SOS: Infamous orphanages in Eastern Europe soon to be largely closed

Sofia / Munich (ots) - According to information from the SOS Children's Villages, Eastern Europe is closing its notorious orphanages. For a long time homes were the epitome of neglect and inhumane conditions. "In the meantime, all countries are closing state homes," says Maria Dantcheva, Program Development Manager for the SOS Children's Villages for Eastern Europe. For example, in Romania, nearly 100,000 boys and girls lived in orphanages in 2000, and today there are only about 6,600. In Bulgaria, too, the number of children in state homes has fallen from 7587 in 2009 to 979 in 2017. By 2025 all homes should be closed.

The SOS Children's Villages are decisively involved in the processes in 19 countries in Eastern and Central Europe, says Maria Dantcheva. "For many years, we have been the only ones offering family-oriented care for children in need in many places, and now we support governments with our know-how: we are involved in the development of laws and child protection systems and help build foster parent networks . " The organization is also active in Kazakhstan. The local SOS Children's Village Almaty will soon accommodate 30 to 40 boys and girls from a closing children's home. Under the name "Open Doors", SOS has partnered with four other aid agencies to promote the closure of orphanages by providing data, education and political work.\

Instead of being in state homes, the children will in future be raised by foster families, small groups or relatives. Also, families should be stabilized in crises so that as many children as possible can stay with their parents.

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On February 20, 1997, the management of the Bucharest Court, led by judge Viorel Roș, notified the Police about the disappearance from the court archive of 248 civil files with international adoptions as their object.

The then Minister of Justice ordered an extensive check at the Bucharest Court and the judicial inspectors of the higher court, the Bucharest Court of Appeal, found that 404 civil adoption files had disappeared: 173 from the period 1990-1993 and 231 files from the period 1994-1995 .

Along with the files, several minutes of meetings from the years 1994-1995, meeting folders and record books disappeared, reports Radio Europa Liberă.

"I asked for a check to be made and a report on the situation created. The report was made and after that I think a criminal complaint was also made. Unfortunately, as far as I can remember, the criminal investigation did not lead to any results, that is, it did not discover the perpetrators", said Valeriu Stoica, former Minister of Justice.

He says he no longer has the report drawn up at his request, but that it should be in the ministry's archive. The Ministry of Justice claims that in 1997 there was a structure that checked the activity of judges, but it did not find the report ordered by Valeriu Stoica.

On February 20, 1997, the leadership of the Bucharest Court, led by Judge Viorel Roș, notified the Police about the disappearance from the court archive of 248 civil files concerning international adoptions.

The then Minister of Justice ordered an extensive check at the Bucharest Court and the judicial inspectors of the higher court, the Bucharest Court of Appeal, found that 404 civil adoption files had disappeared: 173 from the period 1990-1993 and 231 files from the period 1994-1995 .

Along with the files, several minutes of meetings from the years 1994-1995, meeting folders and record books disappeared, reports Radio Europa Liberă.

In the FIR filed on 13th July, Sakshi has accused Abhishek of writing a Facebook post alleging that he has indulged in her character assassination.

Filmmaker Vinod Kapri and his wife Sakshi Joshi have filed an FIR against the journalist Abhishek Upadhyay who had accused the couple of using tragedy of a new born child to promote himself and his movie.

In the FIR filed on 13th July, Sakshi has accused Abhishek of writing a Facebook post alleging that he has indulged in her character assassination.

In his post, without naming anyone, Abhishek had written a story about a lady who marries an old divorced man through manipulation. In her FIR, Sakshi has claimed that the above story refers to her.

As per the FIR, she deduced that the post was about her when someone commented on the Facebook post with her and her husband filmmaker Vinod Kapri’s name and Upadhyay ‘liked’ that comment. She even alleges in her FIR that Upadhyay not only wrote the above post to defame her and Kapri and asked people to share the above post via WhatsApp but also asked people to walk up to the couple and spit on them.

International adoption. Eight couples sought to reopen adoptions with Cambodia

A pilot phase with Ai.Bi. - Amici dei Bambini and seven other Italian institutions authorized to operate in the Asian country

After the announcements, this time it really starts again! The Kingdom of Cambodia reopens to international adoptions with Italy. Following the recent visit of the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the CAI - International Adoption Commission, Dr. Gianni Bardini and a previous mission that saw the participation of Vice-President Laura Laera, are in fact taking up, with a pilot phase, the activity with the central Cambodian authority.

