In May of this year, an additional hearing on intercountry adoption from Ethiopia was held in the Committee for Welfare, Public Health and Family of the Flemish Parliament. This hearing came after the testimony of Thereza De Wannemaeker who questioned her adoption from Ethiopia in 2009. Various testimonials from Ethiopian adopted children and their parents followed, after which Flemish Member of Parliament Lorin Parys (N-VA) asked for an additional hearing in the Flemish Parliament to hear those involved.

During the hearing, the then Flemish Minister of Welfare, Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V), promised to set up an expert panel to conduct in-depth research into past adoptions and formulate policy recommendations. The former Flemish Government compiled this panel in July. Recently, Christof Bex and Miranda N. Aerts, both adopted and well known with the theme, were also added to the panel. This happened after 23 adoptees in an open letter to the current Flemish Minister of Welfare, Wouter Beke (CD&V), criticized the fact that none of the adoptees co-led the investigation. The panel will meet for the first time shortly to define the content and determine a concrete work approach.

Unfortunately, malpractice within adoption remains a reality, despite efforts made worldwide to prevent them. In March 2016, ISS1 published "Responding to Illegal Adoptions: a professional handbook". This international publication was the first attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of possible recovery and prevention measures. Stakeholders and experts from various countries contributed to the handbook and highlighted action points from a legal, psychosocial, social and political context. In summary, David M Smolin² formulated four perspectives and four recommendations at the end of the handbook, which we present below.

Four perspectives for looking at adoption fraud

1. Adoption as controversial and paradoxical

On Monday it was announced that Terre Des Hommes will still be awarded a subsidy from MFS-II. After the rejection last year, Terre des Hommes has lodged an objection in an alliance with the Stichting Kinderpostzegels and the Liliane Foundation. A good reason to call Hans Guijt, head of projects at Terre des Hommes. He was relieved that Terre des Hommes now shows that they do meet all strict quality criteria: “We have lost the image of loser”. 1. Congratulations on securing the grant. Did you have a party? 'We held a modest party with the supporters and people from the field. There is no 'cheer', there is no reason to do so. Above all, it is a sense of relief that all our efforts over the past two years have been rewarded. We finally know where we stand. But above all, we are relieved that it is recognized that Terre des Hommes meets the strict quality criteria. It still felt like a vote of no confidence. We are rid of the 'image of loser'. That was unjustified. We have now shown that we do meet the quality standards, even the strictest. In the end we are very happy. ' 2. Did the grant award come as a surprise?'Yes and no. No, because I would have been very surprised if it were not awarded. The notice of objection was well put together. We made some mistakes in the first application, but we worked hard on that. I would have thought it wrong if we had been judged differently. But on the other hand, it also came as a surprise, because we assumed the worst. Such hard blows had already fallen to the development organizations. ' 3. Did you gain insight into the reason for the ministry to reject the application on the basis of two points?'I must admit that I haven't gotten around to reading the papers yet. It is such a huge job. I'm going to struggle through that at my leisure. Two of the nine points were honored, so that we still ended up with sixty points. I don't know yet on the basis of which criteria the two points were awarded and what was wrong with the other seven points. However, I have remembered the last sentence of the letter: “the decision has been amended and approved”. We have yet to see what will happen next. We do not yet know what is expected of us and what the consequences will be for our programs and partners. This information is still on the way. ' 4. Are you disappointed that less than half has been awarded to the alliance, EUR 32 million instead of EUR 68 million?'No, we are certainly not disappointed, 32 million euros is a lot of money. Certainly because otherwise we would not have received anything at all. We are happy that the work can continue. We simply live in a time when we all have to step back. So no, we are very happy . ' 5. How is the distribution made among the alliance (Stichting Kinderpostzegels and the Liliane Foundation)? Laughing: 'We take everything and the others nothing, I thought so. No, we'll talk about it calmly. That will not be a problem because we have a pleasant contact with each other. Probably the allocation key is determined in such a way that each organization receives 40% of the amount submitted by them. That is the percentage we were ultimately awarded of the amount we originally submitted.

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They are among the pioneers and innovators of the environmental movement and development cooperation in the Netherlands and have formed a high-profile duo for decades. Although they are fully enjoying their retirement, Ron van Huizen and Hans Guijt are sounding the alarm about a development that worries them: supervisory boards that want development organizations to run as if they were companies. "Stop the crazy goal that you always have to grow."

Suppose you have had a working life that reads like an adventure or roguish novel. You have worked in the charity sector for decades and have always been at the forefront and the driving force. You founded Greenpeace Netherlands and built it up to be the strongest brand within the environmental movement. You let Terre des Hommes undergo a metamorphosis from a somewhat dozed-off charitable foundation into a high-profile organization in the field of children's rights campaigns.

You were aboard the Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand in 1985 when the French Secret Service carried out an attack. You introduced Johan Cruijff to charity land and were co-founder of the foundation named after him. You broke open the 'cartel' of Novib, Cordaid, * ICCO and Hivos and ensured that other development organizations could also receive subsidies from the Dutch government. In the end you gained almost world fame by inventing the computer girl Sweetie , to lure pedophiles into a trap. Ron van Huizen and Hans Guijt can credit all of this - as a duo or otherwise alone. At Greenpeace and Terre des Hommes.

