For this first editorial of the year, we offer the usual brief look back at the activities carried out by the ISS General Secretariat and the prospects that lie ahead for the coming year.

This double edition is a brief progress report on the situation of children in need of alternative care or at risk so being, five years after the Guidelines’ acceptance at the United Nations’ General Assembly.

Each child’s individual rights are often forgotten despite universal “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family (including the child) [being] the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’ (Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

The increasingly longer waiting periods, the specific needs of adoptable children, the strengthened requirements of countries of origin, new technologies… these are the current issues of intercountry adoption, which all prospective adopters must be adequately prepared for, if this is not yet the case…

The fourth Special Commission on the operation of the HC-1993 (hereinafter, the ‘Commission’) took place from 8 to 12 June 2015 – a unique opportunity for all receiving countries and countries of origin, whether current or prospective Parties to the Convention, and some well-known observers, to meet and debate on some – sometimes sensitive – issues relating to intercountry adoption, provided that the tongues loosened themselves…

As one of the key moments in the development of the adoptive family, the ISS/IRC has decided to dedicate a special issue to the first encounter and the probationary period of life together of the child and his prospective adoptive adoptive parents, having observed that regulations as well as practices vary considerably from one country to another, and sometimes reflect some gaps.

The Fourth Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the HC-1993 (SC) was an opportunity to launch a debate on open adoption, and to reflect the very diverse developments and positions in this field, from one country to another and from one continent to another.

This Editorial highlights the importance and challenges of having accurate data about children deprived of their family or at risk of so being, ideally included in the global discussions about SDG indicators.

An international conference co-organised by ISS (see box below) was an opportunity to observe the added value of the HC-1996 ‘as a unique instrument comprehensively regulating the rules of private international law and co-operation mechanisms on child protection in order to ensure the primary nature of the best interests of the child’1. Yet, the low levels of ratification/accession to this Convention and the difficulties linked to its implementation still raise a considerable number of challenges.

As we started the year focusing on the year of the family, this issue of the Monthly Review likewise concludes with the same theme, concentrating on better investment to prevent unnecessary separation.