UNICEF Says 'No' to Inter-Country Adoption
Sydney, Australia (ots/PRNewswire)
In conflict and other emergency situations, UNICEF operates on the principle that no child should be adopted abroad unless it is firmly established that he or she has no parents, relatives, or community members willing and able to care for the child. UNICEF's work in emergency situations is based on one simple mission: helping children recover from the horrors they have endured and re-unifying them with family members or relatives, as soon as possible.
Chief Executive of UNICEF Australia, Carolyn Hardy said today, "UNICEF is working to keep children in their communities and country of origin. The children who've been through the tsunami and lost their parents are highly traumatised. At this stage UNICEF is working to ensure all children are able to remain where they are and receive the care they need within the communities they are familiar with."
"If in the event children do need to be removed from their communities or country or origin, UNICEF does not facilitate or advocate inter-country adoptions. Despite the well meaning motives of many Australians wishing to adopt, there are a myriad of factors which need to be considered. Hasty impromptu adoptions are not in the best interests of any child and will not meet the immediate needs of children in crisis. Because of this UNICEF believes, as do all government adoption authorities within Australia, that it should be considered only when there are no options for the child other than growing up in an orphanage."
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Australia is bound, details in Article 21 the appropriate priority for placement of children through intercountry adoption. Firstly, restoration to their birth family; then placement with other family members or relatives; then appropriate care within their community or country of origin. Only after these options have been exhausted is it appropriate to consider adoption of children overseas to an unrelated family. The UNCROC governs Australia's intercountry adoption program.
Ms Hardy urged Australians who choose to pursue inter-country adoption to do so only through legitimate, registered and accredited adoption agencies here in Australia "In the midst of conflict and disaster, children are vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous individuals looking to make profit, often posing as adoption agents. UNICEF supports existing international standards designed to protect children from unscrupulous adoptions".
"The many Australian's wanting to adopt children from countries affected by the tsunami are acting with compassion and generosity. We appreciate their support and their motives. However, adoption overseas to an unrelated family and removal from their culture, language, customs and the communities they are familiar with will add to the loss these children have experienced."
To donate to UNICEF Australia's Southeast Asia earthquake relief fund please call
Telephone: +61-1300-732-240 to donate
Telephone: +61-1300-884-233 to speak with an operator
Website www.unicef.org.au
ANZ Bank branches throughout AustraliaContact:
Carolyn Hardy, Chief Executive, +61-413736448 or
chardy@unicef.org.au, or Kate Mayhew, Communications, +61-411881471
kmayhew@unicef.org.au, both of UNICEF Australia