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The disclosure of systematic shortcomings of past intercountry adoption practices around the globe requires critical and innovative approaches. It is therefore interesting to have a closer look into the different approaches taken by States around the globe in preventing and addressing issues of irregular and illegal ICA is encouraged. This article focuses on Denmark and its ongoing efforts to address allegations of irregularity.
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Dr. Giovanna Ricciardi and Jeannette Wöllenstein-Tripathi recently contributed to the Book Children in Migration and International Family Law: The Child’s Best Interests Principle at the Interface of Migration Law and Family Law, with an article focusing on the protection of children’s rights in cross-border kafalah placements. The present article provides an executive summary of its key messages.
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Discover the remarkable 100-year journey of the International Social Service (ISS) in this commemorative book. Explore ISS’s legacy in uniting families, advancing children’s rights, and promoting social justice worldwide. This book honours ISS’s resilience and ongoing impact in cross-border social work and child protection.
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ISS recently celebrated its centennial, marking a century of dedication to protecting children and reuniting families across borders. In this edition of the ISS/IRC newsletter, we pay tribute to the remarkable journey and collective efforts that have shaped ISS legacy.
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ISS/IRC believes it is crucial to engage on further dialogue on the intersection between climate change, adoption, and the application of the principle of subsidiarity.
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In this interview, Caroline Bouchet, Head of the Information and Support Department at the Agence française de l’adoption (the accredited public adoption body in France), presents the reverse flow programme that has been in place at the agency for over a decade, its challenges and its benefits.
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Earlier this year, Family For Every Child launched a new publication, How to support Kinship Care – Lessons Learnt from around the word. ISS warmly welcomes this new tool, for which it has had the privilege to provide input, thanks to the ground expertise of its global network.
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In this article, the Central Authority of the Czech Republic presents recent developments that have come into effect in the country in the field of intercountry adoption.
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Prof. Ann Skelton, Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
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In this article, Ian Forber-Pratt, Deputy Executive Director at Children’s Emergency Relief International (CERI), Adjunct Professor at the Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, and intercountry adoptee himself, explores the crucial evolution in the adoption sector, emphasizing the need for adoptee empowerment, self-advocacy, and the establishment of platforms that amplify adoptee voices. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of adoptees actively participating in shaping international standards and influencing the practices of States and adoption professionals.
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ISS/IRC analyses intercountry adoption (ICA) statistics yearly since its inception, three decades ago. The analysis provides with a global and comprehensive picture on current ICA trends and their evolution throughout the years.
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Following the recent publication of General Comment No. 26 on Children’s Rights and the Environment with a Special Focus on Climate (GC26) (see child friendly version) and its launch on 18 September 2023, the ISS/IRC team has been reflecting on the link between climate change and children without or at risk of losing parental care
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In this interview, Dr. Katherine Wade, Professor. Kirsty Horsey, and Dr. Zaina Mahmoud, collectively the team of the project Children’s Voices in Surrogacy Law, provide insights on the project’s aim and activities. The project took place in a regulated surrogacy context currently undergoing reform.
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We first introduced you to the RACINE project in the November 2021 newsletter (2021-256), in an interview with Jimmy Messineo, Coordinator of ISS France. The RACINE project was launched by ISS France in September 2021 with funding from the Intercountry Adoption Mission (MAI). In this article, Dr Fanny Cohen Herlem, registered child psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and counselling psychiatrist with the ISS/IRC, and Jimmy Messineo, who ran the support groups for the project, take a critical look back and share their thoughts on how the groups contributed to the project.
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Notwithstanding the fact that an adoption may be successfully concluded, adoption breakdowns can unfortunately happen. Adoption crisis can be intensely difficult and distressing for all parties involved, especially for the adopted child and adoptive family.
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By taking a look at the events that shaped the world of adoption in the course of last year, it is striking to notice how much 2008 mixed important items of progress and, at the same time, developed ominous initiatives. The following is a brief overview in the form of a balance sheet.
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Adoption is essentially a measure to protect the child deprived of a family. It is based upon the best interest of the child and not on the wishes of adults. It consists of providing a family for a child and not of providing a child for a family…Principles seemingly generally accepted. Nonetheless, politics intervene in several aspects of adoption: attitude of certain receiving countries, regulations of certain countries of origin and individual decisions.
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«A family for a child, rather than a child for a family». It is a principle easier said than done. How can one switch from the demand of prospective adopters in search of a supply of children «available for adoption» (the vocabulary used is often very indicative), to the supply of prospective adopters who meet the demand of children in need of adoption (psycho-medico-socially and legally «adoptable» children)? Here are a few ideas to explore.
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“Recognizing that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment… – Recalling that each State should take, as a matter of priority, appropriate measures to enable the child to remain in the care of his or her family of origin – Recognizing that inter- country adoption may offer the advantage of a permanent family to a child for whom a suitable family cannot be found in his or her State of origin.” Extracts from the preambles to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and The Hague Convention of 1993.
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Children are waiting …
Millions of children and young people « with special needs » or “who present particularities” reportedly live in family or institutional placements around the world, both in developing countries or those in transition and in the industrialized countries. Too often, no permanency planning has been drawn up for them. Even if adoption is probably not the solution for the adequate permanent protection for each of them, a certain number are psycho-socially and legally adoptable. Many of them, however, do not find an adoptive family.
