adoption Resource Authority, the concerned government department in the country of habitual residence of prospective parents or the Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency and the Specialized Adoption Agency in India.

The main process starts in the foreign residence of the adoptive parent where he gets his credentials tested through a home study report which is a detailed analysis of the family background, credits, case history and eligibility. It is a study into the circumstances of the family and also their capability and capacity to adopt the child. These agencies have to be authorized by the Indian Government and then only the Home Study report would be valid.

The Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency in the country of habitual residence, on ascertaining the eligibility of the interested adoptive parents gets their Home Study report completed and registers their application in Child Adoption Resource Information. These documents along with other documents are again scrutinized at the CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) in order to determine their eligibility and suitability and are automatically forwarded to the Specialized Adoption Agency in India or the adoptive parents. If the child is chosen then the concerned documents are signed and the medical examination is conducted within a specific time frame and thereafter the child should be accepted by the parents within 30 days of this procedure and if they do not do the same then the child is again free for adoption and withdrawn by CARA.

James Derek Mize is an American citizen, born and raised in the United States. His husband, who was born in Britain to an American mother, is a United States citizen, too.

But the couple’s infant daughter isn’t, according to the State Department.

She was born abroad to a surrogate, using a donor egg and sperm from her British-born father. Those distinct circumstances mean that, under a decades-old policy, she did not qualify for citizenship at birth, even though both her parents are American.

“It’s shocking,” said Mr. Mize, 38, a former lawyer who lives in Atlanta with his husband, Jonathan Gregg, a management consultant. The couple received a letter denying their daughter’s citizenship last month.

“We’re both Americans; we’re married,” Mr. Mize said. “We just found it really hard to believe that we could have a child that wouldn’t be able to be in our country.”

L’enfant du diable

L’enfant du diable

Le lycée français vous informe de cet événement à l’Institut Français le 21 mai :

Les Orphelins de Ceausescu

Avec la projection du film documentaire « L’enfant du Diable »

The aim of the "Euregional Conference on Aftercare Adoption" is to be able to offer better psychological support to the adoption triangle of child, biological and adoptive parent through an exchange of experiences. Association for aftercare adoption from Venray and Osteopathy Vivi from Straelen are starting a collaboration for that reason.

Dutch: Doel van “euregionale conferentie nazorg adoptie” is het om door een uitwisseling van ervaringen een betere psychische begeleiding aan de adoptiedriehoek van kind, biologisch en adoptiefouder te kunnen bieden. Vereniging nazorg adoptie uit Venray en Osteopathie Vivi uit Straelen starten om die reden een samenwerking.

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---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: Arun Dohle

Date: Mon, 20 May 2019, 19:11

Subject: FOI / final report

To: FOI

CHENNAI: As multiple cases of illegal sale of babies, including the Namakkal racket, cast a shadow on adoption in the state, data released by the department of social defence shows that while there are 2,382 prospective parents waiting for more than two years to adopt children across Tamil Nadu, the state currently has only 82 children ready for adoption.

“The adoption process is complicated and there are only very few children available. But we hope we can bring home our child,” said Rakesh Saxena, a city-based entrepreneur, who had applied for adopting a child two years ago. Among the 274 children currently placed across 20 adoption agencies in the state, only 82 were found eligible and ready. “Not all children can be placed for adoption. Only those who are willing, undergone counselling and are deemed fit by authorities are eligible for placement,” said an official from the department of social defence. While most of the children in adoption homes

are above eight years of age, the demand is only for children who are below four years of age.

Officials, however, also raise concerns about what this figure could mean. “We suspect that many children are being put for adoption illegally and are not coming through the process,” said an official pointing to the Namakkal baby selling racket. Demand for kids aged under four very high, say officials

According to officials from the State Adoption Resources Agency, the demand for children below four years is extremely high, while for those between 8 to 17 years of age is a lot lower. “But only a few children are below the age of four in adoption agencies,” the official said. The adoption agencies, however, continue to get more than 200 children every year under three categories – orphan/ abandoned, surrendered and cradle baby. The numbers, according to officials, are low, especially newborns surrendered under cradle baby scheme.