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Amy and Ano are twins, but just after they were born they were taken from their mother and sold to separate families.
They found out about each other by chance and as they delved into their past, they realised thousands of babies in Georgia were stolen from hospitals and sold for adoption, some as recently as 2005. Now they want answers.
Abstract
International Adoption is a subsidiary measure for the protection of children – it only becomes an option if reintegrating a child into his/her extended family or adoption in the child’s country of origin is not possible. What are the rules that must be followed in intercountry adoption cases? What are each participant’s rights and duties? Who is allowed to adopt a child? What is the procedure? What are the opportunities and the risks if you become involved in providing a child with a proper home for the first time? This article aims to answer these questions and many others. It…
The Committee's recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.
Executive Summary
We demonstrate that the overuse of institutional care is far more widespread than official statistics suggest; it remains a very serious problem, with damaging effects on children’s development. Many attempts at reform have been well meaning but misguided, and there is a serious danger that many view the overthrow of the communist system as sufficient evidence of reform in the region. These problems have far-reaching consequences: each generation of damaged children is likely to turn into a generation of damaged adults, perpetuating the problems far into the future.…
Visionaries, a documentary series on public television in the United States, aired two episodes featuring the work of Disability Rights International (DRI) in uncovering the egregious abuses suffered by children and adults with disabilities living in institutions around the world. The first episode follows DRI investigators in Georgia as they follow up on a report they released in 2013 following a three-year investigation in that country. The second episode follows DRI investigators in Mexico who have recently published a report on institutions in Mexico City following a two-year…
Countries throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia struggle to change their childcare systems from one that is predominantly based on large-institution care to one that has a continuum of services and is family-focused. Georgia has shown, in large part, that the laudable goal of ending large-scale institutions for children is possible, including for children under the age of 6 years.
Between 2005 and 2013, the Government in the Republic of Georgia closed 32 large, state-run institutions housing children without adequate family care. Social work was strengthened…
Georgia’s child welfare reform has made important strides over the past eight years focusing largely on ending harmful child institutionalization. The child welfare reform process that started in 2005 is being implemented by the Government of Georgia with support from the international community and local NGOs. This video by Save the Children highlights some of the issues and the work of its project to support the Government in this reform process.
For the long version (12.54 mins) please click here…
This hard-hitting report by Disability Rights International (DRI) is the product of a 3-year investigation into the orphanages, adult social care homes and other institutions that house children and adults with disabilities in the Republic of Georgia. Over the past decade, the Government of Georgia has undertaken an ambitious child care reform process. As a result, the majority of its state-run institutions for children without disabilities have been closed and replaced with community services that enable vulnerable families to keep their children at home. DRI reports,…
Since 2005, the government of Georgia has made incredible progress in the area of child care reform. Guided by the National Child Action Plan (CAP) 2008-2011, the government of Georgia began the process of ending the use of large institutions in the country. A specific plan of action covering 2011-2012, was further developed and implemented. Gatekeeping policies were introduced nation-wide and a child care coordination council involving relevant line ministries, NGOs and key donors has been established to facilitate and monitor the process.
The key objectives of the child care reform were…
UNICEF; the Ministry of Education and Science; the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs, EveryChild; Save the Children and the Children of Georgia commissioned an independent assessment of the deinstitutionalisation of children in Georgia in March and April 2010. The independent assessment examined, specifically, the deinstitutionalisation of children in special education boarding schools and child care institutions. Through interviews with key informants, children who had been reintegrated into communities, and children in foster care as well as visits to small group homes, child…