Strategy - Supporting Adoptions in Guatemala

Sunday June 1, 2003 Strategy (RE-posted with permission from Hannah Wallace, Adoptions International from the St. John's Listserve).

{UPDATE TO POST BELOW: I had a call from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute today, with a request that people PLEASE STOP WRITING TO THEM. Their email is getting backed up. Please continue to write to your Congressional Reps. Several have already contacted the CCAI, so CCAI has enough Congressional interest to begin to try to get involved in the situation.

Hannah Wallace, Adoptions International}

Dear Friends,

I agree with others that a strategy is needed for effective
advocacy. It may be helpful to separate the issues and develop a strategy for
each aspect of the problem. There is alot of documentation which can be used to support positions we are taking in each area. I also agree that the most effective advocacy is to inform and educate. We should not be intimidated by the fact that we are each small voices in a large constituency when approaching
our elected officials. Because, aside from the larger global issues we're addressing, each family's personal passion and "story" will also resonate. And we should also keep in mind that the Congressional Coalition on Adoption has about 160 Senators and Congressmen/women, bipartisan, who have been touched by adoption personally, or moved by members of their constituencies to get involved.

Appeals to our individual representatives can only help to increase their members. So, aside from writing to individual congressional reps, all correspondence should be also sent to The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) ... Executive Director, Kerry Marks Hasenbalg - email address:

kerry@ccainstitute.org

Letters can also go to the U.S. Ambassador in Guatemala, John Hamilton, and
the Consul General, Michael Jacobson. I don't have the individual email
addresses, but the Consular Section's adoption address is:
adoptguatemala@state.gov

The other relevant office is the Office of Children's Issues, Department of
State

The Issues (and whom to address):

(1) The issue of whether the HCT is applicable to U.S. adoptive families, as
the U.S. has signed, but not ratified, the Hague Treaty. It only HAS to be applicable to both parties of the Convention, and the U.S. is a third party. There will be a model letter posted shortly to address this issue to (a) your individual congressional representatives (b) Consul General Michael Jacobson in Guatemala (c) The Congressional Coaltion of Adoption Institute - The papers supporting this argument have already been filed with the U.S. Embassy and the Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (equivalent to Department of State in the U.S.).

(2) The broader issue of interpretation of the Hague Treaty and its requirements from a Country which has ratified. A model of this letter will be provided shortly and it should be addressed to the same people as above. We know that UNICEF, Casa Alianza, several European countries, and other groups have been pressing the PGN/Central Authority to take a very narrow interpretation of the HCT, while the U.S. has been supporting a more moderate interpretation. There are RUMORS that officials from the Hague have also been pressing the UNICEF interpretation. Some adoption professionals have already put our Consul General and the CCAI "on alert" and asked for clarification and negotiation with the Hague officials re: this. However, public pressure is really needed to get some action and
answers.

BOTH of these letters should be sent out TODAY or early TOMORROW (ASAP).

(3) The long standing phenomena of Criminalization of Adoption, which is
being addressed by those developing a UNICEF letter, to go to the UNICEF financial supporters and spokespersons for UNICEF. Gregory's most recent post, which describes the circular nature of the "documentation" (or lack of documentation and logic) and a summary analysis of the flaws in his "documentation" needs to be addressed to our Public Officials as well as UNICEF supporters.

(4) The more global HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES inherent in how adoption programs are implemented. We will be providing a position paper shortly which addresses these concerns very specifically.

Hannah Wallace, Adoptions International - Philadelphia

The correct link for the status of the Hague is: http://www.hcch.net/e/status/stat33e.html