We meet in Bray, the Irish seaside town where Hans Guijt lives with his wife and children. Guijt is an excellent guide: he shows us the houses where writer James Joyce and singer Sinéad O'Connor lived, the bed and breakfast where Oscar Wilde grew up, as well as the hotel in a dilapidated state where Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra liked to stay . And of course there are the cozy dark pubs where the pints of Guinness are freshly tapped, although Van Huizen prefers to stick to white wine. The obviousness with which Guijt ' thanks, mate'says to the waiter, indicates a high degree of integration, it is an ideal environment for a quiet exchange of ideas with an inseparable working duo, which worked together for decades and always became the rebels of the environmental movement and later the development sector. seen. Guijt likes to talk about his years as a campaign manager at Greenpeace - about exciting actions at sea against ships that wanted to dump nuclear energy or against whalers - and about Sweetie , the famous campaign to expose pedophiles, which in the last years of his working life caused a a new world opened up for him. He has since become an expert on cybercrime.

Van Huizen can tell tasty about his adventures with Johan Cruijff, with whom he worked for seven years, made a memorable trip to India and with whom he - together with football journalist Jaap de Groot - organized the competition 'The Orange of the Century' at the end of 1999, with the best players who have ever played for the Dutch national team; a team composed by the inimitable maestro himself. The proceeds went to Terre des Hommes and the Johan Cruyff Foundation.

The aid organization Terre des Hommes will not receive a subsidy from the government for the next five years. State Secretary Knapen for Development Cooperation has decided.

The State Secretary says that the applications from aid organizations for subsidies have been assessed and that those of Terre des Hommes, an organization that combats child exploitation, does not meet the quality requirements.

Eight million

Terre des Hommes says that the decision means it has eight million euros less to spend. According to the organization, this is at the expense of small-scale projects in the Third World.

The organization is not only dependent on government subsidies. Seventy percent of the income is provided by donors.

"Hello nice men. Whatever you ask, it never goes too far." That message may sound tempting to some. But if men want to date digital decoy public Lisa, they could be convicted.

With bait advertisements on sex sites, children's rights organization Terre des Hommes wants to find out how great the demand is for sex with minors. That is to say: young people under the age of 16.

Intent to make an appointment also punishable

The organization had already used a digital bait puber before, which did not lead to a conviction at the time. But, since March this year, the intention to make a sex date with a child under 16 has also been punishable. That is why Terre des Hommes uses the decoy puber again.

"We want the problem to become visible. In the Netherlands, minors are being exploited by human traffickers. We believe that action should be taken against this. The bait advertisement brings us into contact with men who can warn us and make it clear that what they do may be punishable. is ", explains director of Terre des Hommes Carel Kok.

New report on the Sale of Children and Illegal Adoption published by ECPAT, DCI and Terre des Hommes

Discover the new co-published report, written by Nigel Cantwell (founder of DCI and international consultant on child protection) covering the study made by DCI in the area of sale of children and illegal adoption.

Illicit practices in relation to the adoption of children have been a serious concern for many decades, particularly – though not solely – with regard to those involving the transfer of children abroad (intercountry adoption). The 1980s saw a phenomenal increase in allegations of malpractice and the realisation that the legal and human rights framework for intercountry adoption was wholly inadequate to prevent children being “legally adopted” as a result of illegalities at various stages in the adoption process. These concerns came to inspire in particular the emphasis, in international standards, on protecting the rights of children for whom intercountry adoption might be envisaged or is already under way.

In 2016, the current UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Maud de Boer Buquicchio, commissioned a research paper on “illegal adoptions”, both domestic and intercountry, to inform the thematic report on this subject that she presented to the 34th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2017.

The present publication is an adapted version of that research paper. Its main focus is on illegal intercountry adoptions. It seeks to pinpoint in particular the systemic factors that create the conditions in which illegal adoptions can thrive and to propose effective responses on the part of all actors, with special attention topreventive approaches.

Millions of children worldwide are brought up in institutional care settings rather than in families. These institutions vary greatly both in terms of their organisational principles and structure, and in terms of the quality of care provided. Although institutions are universally recognised as providing suboptimal caregiving environments, consensus is still needed on how to interpret the evidence relating to the size, range, and persistence of the effect of institutional care on the development and wellbeing of children. This absence of consensus has led to disagreement as to whether policy should focus on eliminating, transforming, or improving institutions.

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Child Welfare Committee chairperson K. Vijayasarvanan said there was no legal documentation with regard to the adoption

An 11-month-old male child, who was illegally adopted by a couple aged above 50 from Eachampatti village of Chellampatti block in Madurai, was rescued on Friday.

Members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), District Child Protection Unit and police personnel enquired with the couple on Friday, and the rescued child was admitted to a special adoption agency in Usilampatti.

CWC chairperson K. Vijayasarvanan said they conducted an inquiry based on a petition received from the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. “It was found that the male child was born on July 31 last year, to a couple residing in Periyakulam, Theni. As soon as the child was born, it was handed over to this couple in Eachampatti, who are construction workers and do not have any child of their own. However, there is no legal documentation regarding the adoption of the child,” he said.

The biological parents have two other older children -- a girl and a boy.

Minister Dekker informs the House of Representatives about the progress of the family law topics of parenthood and adoption and a number of legislative processes.

Committee on the Rights of the Child

3. State Party Reports

Romania

I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION

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