India: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS CHILD ADOPTION ISSUES

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS CHILD ADOPTION ISSUES ________________________________________ 18:6 IST India is hosting three days International Conference from 8th to 10th October, 2007 to discuss child adoption issues in New Delhi. Briefing the media about the agenda of the conference, Smt. Renuka Chowdhury, Minister for Women and Child Development said that the conference would provide a plateform to get feed back from the receiving countries about the adoption of Indian children. It would also apprise them of our concern regarding inter country adoption. She said that the Government wants to make the adoption procedure more transparent, hassle free with all safeguards. With this objective, it would soon come out with new guidelines on adoption. Speedy Redressal of grievances and centralize monitoring of the adoption procedure will be focus of the new guidelines, she added. Underlining the importance of family based care for the children in need of care and protection, she said that adoption is not one time event but a life long celebration which not only provide a family to a children but also a new meaning in the life of a family. The international conference being organized by Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Women and Child Development will discuss the draft UN guidelines on children without parental care and safeguards for children placed for inter country adoption. The issue of trans-cultural adoption and identity issues for children for international adoptions will also be taken up during the conference. Preparing the special needs children for inter-country adoption and their rehabilitation is one of the important subjects besides review of guidelines for inter-country adoption. The conference will be attended by more than 300 delegates including 150 delegates from across the world including Govt. representatives, national adoption agencies, social scientists and child-care experts. NCJ/DT

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