PANO - UNICEF applauds the recent ratification by Vietnam of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation with respect to Inter-country Adoptions.
The Hague Convention is an important legal document for children, birth families and expecting foreign adopters. It sets out obligations for the authorities of countries that have children to be adopted, and for those who adopt them. The Convention is a tool to ensure ethical and transparent process and give paramount consideration in the best interests of the adopted children, as expounded in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also ensures that adoptions are authorised only by competent authorities, guided by informed consent of all parties concerned, inter-country adoptions enjoy the same safeguards and standards which apply in national adoptions, and inter-country adoption does not result in improper financial gain for those involved in the process. These provisions are meant first and foremost to protect children, but also have the positive effect of safeguarding the rights of their birth parents and providing assurance to expecting adoptive parents that their child is not the subject of illegal practices.
Ms. Lotta Sylwander, country representative of UNICEF in Vietnam said: “UNICEF congratulates the Government of Vietnam for continuing to make remarkable progress in reforming the child adoption system. The ongoing child adoption reform has recently culminated with the ratification of The Hague Convention, which is a significant step to strictly observe the principles regarding inter-country adoption expounded in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
The Vietnamese government recent statistics shows that approximately 2.1 million Vietnamese children including 176,000 orphans and abandoned ones have been facing extremely difficult living conditions. That is why adoption is the one of the main forms to provide alternative care available for these children. Statistics from the Assessment of the Adoption System in Vietnam by International Social Services, commissioned by UNICEF and the Ministry of Justice in 2009, indicated the number of adopted children from Vietnam has been on the rise in recent years (from 1,183 cases to 1,658 cases annually between 2002 and 2008).
Due to impacts of child abandonment on national and inter-country adoption, UNICEF is currently supporting the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs to conduct a Study on Child Abandonment and Relinquishment to understand the trends and root causes of child abandonment in Vietnam. The study will provide a further understanding about the causes and patterns of childcare in child protection centres and at the same time formulate and improve the care and welfare for these children, the most vulnerable group.
UNICEF is also assisting the Ministry of Justice to develop a National Project to support the implementation of the Hague Convention and it will be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval early next year and to seek additional funding from the Government. In addition, UNICEF is supporting the piloting of a programme on inter-country adoption for children with special needs in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau and Da Nang which have high numbers of disadvantaged children.
Vietnam signed the Hague Convention in December 2010 and the President approved its ratification in July 2011. The country is expected to be a full member of the Hague Convention in February 2012.
Tran Hoai