WITH an excess of 500 children currently in institutional care, the newly constituted Adoption Board is moving ahead to address a number of pending cases of local persons and families wanting to adopt. Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud, in her progress report to the Department of Public Information related that the processing of applications for international adoptions has been stalled. This is because Guyana is not yet in alignment with the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperating in Respect of Inter-country Adoption (Hague Convention). The Convention operates with the aim of protecting children and their families from trafficking, and illegal and ill-prepared adoptions. The treaty, signed by 99 countries, focuses on the need for its member states to work together to prevent the abduction, sale or trafficking of children.

According to research, the core belief of the Hague Convention is that the birth family or extended family should raise a child; in cases where this is not possible, other forms of care within the child’s birth country should be considered. The convention believes that inter-country adoption should only be pursued once all local options have been explored and ruled out. Minister Persaud has indicated that efforts are being made to ensure that Guyana is properly aligned with the convention. “With the help of the Attorney General’s office, we amended that legislation and it has to go to Parliament; until that’s passed by Parliament, it will have to be on hold,” Dr Persaud noted. Guyana’s Adoption Board comprises Subhadra Sukhai, Anuradha Persaud, Vanessa Benn, Sarah Ibrahim, Dwayne Adams, Sylvia Conway and Anne Green, Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA).

Green told the Guyana Chronicle that the board has commenced its meetings, and that it is working assiduously to process at least 10 cases per meeting. She explained that many of the pending cases are not necessarily “backlogs,” but rather, cases that may have been be delayed for various reasons. “For instance, persons may have trouble with getting lawyers and so address their cases,” Green posited. She gave a reminder that the principal mission of the CPA is to ensure that children are raised in a stable and safe environment; one that is conducive to their overall growth and well-being as individuals. The Adoption Board is intended to provide support to the CPA as it seeks to execute this mandate via various mediums, including adoption.