The main aims of this assessment were to identify and address problems in both the domestic and intercountry adoption processes, with a view to assisting Viet Nam in its preparations to accede to the 1993 Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption (THC-93); and to review the new draft law on adoption, and propose any amendments that may appear necessary to ensure compliance with international standards and good practice. The report reviews a wide range of pertinent documentation. Furthermore, information was obtained through in-country visits and discussions with relevant actors (notably Vietnamese governmental officials at central and provincial levels, representatives of foreign governments, NGOs and adoption agencies) as well as through visits to a number of facilities for children in Ha Noi and two Vietnamese provinces.
In undertaking this assessment, the authors attempted to focus on the issues most relevant to the adoption system in Viet Nam as they were unable to address all of the issues surrounding adoption given the complex and dysfunctional nature of the system. The assessment is systematically grounded in pertinent international standards, especially the CRC and the Hague Convention. Among its key observations, the report finds that the level and nature of intercountry adoptions (ICA) from Viet Nam are essentially influenced by foreign demand, the circumstances under which babies become “adoptable” are invariably unclear and disturbing, the ICA procedure is influenced by a remarkably unhealthy relationship that can exist between agencies and specific residential facilities, many governments and Central Authorities of “receiving countries” have not effectively committed themselves to applying the basic principles of the THC-93 in their dealings with Viet Nam, and yet Viet Nam’s desire for rapid accession to the THC-93 constitutes a highly positive perspective.
©International Social Service, commissioned by UNICEF Viet Nam and by the Department of Adoption of the Ministry of Justice of Viet Nam