The news was given by CAI itself. "The particularities of the new procedure - explains the CAI with a note - are defined in Resolution 64/2019 / SG of May 29, 2019, with which the CAI acknowledging the findings of the meetings with the Cambodian counterpart authorities, established that, in this first phase, the eight authorized bodies that have received the crediting from the Cambodian Authority will be allowed to initially route only one couple at a time. The procedure will be carefully monitored and based on the results achieved, the Commission will be able to positively assess the request by the entity for authorization to further routes ”.

"Finally - the CAI has always specified - in spite of the impossibility of defining waiting times and outcome of the procedure, the Commission has asked the institutions to adequately inform adoptive couples, placing the obligation to have the spouses sign an explicit declaration in which they are accepted the terms and uncertainties of the pilot phase ".

It is a story about international adoptions, which in the 90s were made in impressive numbers and which also left their mark on Romania's image. At the time of the accession negotiations, from the beginning of the 2000s, Romania had to amend its legislation and close the endless series of sending orphaned children or children without opportunities across the borders. One of the most difficult conditions to fulfill was the stopping of international adoptions, and the rapporteur for Romania, Baroness Emma Nicholson, then invoked the "rule of law" that must be respected also regarding adoptions. Romania changed its vision, but the era of the 90s also left 404 international adoption files in the dark, which disappeared. Entirely.

On February 20, 1997, the leadership of the Bucharest Court, led by Judge Viorel Roș, notified the Police about the disappearance from the court archive of 248 civil files concerning international adoptions.

The then Minister of Justice ordered an extensive check at the Bucharest Court and the judicial inspectors of the higher court, the Bucharest Court of Appeal, found that 404 civil adoption files had disappeared: 173 from the period 1990-1993 and 231 files from the period 1994-1995 . Along with the files, several minutes of meetings from 1994-1995, meeting folders and record books disappeared.

"I asked for a check to be made and a report on the situation created. The report was made and after that I think a criminal complaint was also made. Unfortunately, as far as I can remember, the criminal investigation did not lead to any results, that is, it did not discover the perpetrators", Valeriu Stoica, former Minister of Justice, told us.

Holt International Children's Services Invites Qualified Candidates to Apply for the Newly Appointed Role to Lead, Launch and Grow Its Adult Adoptee Community and Supporting Initiatives

Eugene, Oregon, July 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Holt International Children's Services, the nation's leading international adoption placement agency and not-for-profit child welfare organization, announced its intention to hire its first director of adult adoptee community outreach, beginning with a nationwide search starting today. Holt International first pioneered international adoption in 1956 and today remains the global leader with a long-standing commitment to holistically support adoptees for life – because adoption is a lifelong journey.

The director of adult adoptee community outreach will oversee the planning and implementation of outreach strategies to better understand and support the diversity and voices of within the adult adoptee community. This person will launch, grow and manage a thriving and interconnected community of adult adoptees spanning multiple locations, different lived experiences and many generations. The director will be responsible for building trusted networks and relationships, and informing how Holt can best support, magnify and celebrate a healthy and diverse adult adoptee community.

“The needs of adoptees evolve as they grow older and mature. We have a responsibility to understand this evolution in order to take appropriate action to serve and support them,” said Steve Kalb, LMSW, Holt International’s director of post-adoption services, and a Korean adoptee. “This new hire will allow us opportunities to connect with and support adult adoptees across the country. By engaging with established communities and elevating the voices of those who feel isolated, we can walk beside adoptees as they teach us the best ways to address their changing needs.”

Studies suggest that adoptees benefit from support services into adulthood. The director of adult adoptee community outreach will provide support and opportunities for adult adoptees by directing and managing heritage tours and regional activities and events, offering additional resources for mental and physical well-being support, and giving adult adoptees the opportunity to share their own experiences with younger adoptees. This person will also facilitate the organization’s adult adoptee advisory board, which will provide insight, feedback and recommendations from adult adoptees on how the organization can elevate its adoption services for children and their families.

Head of JK Rowling's children's charity steps down amid allegations of 'bullying and intimidation' by ex-employees

Georgette Mulheir has now left her role as Lumos's £160,000-a-year CEO

She was described as 'a bully' and part of 'egomaniacal senior management'

Rowling set up the charity after she read a newspaper article about children in orphanages in the Czech Republic being put in caged beds

By ALEX WARD FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Just 40 special needs children across the country were adopted from April 2018 to March 2019,

reveal government figures, highlighting societal bias and the reluctance of adoptive parents to take

on the responsibility of dealing with the challenges of disabilities minor and severe.

The 40 children accounted for 1.12 per cent of the 3,374 children adopted in 2018-19, according to

an RTI reply by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) of the Women and Child