Adoption and Kafala

Adoption is the formal, permanent transfer of parental rights to a family other than a child’s own and the formal assumption by that family of all parenting duties for the child. Where a child’s parents are living and their parental rights have not been terminated, they must provide informed consent for adoption. In some countries it is not culturally acceptable to give the parental rights to a non-family member, and therefore alternative long-term care options must be pursued e.g. kinship care. In some Islamic countries, the term ‘Kafala’ in Islamic law is used to describe a situation similar to adoption, but without the severing of family ties, the transference of inheritance rights, or the change of the child’s family name.

Given the permanency of adoption, it should be used very carefully and only when it is in a child’s best interests. In some cases difficult choices must be made between keeping a child in a temporary care situation in the hope of eventual family reunification, and a child’s developmental need for permanent attachment and care within a family environment. Adoption should not be considered an option in an emergency context. In the case of family separation in an emergency all tracing activities must be exhausted before adoption can be considered.

The long term care of a child requires thorough assessment and planning, and should include the participation of all those affected, especially the child in question. The choice for adoption must meet the child’s long term needs and wishes, and enable their healthy development into adulthood. Wherever possible, children should remain with siblings and encouraged to maintain contact with relatives. All adoptive placements should be in keeping with applicable national law and international standards.

Ideally adoptive parents should come from a similar cultural and religious background to the child, so that the child can retain her heritage and sense of identity. This will be more likely when the adoption is within the country of the child’s origin. The child care policies of a country must therefore provide mechanisms for formal state adoption procedures, and provide workers to support this process. Intercountry or cross border adoptions should be used with caution since the child is likely to grow up in unfamiliar surroundings, and may therefore be more isolated and exposed to risk. When intercountry adoption is in the best interests of a child, international protection agencies should ensure standards are met and procedures should be in keeping with the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption.

This section of papers includes country and policy examples of the use of adoption and guidance on practice.

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Haiti: Expediting Inter-country Adoptions in the Aftermath of a Natural Disaster... Preventing Future Harm

International Social Service, 23 Sep 2010

Using a range of intergovernmental, governmental, nongovernmental and media sources, this report compiled by International Social Service constitutes an unprecedented effort to document, and draw preliminary conclusions from, the course of events related to intercountry adoptions from Haiti in the first half of 2010

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child: Observations Regarding Alternative Care

BCN Secretariat , 09 Jul 2010

In June 2010, the Committee on the Rights of the Child issued its Concluding Observations to countries reviewed during the Committee's 54th session. This brief summarizes the UNCRC observations regarding alternative care.

Children and adolescents without parental care in Latin America: Contexts, causes and consequences of being deprived of the right to family and community

RELAF and SOS Children’s Villages International, 01 Jun 2010

This paper is based on The Latin American Report: The situation of children in Latin America without parental care or at risk of losing it. Contexts, causes and responses, which was prepared using reports from 13 countries in the region. The paper gives an overview of the state of one of the most fundamental rights - the right to parental care, a keystone for the right to live in a family and a community.

The Rights of the Child in Internal and Intercountry Adoption - Ethical Principles - Guidelines for Practice

ISS-IRC, 10 Mar 2010

Defines the ethics and principles that should govern adoption.

Adoptions from Viet Nam: Findings and Recommendations of an Assessment

ISS for UNICEF and Department of Adoption of Ministry of Justice of Viet Nam, 10 Mar 2010

Independent assessment of the situation of Intercountry adoption in Vietnam.

Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children - English

UN General Assembly A/RES/64/142, 23 Feb 2010

The Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children were endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly on 20th November 2009, in connection with the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

International Adoption Policy Brief

Save the Children UK, 19 Feb 2010

Brief recognizes the potential opportunities ICA can provide a child but examines the problems and risks frequently associated with the practice.

Earthquake in Haiti: Intercountry Adoption Cases

International Social Service , 21 Jan 2010

Discusses risks associated with using adoption in emergency settings. Additional consideration given on where adoptions can be safely and appropriately facilitated for children with adoptions underway prior to the earthquake.

http://www.crin.org/docs/haiti_position%20CIR_ENG(1).pdf

Intercountry Adoption in Emergencies: The Tsunami Orphans

Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, 20 Jan 2010

The Adoption Institute offers this policy brief, with the purpose of examining the role of intercountry adoption in situations such as the one caused by the tsunami – that is, during natural disasters, armed conflicts, and other complex human emergencies

Information Note to States and Central Authorities: Haiti Earthquake and Intercountry Adoption of Children

Hague Conference on Private and International Law , 20 Jan 2010

In this Information Note, the Hague Convention urges that the focus in emergencies should first be on child protection, rather than adoption. In the spirit of this Recommendation, it is clear that in a disaster situation, like that brought about by the earthquake, efforts to reunite a displaced child with his or her parents or family members must take priority. Premature and unregulated attempts to organise the adoption of such a child abroad should be avoided.