COA’s Director of Hague Accreditation, Jayne Schmidt, will be travelling to the Hague as a representative on the US government’s delegation at the upcoming Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the 1993 Hague Adoption Convention.  The Special Commission is a multilateral forum for government officials from across the globe  convened every 5 years to exchange views on ways the Convention is working, challenges in intercountry adoption and ways to improve international cooperation.  

This year, the discussions will focus on:

• The trends of intercountry adoption in the past 20 years
• Achievements and challenges regarding the principle of subsidiarity (seeking domestic placements before international placements)
• Finding ways for the intercountry adoption process to run smoothly and efficiently to eliminate delays contrary to the best interests of the child, 
• Children with special needs
• Post-adoption issues, including post-adoption support, disruptions and dissolutions, and searches for origins
• Habitual residence, and specifically a discussion on adoptions that were completed as domestic adoptions but that should be covered by the Convention
• Discussions of relative adoptions, open adoption, and kafala

 Learn more about the Special Commission.