Government amends adoption procedures (The Himalayan Times)






Government amends adoption procedures

2010-12-20

The Himalayan Times

KATHMANDU: Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) has amended some provisions in the inter-country adoption Act-2008 in an effort to regulate child adoptions.

The decision comes after countries that regularly adopted orphans from Nepal halted inter-country child adoption indefinitely citing irregularities, especially use of falsified documents.

Germany and Canada had banned adoption of Nepali children citing cases of abuse, fraudulent documents and false statements about children’s origin and other related information.


Sher Jung Karki, under secretary at the ministry said direct intervention had become necessary to make orphanages accountable. After the amendment, only those homes or orphanages operating for more than six years will be eligible to provide children for adoption. Besides, the amendment aims to control child trafficking.
The amendment has made it mandatory for adoptions to be attested by a notary public. He said this was in keeping with the international standard recommended by the Hague Convention. With the amendment, the ministry will give priority to adoptive parents willing to adopt children in need of special attention. European nations, particularly Italy, France, Spain and the US are major recipients of adopted children from Nepal.

Although the ministry has plans to set up an independent body to handle adoption, it lacks budget. Children’s homes collect US$ 5,000 from each child being adopted, whereas prospective parents pay US$ 3,000 as revenue to the government of Nepal.


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

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