The Network - Adoptions Romania

Romanian “orphans”

Following the demise of the communist

regime in Romania, at the very end of 1989,

a veritable tidal wave of individuals and

agencies converged on the country in a bid

to adopt children from the hundreds of

“orphanages” whose existence had suddenly

come to light. An investigation and technical

assistance project in Romania, designed to

ensure implementation of the inter-county

adoption provisions of the CRC, was launched

jointly with International Social Service (ISS)

in 1990 and resulted in a major programme

as of 1991 supported by UNICEF, the Canton of

Geneva, the Swiss and Belgian governments,

The Hague Conference on Private International

Law and the Romanian Orphanage Trust.

As a result of the investigation, the Romanian

authorities set in place a total moratorium

on inter-country adoptions for around nine

months. The technical assistance programme

was then activated to provide training for civil

servants who would be in charge of the process

once such adoptions were again permitted.

The Romania exercise was so fruitful that

UNICEF requested DCI and the ISS, again

in cooperation with The Hague Conference,

to carry out a similar assessment in Albania

in 1992. In turn, the Albanian authorities also

proceeded to revise their adoption system

completely as a result of the mission report.

.