In view of recent trends which continue to make intercountry
adoption a possible and interesting care option for many children,
the Assembly reiterates its call to Council of Europe member States
to reinforce their relevant policies to pursue the practice of intercountry
adoption under secure conditions while respecting the best interests
of the child, by:
6.1 signing and
ratifying, if they have not yet done so, the Hague Convention on
Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry
Adoption and the European Convention on the Adoption of Children
(revised) as complementary texts, with a view to effectively protecting
children in the framework of intercountry adoptions;
6.2 signing and ratifying, if they have not yet done so, the
Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human
Beings (CETS No. 197) as well as the Convention on the Protection
of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No.
201), with a view to protecting children against crimes which may
be related to intercountry adoption;
6.3 developing coherent national policies aimed at establishing
fully supervised procedures of intercountry adoption involving a
public central authority, which may – thanks to a sufficient level
of resources – function as a competence centre and ensure a certain
supervision of adoption standards and practice;
6.4 developing strict rules and standards for the setting
up, operation and supervision of specialist child adoption agencies
in order to prevent their unregulated multiplication and competition
from leading to insufficiently supervised adoption procedures or
other unsafe practices;
6.5 6.5.ensuring that the origins and personal identity of
children are fully documented throughout the adoption process and
beyond and that children have the possibility of accessing all information concerning
them at the age of 18 at the latest;
6.6 ensuring that adoption services and agencies work in a
child-friendly manner as promoted by Recommendation CM/Rec(2011)12
of the Committee of Ministers on children’s rights and social services
friendly to children and families, in particular with a view to
the participation of children in decisions concerning them;
6.7 establishing a formal framework for regular international
exchanges and solid co-operation in this field in order to effectively
combat criminal activities related to intercountry adoption and
prosecute offenders;
6.8 as regards countries receiving children to be adopted
in particular, conceiving national adoption policies and procedures
according to the following principles:
6.8.1 developing
strong national adoption systems, as a means of responding to the
interest of prospective adopters in the most secure manner and preventing
them from turning to non-accredited agencies or independent adoptions
which could expose them to illegal activities;
6.8.2 establishing authorisation procedures ensuring that prospective
adopters are suitable to adopt and obliged to follow specific training
preparing them to welcome a foreign child, possibly even a child
with special needs (due to illness or disability);
6.8.3 ensuring that the foreign children being adopted are fully
monitored well before, during and after the actual legal act of
adoption for an adequate number of years, and that families receive
support throughout and after the adoption process;
6.8.4 declaring moratoria if, for whatever reason (humanitarian
disasters for example), safe adoption procedures can no longer be
ensured, but maintaining open lines of communication between central
authorities involved to avoid legal vacuums and traumatising uncertainties
for the children;
6.9 as regards the sending countries in particular, conceiving
national adoption policies and procedures according to the following
principles:
6.9.1 establish authorisation procedures ensuring
that children foreseen for intercountry adoption are truly in need
and that no better care alternative exists in their country of origin;
6.9.2 reinforce family planning services and improve the living
conditions of families living in extreme poverty and the support
provided to them in order to avoid their considering intercountry adoption
as a care option for their children and thus exposing them to the
risk of being drawn into “child laundering” activities;
6.10 at Council of Europe level, where children’s rights are
promoted through various texts and activities, ensuring that the
issue of intercountry adoption be considered in the work related
to the Strategy on the Rights of the Child (2012-2015) and the action
plan proposed for its implementation;
6.11 wherever appropriate, participating in and promoting international
exchanges aimed at assisting countries in need in developing national
alternative care options for children without parental care as well as
effective child protection services, including for children with
special needs (with illnesses or disabilities).
