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Jonathan Amgott, Intern in the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, describes insights from the international adoption panel at this week's White House event to celebrate National Adoption Month.

On Monday, November 28, The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships held an event to observe and celebrate National Adoption Month. This event featured senior Administration officials, Members of Congress and outside experts. You can read more about the event here. Also, you can view the President’s National Adoption Month proclamation here.

Supporting international adoption was the theme of our first panel during Monday’s National Adoption Month event at the White House. International adoption has touched the lives of thousands of American families. In 2010 alone, the adoptions of over 9,300 children from more than 100 countries were finalized. Appropriately, this panel was rooted in the understanding that while there were big issues to discuss, at the end of the day international adoption is deeply personal and profound for many Americans, including those who served as panelists.

Kathleen Strottman, Executive Director of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, was the first expert to speak. Kathleen discussed an exciting initiative called The Way Forward Project, a yearlong convening of government officials and civil society experts to study adoption in six African countries.  Supported by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the CCAI initiative produced several adoption lessons applicable to other countries as well.  Among these, child welfare systems should evaluate the full range of adoptive family options, including kinship and international adoption.  Kathleen also suggested that efforts should be made to cultivate societal responsibility for all children, gather data on the number of children in foster care, and broaden children’s legal eligibility for adoption. 

REPORT ON THE IN-HOUSE CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP ON INTERCOUNTRY

ADOPTION, ICDC, FLORENCE, ITALY, 14-17. SEPTEMBER, 1998

1.0 Background and Participants:
This was the first UNICEF in-house capacity building workshop on the subject of adoption. The
workshop was organized by the International Child Development Center. It was necessitated by the
situation in UNICEF offices in all regions where abusive and illegal practices on adoption of
children internationally have been alleged or proven. In the such circumstances UNICEF offices
are faced with a continuous challenge of stating and/or defending UNICEF position on intercountry
adoption.
Participants in this workshop were comprised of mainly UNICEF officers, from ICDC, New York
and the following countries: Armenia, Barbados, Bangladesh, Colombia, Ecuador , Guatemala,
Romania, Rwanda, and Uganda. Other participants were from: Save the Children (UK) Rwanda, a
national NGO on adoption in Paraguay, the International Social Services, Hague Convention on
Private International Law, the Netherlands Committee for UNICEF and the Government of
Romania.
2.0 Workshop Objective:
 To analyze the purpose of intercountry adoption among other welfare measures;
 To identify international principles and standards on intercountry adoption and mechanisms to
safeguard them;
 To review acceptable and unacceptable conditions for intercountry adoption;
 To identify high risk situations; early warning signs of abuse and how to prevent abuse.

3.0 Workshop Methods:
Participants made presentations on country situation and experiences. Presentations were made on
relevant themes on international provisions such as, the Hague Convention on Intercountry
Adoption and situation regarding ratification. County presentations gave insight in varying
situations leading to adoption of children internationally, related principles and standards; as well
measures to safeguard them .
Regarding Africa , the main factors behind adoption are mainly conflict situation and HIV/AIDS,
leading to an increase in the number of unaccompanied children and of orphans(orphans in Uganda
refer to a child who has lost one or both parents). These have overwhelmed the capacity of the
extended family system. Not loosing sight of the situation in Rwanda, intercountry adoption in
Africa is not as massive as the case is in some Latin American and Eastern Europe countries.
Nevertheless, the situation poses a challenge of developing and/or strengthening in country foster
care and adoption systems and structures.
4.0 Lessons Learnt and Programming Implications:
 Continuity is of paramount importance for children in need of alternative family care. Preference
should be given to children staying in their countries. Intercountry adoption should be a last resort;

2

Campaigners demand government issue formal apology to women forced to give up their babies in 1950s-70s

Time is running out for the UK government to issue a formal apology to women who were forced to give up their babies for adoption in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, campaigners have warned.

Most of the estimated 185,000 women involved in forced adoptions are now in their 70s and 80s, and some have died without an apology on behalf of the state being issued.

A specially-abled child from Karnataka's Gangamma Chikumbimath Orphanage has been adopted by an Italian couple, after being rescued from a garbage dump.

A specially-abled child from the Gangamma Chikumbimath Orphanage in Karnataka's Belagavi, has found a new home after being adopted by an Italian couple. Abandoned by his biological parents, the young boy was rescued from a garbage dump and now set to begin a new life with a loving family in Italy.

