ALL plans are in place for Guyana’s hosting of the Hague Convention Conference which will unfold within days at the Pegasus Hotel under the theme: “International Family Law, Legal Cooperation and Commerce, Promoting Human Rights and Cross-Border Trade in Guyana through the Hague Convention.”The conference, set for July 13-15, will be facilitated by the Legal Affairs Ministry in partnership with UNICEF Guyana and the Hague Conference on Private and International Law.
At a joint press conference with the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Ministry, UNICEF Representative for Guyana and Suriname, Marianne Flach, expressed the hope that the conference will act as a stimulus for the adoption of the draft policy on alternative care in Guyana.
Flach told reporters that it is important for the country to put the necessary legal framework in place to safeguard children, as she alluded to cases where children have been trafficked or abducted in the nation of adoption. Though they are many unconfirmed reports, the UNICEF Representative said there are stories of “Guyanese children ending up in Suriname, Suriname children ending up in French Guiana and children from other Caribbean nations ending up in Guyana and Suriname.”

Though they are many unconfirmed reports, the UNICEF Representative said there are stories of “Guyanese children ending up in Suriname, Suriname children ending up in French Guiana and children from other Caribbean nations ending up in Guyana and Suriname.”

Such cases can be linked to places such as Haiti and the U.S.; Flach said Guyana and neighbouring countries such as Suriname are no exceptions.
Though they are many unconfirmed reports, the UNICEF Representative said there are stories of “Guyanese children ending up in Suriname, Suriname children ending up in French Guiana and children from other Caribbean nations ending up in Guyana and Suriname.”
As such, she said it is important to have laws in place to ensure that children are protected. “We shouldn’t wait until we hear about illegal adoption or abduction of children in the Caribbean before we take action, we should be very proactive and put the systems in place.”
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or Hague Abduction Convention is a multilateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from one member country to another.
It is the hope of UNICEF that Guyana will soon become a Member of the Hague Convention. Such a move, Flach said, will be of great benefit to the country. “Once a country is a member, it has access to technical and financial assistance to improve its legal framework,” she explained.
Additionally, she said membership status also paves the way for judges from member countries to be a part of the HCCH Judicial Network. “We hope that Guyana will be the first country in the Caribbean to appoint judges to the network,” said an optimistic Flach.
Minister Williams, who addressed the logistics of the conference, said approximately 200 national, regional and international representatives are expected to participate in the three-day conference.
President David Granger, Hague Secretary-General, UNICEF Regional Representatives and Members of the Guyana Government are among the key officials expected to participate in the grand opening ceremony set for July 13.
Attorneys General from across the region, the Caribbean Court of Justice, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Supreme Court of Justice, judges from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago,The Bahamas, Haiti and Suriname are expected to be in attendance, in addition to representatives from Brazil, Venezuela and Aruba among other countries. (Svetlana Marshall)