2010 Special Commission of the Hague Releases its Conclusions and Recommendations

The Special Commission on the practical operation of the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption convened June 17 - 25 at Carnegieplein, The Hague to "review the practical operation of the 1993 Convention and to achieve consensus on the main elements of a Guide to Good Practice on Accreditation and Adoption Accredited Bodies."*

The Conclusions and Recommendations of the Special Commission are now available online at the Hague website: http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=text.display&tid=45

In addition, the final drafts of the following documents are also available to the public:

• Info Doc. No 1 - Abduction, sale and traffic in children in the context of intercountry adoption (David M. Smolin)
• Info Doc. No 2 - "The sins of the ‘saviours' ": child trafficking in the context of intercountry adoption in Africa (Dr Benyam D. Mezmur)
• Info Doc. No 4 - Executive summary: Haiti: ‘expediting' intercountry adoptions in the aftermath of a natural disaster... (International Social Service)
• Info Doc. No 5 - Guidelines on post-adoption services and the use of video interaction guidance

We commend the participants and presenters at the Special Commission for their hard work and dedication to bringing attention to the ethical and legal processes of adoption and to protecting children around the world. PEAR highly encourages adoptive and prospective adoptive parents to read the reports and educate themselves on the issues, realities, and myths surrounding intercountry adoption and the Hague.


*Draft Agenda, The Special Commission on the practical operation of the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Hague Reports for the 2010 Special Commission

Documents submitted by various Hague member countries, including the US, which were created for the attention of the Special Commission of June 2010 on the practical operation of the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption are now available on the Hague website. http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=text.display&tid=45#sc These include the following reports:

• Documents related to 2010 Special Commission
• Prel. Doc. No 1 - Questionnaire on Accredited Bodies and replies to the Questionnaire (+ responses)
• Prel. Doc. No 2 - Accreditation and adoption accredited bodies: General Principles and Guide to Good Practice
• Prel. Doc. No 3A - Country Profile - State of origin (+ responses)
• Prel. Doc. No 3B - Country Profile - Receiving State (+ responses)
• Prel. Doc. No 4 - Questionnaire on the abduction, sale of or traffic in children (+ responses)
• Prel. Doc. No 5 - Annual Adoption Statistics Forms (+ responses)
  

The documents contain a wealth of information about the demographics of adopted children, and their origins as well as trends, laws and policies of sending and receiving states. The information may be quite useful to prospective adoptive families researching country programs as well as individuals and organizations interested in background information on international adoption.


Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/