Surrogacy con�nues to be used as a method of family forma�on around the world. Children born through surrogacy have the same rights as all children under the United Na�ons Conven�on on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) and the Op�onal Protocol to the Conven�on on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child pros�tu�on and child pornography (OPSC). However, because of the way that the prac�ce of surrogacy has evolved, the fundamental rights of these children are at risk, especially in interna�onal arrangements.

He learned that he needed others to get ahead in life, so now he wants to be of significance to others. Séun Steenken, born in Nigeria, is committed to the youth in his city, Almere.

'The role of the barbershop is seriously underestimated in the Netherlands, in the United States they see it much more. It is a place where young people come to chill, there is such a relaxed atmosphere that everyone talks to each other. We are friends, there is respect. You can have deep conversations with boys who would never go to a community center. 'It is a kind of men's therapy', our barber always says.'

During a haircut in the MotionFades barbershop in Almere, 23-year-old Séun Steenken gets the idea that more is possible with the informal community that the hairdresser's clients form. He is impressed by the stories of the barber, thirty-something Malcolm Power, who organizes all kinds of things for the young people: barbecues, football matches, discussions. 'He paid for it all out of his own pocket. With a few hundred euros he reached more young people than when the municipality organizes something in the community center for 10K (10 thousand euros, ed. ).'

With Power and a third partner, he started the foundation The Next Way six months ago. The goal: to offer young people 'concrete tools' for daily life, such as tips and tricks for job interviews, by helping them develop their talents.

For Steenken, The Next Way is part of his broader social engagement. In addition to his studies in public administration and organizational science, he works an estimated forty hours a week in various areas: as an employee at the interest group Cliëntenbelang Amsterdam ('for vulnerable Amsterdammers'), as a spoken word artist and now also as a director of the hairdressing foundation. 'With that, I mainly want to create something beautiful for Almere, but it will not be my future. I see that in three areas: policy, culture and practical work. I want to have a social impact in all three. Maybe I will become the first mayor who is also a spoken word artist, haha.'

NITEROI, Brazil — Paul Fernando Schreiner paces around a sparsely furnished room, swatting mosquitoes from his arms and neck as he wonders if today will be any different from all the others.

The heavy, dense air of this city across the bay from Rio de Janeiro feels insufferable, nothing like the dry heat of Phoenix, where the 36-year-old had been living when he was deported by the U.S. last year.

Conversations are rare for Schreiner as he speaks no Portuguese and few people here speak anything but Portuguese. But language is only one issue: The food and even the sports Brazilians follow — Schreiner likes American football more than soccer — don’t feel right. Inside his head, every day is a fight against boredom, loneliness and desperation.

“I am anything but Brazilian,” said Schreiner, who was adopted from Brazil by a U.S. family three decades ago. “I am an American.”

The U.S. government disagrees, underscoring the increasingly hard line the Trump administration is taking with legal residents deemed deportable.

Answer given by Mr Reynders on behalf of the European Commission

25.4.2023

Written question

There is no EU legislation on adoption. At the international level, adoption is currently governed by national laws and international conventions, in particular the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption[1], (‘the Convention’) which has to date 105 Contracting Parties including all Member States of the EU. However, it is estimated that 50% of international adoptions are not carried under the Convention.

The Convention operates through a system of national Central Authorities, reinforces the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Art. 21) and seeks to ensure that inter-country adoptions are made in the best interests of the child and with respect for their fundamental rights. One of the main objectives is to prevent the abduction, the sale of, or traffic in children[2].

Geachte heer Samsom,

Ik heb informatie gekregen over de afhandeling van mijn klokkenluidersbrief, via de wet AVG.

Hierbij verzoek ik transparantie en toegang tot alle data mbt documenten/correspondentie van de heer Timmermans en zijn Cabinet (inclusief social media and sms/Whatsapp) over mij. 

Periode: 2015 - heden. 

Bij voorbaat dank! Tot nadere toelichting gaarne bereid.

Roelie Post

There are many errors in the adoption information integrated management system.
The Child Rights Protection Center under the Ministry of Health and Welfare
is aware of the management errors, but the inspection results are marked as ‘passed’.
This is one of the causes of corruption in the computerization of adoption records.

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A photo of Anna Kim Riley (40, Korean name Jang Won-sook), who was born in Daejeon in 1984 and adopted to the United States in 1985, at the time of her adoption. Anna met her biological mother in 2023 based on the records of the Child Rights Center’s Integrated Adoption Information Management System (ACMS), but the DNA test results showed that she was not related to Anna. Provided by Anna

Anna Kim Riley (40, Korean name Jang Won-sook), who was born in Daejeon and adopted to the United States, believed she had finally found her biological mother in 2023. In March of that year, she was able to contact her biological mother through the 'Adoption Information Management System (ACMS)' managed by the Child Rights Protection Agency under the Ministry of Health and Welfare. However, a genetic (DNA) test result showed that she was not the biological child.

 The Delhi High Court recently came to the rescue of an Australia-based couple, who were precluded from taking their adopted son back to the country for over 4 years, due to inaction of CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority).Justice Sachin Datta observed that the Adoption Deed was executed in 2020 and thus directed the Authority to forthwith issue a NOC enabling the Petitioner-couple to...

https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/delhi-high-court/noc-for-inter-country-adoption-held-up-for-over-4-years-delhi-high-court-directs-cara-to-take-steps-within-4-weeks-295574

By Edgardo Ayala (IPS)

HAVANA TIMES – The children who were snatched from their birth families in the middle of El Salvador’s Civil War are now adults. A group of them are now struggling to adapt to a bittersweet process that still moves them: the joy of having found their families again, but also the sadness of knowing half their lives went by, decades of uncertainty, without being together.

The fathers, mothers, siblings, uncles, aunts, grandparents, and other relatives are experiencing the same emotions. They saw those children disappear one day, ripped out of their homes, often by soldiers involved in an intricate network of human trafficking. Unbeknownst to the families, these children were then put up for adoption through unregulated channels.

During El Salvador’s civil war (1980-1992), hundreds of children who lived with their families in combat zones marked by frequent military operations, were snatched by soldiers under orders from officers who formed part of that trafficking network.

“The children were seen as booty, and a way of making money,” Ana Escalante explained to IPS. She directs the Probusqueda [pro-Search] Association, an organization that has worked since 1994 to investigate cases of children separated from their families in the context of the war and offered up for adoption in foreign countries.

Justice Sachin Datta noted that the adoption was lawfully completed in 2020 and found no valid reason for CARA to withhold the NOC.

NEW DELHI: In a strong rebuke to bureaucratic delays, the HC has directed the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to immediately issue a no-objection certificate to an Australia-based couple who had been unable to take their adopted son abroad for over four years.

Justice Sachin Datta noted that the adoption deed was executed in 2020 and observed that the adoption had been lawfully concluded under the applicable legal framework. Hence, there was no legitimate reason for CARA to withhold the NOC.

CARA argued that, under the Adoption Regulations 2022, children adopted under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA) require documentation from the receiving country’s authority under the Hague Convention, 1993. It further claimed the adoption deed was registered using a General Power of Attorney (GPA), allegedly invalid under Queensland law.

The Court cited a recent Supreme Court case where CARA was directed to issue an NOC to a UK-based single woman. Justice Datta also referenced Article 37 of the Hague Convention, stating that adoptions under HAMA must be judged by its provisions and cannot be subjected to retrospective international conditions.

Job Description

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.  Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up. 

For every child, hope

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, advocacy and operations. In doing so, UNICEF establishes, promotes and nurtures partnerships with broad spectrum of national and international partners, most notably Government and its institutions.

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