This Chapter elucidates the objectives, scope, and challenges in the implementation of the 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention. The Chapter discusses the need for harmonised reading of the Convention with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It then goes on to identify the challenges facing the operationalisation of the Convention. They include challenges related to financial aspects, definitional concerns related to absence of uniformity, interpretation of the ‘best interests of the child’ principle and the concerns related to subjective determinations, implementation challenges related to the framework on illicit practices in inter country adoption, and the application of the Convention to refugee children. The author suggests an enhanced role of the accreditation bodies with regard to mapping the trail of the child to the adoption institution, and an enhanced oversight to prevent the incidence of illicit practices in inter country adoption.