An Italian couple adopted a child from Karnataka's Belagavi who was left by his biological parents in a garbage dump. ((Pic for representation))

Authorities revealed that the newborn was discovered in a garbage heap, prompting the intervention of the local Child Development Project Officer (CDPO). The infant was immediately taken to Belagavi's BIMS Hospital for urgent medical care. Once stabilized, he was transferred to KLE's Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital & Medical Research Centre for further treatment. Upon recovery, the district child protection office entrusted his care to the Gangamma Chikumbimath Orphanage, where he received continued support and rehabilitation.

A new resolution urges the government to help victims of illegal adoptions. The text calls for an apology from the government and a thorough historical investigation. 'But many files at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have already been destroyed.'

Many news articles have appeared in recent years about the abuses surrounding international adoptions. For example, a Flemish study into adoptions from Ethiopia showed two years ago that some children had not been voluntarily given up by their biological parents.

And last summer, a brother and sister testified about how their adoptive father arranged adoptions from Cambodia on his own. Belgian authorities were aware of an “illegal adoption network,” but nothing was done. The Arizona government promised in its coalition agreement to correct the mistakes of the past.

A resolution, unanimously approved today by all parties, makes the intention concrete. The text calls for an apology from the government and urges the government to set up a working group to conduct historical research into illegal adoptions from the period 1960-2005.

“For children who came to our country through illegal adoption, finding out their origins is a real crusade,” says MP Kathleen Depoorter (N-VA). “Their documents contain a lot of incorrect information. For example, these children were often born on '1 January'.”

Establishment of the Adoption Business Headquarters with 1 Headquarters and 3 Departments…
Relocation of the organization to the vicinity of Seoul City Hall at the end of this month

[Seoul = Newsis] The Child Rights Protection Agency is organizing and inspecting adoption-related records at the Busan Metropolitan City Archives. (Photo = Provided by the Child Rights Protection Agency) 2024.09.27. photo @ newsis.com *Resale and DB prohibited

[Sejong=Newsis] Reporter Park Young-joo = The Child Rights Protection Center announced on the 20th that it will push forward with an organizational restructuring effective the 24th with the strengthening of the adoption work system as its top priority.

This is a strategic measure to prepare for the implementation of the 'Special Act on Domestic Adoption' and the 'Act on International Adoption' starting July 19th without a hitch.

The Child Rights Protection Center will support the ratification of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, operate the Adoption Policy Committee Secretariat, and directly perform all aspects of domestic and international adoption procedures as the competent authority for international adoption. Accordingly, the organization that was previously operated as a single department will be promoted and expanded into a 1-headquarters /3-

division system. With this restructuring, the Adoption Business Headquarters will be newly established to stabilize the public adoption system. The Adoption Business Headquarters consists of ▲ the 'Adoption Support Department', which operates the Adoption Policy Committee Secretariat and promotes the overall domestic and international adoption process, ▲ the 'Adoption Information Disclosure Support Department', which supports adoptees' search for their families and manages records, and ▲ the 'Family Protection Support Department', which integrates foster care and adoption policy planning.

In particular, the Adoption Information Disclosure Support Department provides one-stop services for adoption information disclosure requests. The Records Management Team, which is operated separately, plans to fully promote comprehensive investigations, preservation facility operation, and computerization in order to thoroughly manage private adoption records from existing adoption organizations and others as public records.

In addition, through this reorganization, the 'Child Protection Headquarters', which integrates the child protection system and child abuse prevention functions, was newly established and overlapping functions between departments were adjusted. In addition, along with this reorganization, the organization will be relocated to the vicinity of Seoul City Hall at the end of this month.

Jeong Ik-joong, the director of the Child Rights Protection Center, expected that "this reorganization will be an important opportunity to bring about fundamental changes in the public adoption system and establish a system that best protects the interests of children."

 

Reporter Park Young-joo (gogogirl@newsis.com)

University of Kansas Institute of Haitian Studies

Occasional Papers

Bryant C. Freeman, Ph.D. - Series Editor

N° 1 - Konstitisyon Repiblik Ayiti, 29 mas 1987. 1994. Pp. vi-106. Haitian-language version
(official orthography) of the present Constitution, as translated by Paul Dejean with the
collaboration of Yves Dejean. Introduction in English. $12.00

N° 2 - Toussaint's Constitution (1801), with Introduction. 1994. Pp. ix-20. In French.
Introduction (in English) by Series editor places Constitution in its historic context and analyzes
salient features. $5.00

From: GRUDEN Matjaz

Date: 22 February 2008 12:22

Subject: RE: Reply to your mail to CoE Deputy Secretary General

To: Roelie Post

With regard to the Council of Europe none. Mrs de Boer Buquicchio expressed her personal support for the initiative, even though she made it clear that its content corresponds to the CoE position. As to the press conference itself, it was organised by our colleagues in the EP and we had not been involved in the decisions on its format or participants.

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