Outrage over child models used to 'sell' adoptee children from broken homes

March 28, 2016

Rory Callinan

Investigative journalist

Children offered for adoption are being represented as photogenic child models with attractive personalities in a controversial internet advertising campaign run by a NSW government-funded charity.

Father of Madonna's adopted son David Banda blasts singer's 'shocking lifestyle' and admits concern over Rocco custody battle

07:50, 28 MAR 2016UPDATED 07:55, 28 MAR 2016

BY REBECCA MERRIMAN

The singer adopted David from Malawi in 2006 just months before splitting from husband Guy Ritchie

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Press release

Education Secretary unveils a new blueprint for adoption

From:Department for Education and The Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP First published:27 March 2016Part of:Looked-after children and adoption

New plan to see more children placed in loving, stable homes by ensuring adoption is always pursued where it is in a child’s best interest.

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Saturday, March 26, 2016, 12:01 by Kim Dalli

Malta registers lowest child adoption for 10 years

Video: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Last year, Malta registered its fewest overseas adoptions for the past 10 years, latest figures show.

One child was adopted from Albania, four from Slovakia and 13 from Russia.

Pourquoi moi, lanceuse d'alerte, je dois quitter mon appartement

24 MARS 2016 PAR STEPHANIE GIBAUD BLOG : LE BLOG DE STEPHANIE GIBAUD

En juin 2008, j'ai refusé de détruire des données concernant les clients de mon employeur de l'époque, la banque UBS. J'ignorais alors que ma vie « normale » allait voler en éclats. Aujourd'hui, le gouvernement promet de mieux prendre en compte le statut des lanceurs d'alerte. Mais la réalité est toute autre : personne ne nous protège.

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Google translation from Danish

With forced adoption lose children and parents the right to each other

Last year, local authorities allowed to forcibly adopt children. It is an extremely violent interference with the right to parenthood and may be in violation of basic human rights

Last year, local authorities allowed to forcibly adopt children. It is an extremely violent interference with the right to parenthood and may be in violation of basic human rights

Clara Bach / iBureauet

DCI Advisory Committee meets, a new member introduced

23 March 2016

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The Advisory Committee (AC) of Defence for Children International held its second meeting on 12 March 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The five members of the Committee, who were appointed in June 2015, with the addition of Ms Rosa Maria Ortiz Carrón*, were present, together with all seven members of the International Executive Council (IEC) and the staff of the International Secretariat (IS).

After waiting for 12 years (2004 to 2016), the children of Uganda finally made a big win on the floor of the 9th Parliament. On March 2nd 2016, the Parliament of Uganda, presided over by the Speaker, Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, passed the long awaited Children Act Amendment Bill 2015. This is a key milestone and demonstrates that despite the shrinking of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) space in Uganda, CSOs can still advocate and put pressure on the Government, achieving results at scale for children.

For the last 12 years, the children of Uganda have had no clear law protecting them. Children's rights which were being violated, as such, included being trafficked out of the country under the guise of legal guardianship and subsequently ending up in unprecedented adoption. Children were also ‘institutionalised’ in child care institutions (Baby and Children Homes) under the guise of care and protection, and issues regarding them were not effectively coordinated or monitored by the Government.

Key amended clauses that were fronted by child rights CSOs:

The law strengthens the institutional mechanism for the promotion of the rights of children through the establishment of the Uganda National Children’s Authority (UNCA). The Authority will be mandated to manage, monitor and coordinate the implementation of all child-related policies and laws, creating inter-sectoral coordination and management of matters related to inter-country and domestic adoption of children.

The law streamlines the provisions of Guardianship, Adoption and Inter-country adoption. The law provides legal guardianship to be granted strictly to Ugandan nationals and repeals legal guardianship for foreigners. Legal guardianship has been used as a conduit for trafficking of children outside the country, leading to an unprecedented increase in inter-country adoption.

Uganda Tightens Foreign Adoption Rules

Serginho Roosblad

March 17, 2016 1:00 PM

KAMPALA—

The Ugandan parliament voted unanimously this month in favor of a new law that makes it harder for foreigners to adopt children and take them out of the country. Proponents say the new law closes loopholes exploited by child traffickers while critics say it may rob needy children of the chance at a better life overseas.

Few topics are as sensitive from a children's rights perspective as intercountry adoption. This has nothing to do with the demand for attention for children's rights. Both internationally and in Flanders there is great unanimity to use children's rights as the most important stepping stone for the organization of international adoption.

The frame of reference for this is the Hague Adoption Convention, an elaboration of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The treaty aims that intercountry adoption only takes place when the child benefits most and when his fundamental rights are respected. Our country has signed the Hague Adoption Convention. This is also reflected in the operation of the various services that are active around intercountry adoption.

Despite this great unanimity, we still have a knot. This knot has a lot to do with the way we view children and their poor living situation (in the south and elsewhere) to this day. Our gaze is characterized by pity and hope. Pity about the often precarious situations in which children live there or sometimes even simply trying to survive. Hope, because it concerns children and there is therefore the idea that these children can still be saved.

Intercountry adoption is then about providing a cozy and warm home to children who would otherwise continue to live in misery. That is noble and at the same time seems so obvious. Surely there is no one who doubts that these children have it so much better here? But still. The reality turns out to be so much more complex. An adoption decision has a huge impact on the life of the adopted child. After all, the child not only gets different parents, but sometimes also a different name and it grows up in a different environment and often in a different culture.

From the scant research that focuses on the perspective of the adopted children, we find that adoption involves both positive and negative feelings, often at the same time. For example, adopted children are happy with life here, but are also curious about what it could have been like in the family of origin. Feelings are often incomprehensible and especially inexplicable. For example, the outside world expects gratitude. Adoptive children find this difficult because they have not opted for adoption. That's what their parents did. They could be grateful. At the same time, they don't want to be ungrateful.