Update from Kathmandu, Nepal…
Kathmandu: A meeting was held today between the consulates, embassies of various countries in Nepal and the Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare to discuss and update International Adoption of Nepal. The meeting was coordinated by the German Embassy here in Nepal.
The Ministry briefed the international offices about a “Code of Conduct “which the government is planning to introduce to stake holders of international adoption which would include the orphanages, representatives and agencies. A participant of the meeting said that this Code of Conduct however did not speak about anything for the Ministry ” themselves” who with the centralization of process has become the key players of adoption.
The ministry also updated in the meeting that almost two hundred fifty dossiers have been registered, however the ministry did not “openly” state about the matching status said a participant. He added that several important questions raised by the embassies and consulates were not clarified by the Nepal officials, the counsels were not satisfied with govt. response to their questions. Meanwhile according to a reliable source the Ministry has matched children from three families of American Agency Holt International.
The ministry has directly mailed the referral package to these three families. This has taken the representatives here and adoption agencies abroad by surprise. “Nepal has just ratified the Hague and according to Hague communication with the family has to be through the Agency” said one of the representative from the Adoption Agencies Representative Forum Nepal (AARFN) “ We representatives are confused and surprised by Ministry’s step of sending the child referral directly to the families, there is a system which the New Terms and Conditions have laid down and the government should walk on those lines”.
The new rules states of families going through an approved agency.
The government had last year invited application from agencies abroad and approved and accredited 68 adoption agencies earlier to work for international Adoption from Nepal.
Tags: adoption, international, International Adoption, Kathmandu, nepal, nepal adoption