UPDATE: Hague – Special Commission Convening in June 2010

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 will convene June 17 – 25 at The Academy Building of the Peace Palace, Carnegieplein, The Hague.

From the Draft Agenda:

The objective of the Special Commission is 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 one day discussion on the abduction, sale and traffic in children in the context of intercountry adoption on the first day, 17 June 2010, does not, however, follow the usual format of a Special Commission review, as some independent experts have been invited to speak on this subject. There will be a period of discussion after each presentation, one aim being to find common ground in responding to such cases.

In relation to the draft Guide to Good Practice on Accreditation and Adoption Accredited Bodies, the discussion will take place on Friday and Saturday morning, 18-19 June. It is not intended that the Special Commission should engage in detailed drafting for the Guide but rather consider its contents from the point of view of Convention obligations, general principles and possible good practices.

This agenda is a provisional draft agenda. It is being sent to participants so they may see the proposed outline for the meeting. The draft agenda could be considered as a work in progress and it may be modified before the meeting to adjust the time of some sessions and to add some discussion points. The draft agenda will be treated with some flexibility and may need to be modified in the light of continuing discussions in the Special Commission.

The Draft Agenda lists the following presentations and discussions pertinent to ethical adoption practices:

Thursday 17 June 2010 Abduction, sale and traffic in children in the context of intercountry adoption

• Presentation by the Permanent Bureau: a brief analysis of Questionnaire responses on abduction, sale and trafficking
• Presentation: A Global perspective on trafficking: Professor David Smolin, USA
• Presentation: An African perspective on trafficking: Dr Benyam Mezmur, Ethiopia
• Plenary discussion
• Documentary film: Paper orphans Introduction by Mr Joseph Aguettant, Terre des Hommes Foundation in Nepal
• Investigating the grey zones of intercountry adoption: Hervé Boechat, ISS
• Plenary discussion and discussion of possible conclusions for this day

Friday 18 June 2010 Draft Guide to Good Practice on Accreditation

• Chapter by chapter review of draft Guide to Good Practice on Accreditation

Saturday 19 June 2010 Draft Guide to Good Practice on Accreditation

• Chapter by chapter review of draft Guide to Good Practice on Accreditation (cont.)

Monday 21 June 2010 Applying the safeguards of the Convention

• Opening statements by experts on developments of particular interest in their States Setting the scene – trends and statistics: presentation by Professor Peter Selman
• Applying the safeguards of the Convention
• Subsidiarity
• Establishing whether a child is adoptable
• Consents to the adoption
• Counselling and preparation of the prospective adoptive parents
• Agreements given under Article 17 c)
• Financial aspects of intercountry adoption: issues not covered in discussion of draft Guide to Good Practice on Accreditation (days 2 and 3)

Tuesday 22 June 2010 Co-operation issues

• Co-operation, communication and networking between Central Authorities
• Sharing of responsibility between receiving States and States of origin
• Intercountry adoption in the context of globalisation and international mobility
• Co-operation (development aid) projects: setting the limits of ethical activity (issues not covered in discussion of draft Guide to Good Practice on Accreditation (days 2 and 3))

Wednesday 23 June 2010 Issues concerning Convention procedures

• Certificate of conformity under Article 23
• Recognition and effects of adoption
• Private and independent adoptions
• Surrogacy and intercountry adoption: connection and concerns
• Use of Recommended Forms

Thursday 24 June 2010 Learning from experience

• Monitoring of the Convention Post-adoption issues
• Statistics: the role of the Permanent Bureau in their collection
• Non-Convention countries: a co-ordinated approach and the role of bilateral agreements Technical assistance programme and other training programmes
• Response to disaster situations: a common approach

Friday 25 June 2010 Conclusions and Recommendations

• Conclusions and Recommendations of the Special Commission: discussion and agreement

The full Draft Agenda can be downloaded at:
http://www.hcch.net/upload/wop/adop2010agenda_e.pdf

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