Both the US and Ireland announced on November 10 that Vietnam has ratified Hague Adoption Convention. It will enter into force on February 1, 2012.
US DOS notice can be found here and is pasted below:
“Notice: Vietnam ratifies the Hague Adoption Convention
The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption will enter into force in Vietnam on February 1, 2012, following Vietnam’s ratification on November 1, 2011.
The United States recognizes Vietnam’s initiatives leading to this significant development and applauds the Government of Vietnam’s renewed commitment to strengthen its child welfare system and the integrity of its domestic and international adoption process. We continue to caution adoption service providers and prospective adoptive parents that, to ensure that adoptions from Vietnam can be compliant with the Convention, important steps must still take place before intercountry adoptions between the United States and Vietnam resume. We further caution adoption service providers against initiating, or claiming to initiate, adoption programs in Vietnam until they receive authorization from the Government of Vietnam.”
Ireland’s Announcement
Found here and pasted below.
“Minister Fitzgerald welcomes Vietnam’s ratification of Hague Convention on Adoption.
10th November 2011
Frances Fitzgerald, T.D., Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, has welcomed Vietnam’s decision to ratify the Hague Convention on inter-country adoption.
Minister Fitzgerald said “I am pleased that the Vietnamese authorities have ratified the Hague Convention on Adoption and the ratification enters into force on 1st February 2012.
Minister Fitzgerald stated “since taking up my position as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I have been active in seeking to ensure that the desires of Irish families to adopt from Vietnam can be fulfilled.
“Last month I met with the Vietnamese Ambassador to Ireland Mr Vu Quang Minh and I impressed upon the Ambassador Ireland’s wish to continue to see Vietnam as a country of choice for adoption for prospective Irish adoptive parents.
“The Vietnamese authorities have worked assiduously over recent months in preparing to ratify the Hague Convention and to develop an adoption process that supports safe and secure domestic and inter-country adoptions.
“I know this has been a difficult time for the many Irish families who hope to adopt from Vietnam, but I hope that Vietnam’s decision to ratify now means that the administrative arrangements required to commence adoptions from Vietnam can finally be put in place.
“The necessary diplomatic engagements will continue between Ireland and Vietnam to ensure these final steps are now taken and I have already arranged to again meet the Vietnamese Ambassador to Ireland before the end of the month.”
Update: “UNICEF applauds the recent ratification by Viet Nam of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation with respect to Inter-country Adoption.
Following the signature of the Hague Convention by Viet Nam in December 2010, the President approved its ratification in July 2011. The country is expected to be a full member of the Hague Convention in February 2012.
“UNICEF congratulates the Government of Viet Nam 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 operationalise the principles regarding inter-country adoption that are contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child”, says Ms. Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Viet Nam Representative. “It is indeed a formidable step forward in ensuring that inter-country adoption is used as a child protection measure applied only as a last resort and in the best interests of the child without parental care.”
There are approximately 2.1 million children living in extremely difficult circumstances in Viet Nam, including 176,000 orphans and abandoned children, according to recent government estimates. Adoption is the one of the main forms of alternative care available for these children.
As of the late 1990s, Viet Nam has been among the most popular countries of origin for child adoption, with at least 10,000 children being adopted worldwide. Statistics from the Assessment of the Adoption System in Viet Nam by International Social Services, commissioned by UNICEF and the Ministry of Justice in 2009, indicated that adoptions from Viet Nam have been significant and generally on the increase in the past years (from 1,183 cases to 1,658 cases annually between 2002 and 2008 respectively).
Following serious concerns expressed in the end of the 2000s about the processes for inter-country adoption, which resulted in countries such as Ireland and the United States of America imposing a moratorium on inter-country adoption from Viet Nam, the Government of Viet Nam has engaged in reform to ensure that child adoption is in line with the in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
This reform has been spearheaded by the Ministry of Justice. A new law on Child Adoption was passed by the Parliament in June 2010, followed by a Decree developed by the Government to operationalize the law in March 2011. The ratification of The Hague Convention is yet another milestone in strengthening the legal framework regulating child adoption. UNICEF is immensely proud to be associated with this successful reform.
The Hague Convention is an important legal document for children, birth families and prospective foreign adopters. It sets out obligations for the authorities of countries from which children leave for adoption, and those that are receiving these children. The Convention is designed to ensure ethical and transparent processes. It gives paramount consideration to the best interests of the child, as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It includes ensuring that adoptions are authorized only by competent authorities, guided by informed consent of all concerned, that inter-country adoption enjoys the same safeguards and standards which apply in national adoptions, and that inter-country adoption does not result in improper financial gain for those involved in it.
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 prospective adoptive parents that their child has not been the subject of illegal practices.
‘As Viet Nam has become a State Party to the Hague Convention, we would like to stress the importance of the three critical principles of the Hague Convention that will guide any decisions regarding long-term substitute care for children. First, family-based solutions are generally preferable to institutional placements; second, permanent solutions are generally preferable to inherently temporary ones; and thirdly, domestic solutions are generally preferable to those involving another country, since they ensure continuity in a child’s upbringing and respect of the child’s ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background”, Ms. Sylwander adds.
UNICEF Representative also warns that “due diligence about the implementation of the adoption reform in general and The Hague Convention in particular is required in the coming years in order to ensure that the recently ratified Convention is indeed complied with”. This due diligence includes strengthening monitoring systems for national and inter-country adoption, as well redoubling communication and capacity development activities at all levels of the Government and throughout the country about the ongoing child adoption reform.
In light of the impact of child abandonment on national and inter-country adoption, UNICEF is currently supporting MOLISA to conduct a Study on Child Abandonment and Relinquishment to understand the magnitude, trends and root causes of child abandonment in Viet Nam.
The study will provide a greater understanding about thecauses and patterns on institutionalisation of children. It will set the basis for the formation and improvement of preventive child welfare measures as well as child protection systems, especially de-institutionalisation of children and the expansion of alternative care options for vulnerable children.
UNICEF is also assisting the Ministry of Justice to develop a National Project to support the implementation of the Hague Convention to ensure compliance. The National Project will be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval in early 2012 for funding by the Government. In addition, UNICEF is supporting the piloting of a programme on inter-country adoption for children with special needs in four provinces with high numbers of children with special needs, including Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau and Da Nang.”
UNICEF commends ratification by Vietnam of the Hague convention on inter-country child adoption
[Bao Mo 12/1/11]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Recent Comments