Publications

The UNICEF research programmes at Innocenti were established in 1989 with funding from the Government of Italy, a contribution and commitment that continues today. Two broad areas of research were established early on: the impact of socio-economic change on children, and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which had recently come into force. The Centre’s most significant contributions to date have continued to be in these fields, but programmes, projects and plans have grown, developed, evolved and been re-dimensioned over the 25 years of the Centre’s existence, according to global needs and resources. This publication offers a brief history of both the Florentine Ospedale where the UNICEF Office of Research is house and with contributions from former directors and staff members, an overview of successes, opportunities and a look towards the future.

Il Digest sulla adozione transnazionale presenta in maniera imparziale le problematiche relative alla adozione di bambini provenienti da un altro paese e da una diversa cultura. Il rapporto illustra le misure atte a garantire il rispetto dell'interesse superiore del minore nel corso del processo di adozione, facendo anche luce sulle pratiche illegali di adozione volte allo sfruttamento dei bambini dei loro genitori, sia biologici che adottivi.

Este Digest examina la adopción internacional como una de las soluciones posibles para aquellos niños que no pueden vivir con sus familias. Los documentos internacionales, generalmente aceptados, especifican las condiciones en las cuales se debe llevar a cabo la adopción internacional si se pretende proteger y respetar plenamente los derechos y el interés superior de los niños implicados en dicho proceso. Aunque se están realizando esfuerzos significativos por implementar las normas y los procedimientos establecidos, la práctica actual suele implicar la violación de estas reglas. El Digest indica cuáles son los abusos que se cometen en la adopción internacional, así como las medidas que hay que tomar para luchar contra tales violaciones y para defender las “prácticas mejores” en este campo. Un comentario titulado “Los niños y la adopción: Qué derechos y de quién” desenmascara algunos errores comunes relativos a la adopción internacional, como por ejemplo la noción del “derecho a tener un hijo”, y propone medidas que puedan garantizar que los derechos del niño sean “la consideración primordial”. El Digest proporciona también informaciones sobre las Autoridades Centrales que han adherido al Convenio de La Haya en Materia de Adopción Internacional y detalles sobre algunas de las organizaciones internacionales y regionales activas en este ámbito, y sugiere además lecturas ulteriores para quienes quieran profundizar el tema.

This Digest looks at intercountry adoption as one of a series of possible solutions for children unable to live with their families. Broadly accepted international instruments specify the conditions under which intercountry adoption should be undertaken if the rights and best interests of the children concerned are to be protected and fully respected. Although substantial efforts are being made to implement the standards and procedures set, current practices are often in violation of these norms. The Digest identifies abuses of intercountry adoption as well as the measures required to combat such violations and to uphold 'best practice' in this sphere. A commentary explores some popular fallacies about intercountry adoption, including the notion of 'the right to a child', and suggests measures that will ensure that the rights of the child will be "the paramount consideration". The Digest also provides information on existing Central Authorities under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.

Even though all South Asian countries have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, there is as yet little awareness in the region of the importance of this Convention at various levels including policy planning, activism and legal reform in the on-going effort to achieve children’s rights. Thus argues Savitri Goonesekere, whose primary objective in this book is to outline the options available for using the Convention to create a legal system favourable to the realization of the rights of the child in South Asia. The first chapters discuss the international legal environment and the assumptions underlying South Asian domestic legislation on children’s rights, together with the conceptual framework of the Convention. The core of the book focuses on ‘best interests’ and examines such issues as trafficking in children, the status of the girl child, adoption and foster care, child prostitution, and the child as victim of abuse and violence.

This paper investigates the dilemmas that arise in applying the ‘best interests’ principle, particularly as the term is used in Article 3(1) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to concrete situations involving the treatment of children. The topics covered include: historical and current usages of the principle in domestic and international law; the technical meaning of the terms employed in the Convention; the problem of indeterminacy that the application of the best interests principle in a given situation will not necessarily lead to any particular outcome; how the principle relates to the overall debate over cultural relativism; the approach adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the world's most widely ratified international human rights treaty. It thus provides an ideal context in which to examine the relationship between different cultural values and the interntional community's oft-stated aspiration to achieve universal human rights standards. This volume focuses upon a widely accepted family law principle according to which "the best interests of the child" shall be "a primary consideration...in all actions concerning children." Through a combination of broad theoretical analyses and country-specific case studies the distinguished contributors demonstrate that cultural values are inevitably a major factor in the interpretation and application of many human rights norms.