Adoption

43. The Committee notes the efforts undertaken to protect the rights of the child in the adoption process. However, the Committee is concerned that there are inadequate institutional arrangements for ensuring a smooth process for adoption and that the steps to be undertaken for national and international adoption are unclear.

44. The Committee recommends that the State party continue adapting the legislation on adoption procedure according to art. 21 of the Convention and its principles, and consider ratifying the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption in order to prevent the sale of children for adoption purposes. The Committee further recommends that the State party provide in its combined second and third periodic report more detailed information on the adoption process.

http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/uncom.nsf/fe005fcb50d8277cc12569d5003e4aaa/797e78feaf8bb26fc12577c1004b74f7?OpenDocument

NO RECORDS OF U.S COUPLE’S ADOPTION APPLICATION

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An American couple in Knoxville, Tennessee has started a fundraising drive in their hometown to complete the adoption of a child from Guyana, but the Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency in Guyana, Ann Greene told News Source on Tuesday that the agency which overlooks all adoptions has “absolutely no record of the couple making any application to adopt a child in Guyana”.

The couple Allen and Stephanie Harden have launched a website to raise over US$15,000 to offset all the expenses of the adoption.

But in Guyana there are no fees attached to adoptions. Persons looking to make adoptions would have to make court filings once they would have been approved but there is no way those fees would amount to anything close to the figures.

Court opens to public American parents’ proceeding to cancel their adoption of Russian children

By Eugene Volokh October 6

A very interesting decision, especially since adoption-related proceedings are generally closed to the public, In the Matter of Adoption of Child A and Child C (N.Y. Surr. Ct. Oct. 2, 2014). Here’s the court’s explanation of why there is especially strong reason to open these proceedings:

VII. PUBLIC INTEREST IN RUSSIAN/AMERICAN ADOPTION CASES

In addition to the general public interest in this case, independent interests are also implicated. The issue in this case will be important, generally and independently, to different people throughout the United States and Russia.

Uganda’s child adoption ‘market’ brings misery and confusion

Family distraught at losing contact with son, now living 8,000 miles away in US after adopters told he was abandoned

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Amy Fallon in Kampala

The Guardian, Monday 6 October 2014 21.58 BST

“Every child needs a family” campaign: 25 requests for non-kin foster care submitted, six children placed with non-kin families

“Every child needs a family” campaign: 25 requests for non-kin foster care submitted, six children placed with non-kin families

Published date 31.03.2014 15:59 | Author PR Bureau

Ispis Print

Podgorica, Montenegro (31 March 2014) – Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milo ?ukanovi?, UNICEF Representative Benjamin Perks and EU Delegation’s Chief of Operations Andre Lys presented the results of the “Every child needs a family” campaign in Podgorica earlier today.

NATO’s relations with Montenegro

Last updated: 17 Sep. 2014 16:41

EnglishFrench Montenegrin Russian Ukrainian

Democratic, institutional, security sector and defence reforms are a key focus of NATO’s cooperation with Montenegro. Shortly after regaining its independence in June 2006, the country joined the Partnership for Peace (PfP) in December 2006. Montenegro is working to draw closer to Euro-Atlantic standards and institutions, with the aim of joining the Alliance. It was invited to join the Membership Action Plan in December 2009. Following the September 2014 Summit in Wales, NATO leaders announced that NATO will open intensified and focused talks with Montenegro and will assess at the latest by the end of 2015 whether to invite Montenegro to join the Alliance.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen meets with the President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic

Deinstitutionalisation is one of the major changes Montenegro faces in reforming its social welfare sector. While the reform was launched in 2001, the current system of social services is still insufficiently developed and mainly relies on financial benefits and institutional care. Therefore, the primary focus of the reform of services for vulnerable children and families must be to shift from a system that relies on institutional placements to one that will provide responses individually tailored to the needs and circumstances of each child and their family.

Since 2010, Lumos has worked together with the Montenegrin government and UNICEF to develop a National Action Plan for the Reform of Health, Education and Social Services. In 2010, Lumos led a Strategic Review of the system of looking after vulnerable children. On the basis of this review, in March 2011, Lumos facilitated an inter-ministerial planning session, where representatives from all three ministries participated in the drafting of the plan.

The draft National Action Plan (NAP) envisages the develoment of a broad range of services across Montenegro, such as inclusive education, family support services and community health nurses. The NAP also calls for an overhaul of the legislative and regulatory framework, covering issues such as: safeguarding children and child protection; quality assurance - standards and monitoring; financiang mechanisms; judicial review; the introduction of new services; data collection. It outlines the steps needed to strengthen frontline social work provision and suggests ways in which resources from institutions could be transferred to community based services.

Lumos hopes to assist the Montenegrin government towards the implementation of the NAP, thereby assisting the country in fulfilling some of the criteria it must meet on its road to EU accession.

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NAMIBIAN MINISTER OPPOSES INTER-COUNTRY CHILD ADOPTION

WINDHOEK – Defence Deputy Minister PETRUS IILONGA of NAMIBIA says he is concerned about allowing inter-country adoption of children.

He says allowing children to be adopted by foreign nationals is not in the best interest of the child, as there is no way of monitoring the safety of the adopted youngster.

Deputy Minister IILONGA says NAMIBIAN children should be raised in NAMIBIA rather than being sent to foreign countries, where their safety and well-being are not guaranteed.

He emphasises the need to maintain the culture of extended families, to ensure if a child is orphaned a relative can take care of him or her.

Note: UN Convention on Persons with Disability is not part of this list

EU ratifies UN Convention on disability rights

Following formal ratification, it is the first time in history the EU has become a party to an international human rights treaty – the United Nation's (UN) Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The Convention aims to ensure that people with disabilities can enjoy their rights on an equal basis with all other citizens. It is the first comprehensive human rights treaty to be ratified by the EU as a whole. It has also been signed by all 27 EU Member States and ratified by 16 of these (see Annex). The EU becomes the 97th party to this treaty. The Convention sets out minimum standards for protecting and safeguarding a full range of civil, political, social, and economic rights for people with disabilities. It reflects the EU's broader commitment to building a barrier-free Europe for the estimated 80 million people with disabilities in the EU by 2020, as set out in the European Commission's disability strategy (IP/10/1505).

"Good news for the new year and a milestone in the history of human rights as it is the first time ever that the EU becomes a party to an international human rights treaty. I would like to thank the Belgian Presidency for their excellent cooperation, which allowed the swift and successful conclusion of the ratification process," said European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU's Justice Commissioner. "The UN Convention promotes and protects the human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities. In November, the Commission presented an EU disability strategy for the next ten years: concrete measures with a concrete timeline to implement the UN Convention. I now call on all remaining Member States that have not yet ratified the Convention to do so swiftly. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that people with disabilities do not face additional obstacles in their everyday lives."

The EU signed the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities on its opening day for signature on 30 March 2007 (IP/07/446). It has since been signed by all 27 EU countries and a further 120 states worldwide. Following completion of the ratification procedure, the EU as a whole is now the first international organisation which has become a formal party to the Convention (as are 16 EU Member States too).

All EU Member States have ratified the Convention; however the EU is not a party.4 The

European Commission recently stated that the ‘standards and principles of the UNCRC must

continue to guide EU policies and actions that have an impact on the rights of the child’.5 In

addition, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has expressly recognised the

need to respect children’s rights and requires EU law to take due account of the UNCRC.6