Who Said What

Well, the U.S. is now a member of the Hague intercountry adoption convention. I think it sets the highest standard for intercountry adoptions. Now that we are part of that convention, we don’t intend to sign any new bilateral agreements. We want to urge all adoption partner countries to join the convention. But having said that, intercountry adoptions from and to countries that are not part of the convention will continue to be processed under existing U.S. immigration law and regulations. We hope that in the not-too-distant future all countries will be convention partners. All countries will see that this is a better way to go, that this is a responsible thing to do, that this again is a process with great integrity and transparency and is desirable.”

We have a MOA (memo of agreement) with the government of Vietnam. Frankly, I was just there toward the end of the year. And I told them that we don’t feel that they have met all of their obligations under the MOA and principally, that the schedule of fees we had sought out and they had promised has yet to be published. John, we have to review the MOA with them, it’s part of the process. When we signed it, we knew that come March of 2008, we needed to review it with an eye toward renewing it or amending it. And we are in that process now, sort of on the inter-agency front here in Washington and then we will go back to the Vietnamese. I was frank, I discussed the Convention with my counterpart in a variety of ministries in Vietnam as I have in the past, and they tell me that they are interested in becoming members. We really would like Vietnam and all major countries and partners in intercountry adoption to join the Hague. So we’re going to keep pushing for that. I will take the government of Vietnam at its word that it intends to become a Hague partner and this MOA that we signed now a couple of years ago, represents an interim measure. And we hope as short an interim as possible so that we can see Vietnam become a full Hague convention partner as well.”

During numerous meetings with MOLISA and MOJ, their desire to implement the Hague Convention was reconfirmed. Joint Council understands that the MOJ, as part of aligning practices with Hague standards, will permit the continuation of adoption licenses for agencies receiving Hague accreditation by the U.S. Central Authority. While the timing and other specifics remain uncertain, Joint Council and the U.S. Department of State have requested clarification. In addition, Joint Council has strongly advocated for the following.

1. All adoptions in which a referral has been issued are permitted to continue through to the finalization of the adoption.
2. Recognizing that a list of Hague accredited agencies has been announced by the U.S. Department of State via the Uniform Notification Date (February 29, 2008), agencies accredited as of April 1, 2008 (the date the Convention goes into full effect in the United States) be used to determine the continuation of licensure by the Vietnam MOJ.

Joint Council supports the MOJ and its continuation of licensure for Hague accredited agencies. Our support of this initiative is based on both principles and practicality. Given Joint Council’s long standing support of a functional implementation of the Convention in the U.S. and other countries, we encourage Vietnam’s movement toward that end. Given the expiration of the current MOA between the U.S. and Vietnam in less than six months (on September 1, 2008), this decision by the MOJ is a strong indicator of Vietnam’s serious intent to continue permanency and humanitarian services via a new or amended MOA.

While some may see the continuation of licensure for only Hague accredited agencies as overly restrictive, Joint Council fully recognizes this utilization of Convention principles as a means of ensuring both best practices and a key element for the continuation of finding permanent, safe and loving families for the children of Vietnam.

Joint Council continues to advocate for all JCICS member and affiliate organizations with programs in Vietnam and those hoping to establish them. It is, however, important to bear in mind that Joint Council is not alone in this conversation. As we all know, there are multiple entities, governmental and non-governmental, involved in the on-going negotiations around re-establishing the MOA between the US and Vietnam. As a contribution to these negotiations, Joint Council offered the recently created Standards of Practice for Vietnam ”“ a document all involved parties recognized as “a key element of elevating child welfare services….”Joint Council encourages Vietnam’s movement toward functional implementation of the Hague Convention and, pending that eventuality, strongly supports continuation of programs and agency licensure based on best practice as outlined in the Joint Council Standards of Practice for Vietnam.

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Putting all of this together, I’m struck by a couple of things.
1. There’s a lot of posturing going on by people involved in the renegotiation of the Agreement.
2. Vietnam’s commitment to signing/implementing the Hague seems to be key in these renegotiations.Please feel free to discuss this issue in the comments, remembering as always to stay on topic.