Hague Secretariat rep on fact-finding mission - by Staff Reporter
Hague Secretariat rep on fact-finding mission - by Staff Reporter
12 October 2009
WINDHOEK – Deputy Secretary General from The Hague Secretariat, William Duncan, is in the country to undertake a fact-finding mission on the situation of child welfare and protection in Namibia.
The Deputy Secretary General, who will be in Namibia until Friday, will explain the implications and processes of ratifying various conventions on children.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Sirkka Ausiku, said Duncan will also provide technical assistance to her ministry as well as the Ministry of Justice (legal drafters) in aligning the draft Child Care and Protection Bill to The Hague Conventions.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare has reached the finalisation stage of drafting the Child Care and Protection Bill.
“The ministry would like to use his visit as an opportunity to align it to international conventions, which Namibia may ratify in the future,” commented the Permanent Secretary.
Namibia has not ratified The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption, the Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the Child Protection
Convention, or the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and other forms of family maintenance.
Ratification of the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption will provide an accepted international framework with safeguards for arranging inter-country adoption, ensuring that local options are initially explored.
It gives effect to Article 21 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child regularly recommends that non-Contracting States join the convention.
The convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction aims to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in any Contracting State; and to ensure that rights of custody and of access under the law of one Contracting State are effectively respected in the other Contracting States.
The convention on the international recovery of child support and other forms of family maintenance aims to ensure the effective international recovery of child support and other forms of family maintenance.
The Hague Convention of October 19, 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children covers a wide range of civil measures of protection concerning children, from orders concerning parental responsibility and contact to public measures of protection or care, and from matters of representation to the protection of children’s property.
While in the country, apart from government officials, Duncan will also meet the Law Society of Namibia and the Legal Assistance Centre.
The delegation will also conduct a workshop with stakeholders including the civil society on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, with support from UNICEF, is hosting the Deputy Secretary General from The Hague Secretariat.
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