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USAID to help improve adoptions in Ghana

August 10, 2016 by Thomas Geygan

Flag_of_Ghana.svgThe Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) and USAID last Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Accra under which USAID will provide $3 million to improve child adoption and fosterage in Ghana.

The money is being sourced from the USAID’s Displaced Children and Orphans Fund.Specifically, the MoU, which will cover a five-year period, aims at strengthening the quality of social work of the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) which is under the ministry.

The Sector Minister, Nana Oye Lithur, signed on behalf of the government, while the USAID-Ghana Mission Director, Mr Andy Karas, signed on behalf of USAID.

Mr Robert Jackson, the US Ambassador to Ghana, initialed for his country.

Effective protective system 

In a speech prior to the signing of the MOU, Nana Oye said the funding would contribute to the creation of a more effective protective social welfare system and better position the DSW to activate other alternative care interventions which promote the healthy development of children, strong families and safe communities.

She said the government’s long-term policy objective for child care reform is to de-emphasise the over-reliance on care systems for children based on institutionalisation and promote a range of integrated family and community-based care services for children without appropriate parental care.

She said the reforms emphasise early intervention, effective monitoring and protection within the overall system of child protection.

Nana Oye announced that a Central Adoption Authority had thus been established to oversee all adoptions, with the view to promoting the well-being and best interest of children.

The authority also regulates inter-country adoptions.

She said the ministry had also initiated a process towards the development of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) policy which would eventually lead to the enactment of a legal and regulatory framework on the establishment and running of NGOs in the country.

Strengthening social works

Mr Karas, for his part, said the partnership would help in establishing standards for orphanages to ensure that no child lived in a substandard orphanage.

He commended social workers in the country for their efforts at ensuring that they put to good use the few resources available to them.

He said every child in Ghana deserved to live in a decent home and was optimistic that the partnership would help ensure that vulnerable children lived in dignity.

Mr Karas expressed USAID’s commitment to work with the government to ensure the security and protection of all children.

Mr Jackson, in his remarks, said many of the country’s one million orphans were living in unlicensed orphanages, and added that those children were often subjected to violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect and were not guaranteed the basic necessities of life such as food, water, education and health care.

Filed Under: Adoption, Family based Immigration

Ghana to investigate adoptions by Americans

June 3, 2015 by Thomas Geygan

ChildNana Oye Lithur, the Director of Social Welfare, Mrs Comfort Asare, has hinted that her outfit will look into circumstances under which 124 Ghanaians were adopted by citizens of the United States of America (USA) in 2013/2014 at a time when a temporary ban was imposed on adoptions.

She said this in reaction to The Finder’s question about data from the US State Department which shows that 124 Ghanaians were adopted by US citizens in 2013/2014.

Thomson Reuters Foundation published the data gathered from its investigations.

The craze to live abroad is one major reason for the high incidence of adoptions.

Over 1,120 Ghanaian children were adopted between 2010 and 2012. The majority of the adopted children are sent to the United States of America (USA) and Europe.

Out of the number, 800 children were adopted by foreigners, with the rest being adopted locally.

Mrs Asare explained that even though she has not seen the US State Department report or the publication by Reuters, her department would look into it.

She explained that she suspects that the said adoptions could have been done by Ghanaians who have obtained US citizenship and adopted their distant relatives.

The 124 Ghanaians are among 6,441 children adopted by US citizens from around the world, hundreds of them from Africa.

A Thomson Reuters Foundation investigation found that families in Uganda have been bribed, tricked or coerced into giving up their children to U.S. citizens and other foreigners for adoption.

In Africa, Ghana placed 5th on the list of top 10 countries for US adoptive parents.

Ethiopia topped the list with 716 adoptions, followed by Democratic Republic of Congo with 230 adoptions; Uganda had 201 adoptions at third position; Nigeria, 130 adoptions, at fourth position; Ghana, 124 adoptions at fifth position; and Morocco, 43 adoptions at sixth position.

The rest are Sierra Leone, 33 adoptions, seventh position; South Africa, 24 adoptions, eighth position; Liberia, 16 adoptions, ninth position; and Zambia eight adoptions at 10th position.

Worldwide, China topped the list of 10 countries for US adoptive parents in the fiscal year 2014, with 2,040 adoptions.

Others are Ethiopia at second position with 716 adoptions; Ukraine occupied third position with 521 adoptions; Haiti placed fourth with 464 adoptions; South Korea at fifth position with 370 adoptions; and Democratic Republic of Congo placing sixth with 230 adoptions.

The rest are Uganda, 201 adoptions at the seventh position; Bulgaria, 183 adoptions at the eighth position; Colombia placed ninth with 172 adoptions, and Philippines came 10th with 172 adoptions.

Original Article

Filed Under: Adoption, Family based Immigration

Gahanna Cabinet approves memorandum on child adoption and others

February 18, 2015 by Thomas Geygan

Flag_of_Ghana.svgCabinet has granted approval for memoranda on children for the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection as follows:

  • Ratification of The 1993 Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoptions
  • Amendment of the Children’s Act
  • Approval of Child And Family Welfare Policy and
  • Approval for the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography to be Laid Before Parliament for Ratification

The ratification of the 1993 Hague Convention on inter-country adoption, will enable Ghana to better comply with the provisions on alternative care as provided for in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and thereby better protect the best interest of the child. It will also provide an opportunity for Ghana to regulate its laws on inter-country adoptions.

Cabinet’s approval for ratification of the Convention will enable Government to create a Central Authority for Adoption in Ghana to be responsible for the processing of all inter-country adoptions. Furthermore, Ghana’s accession to the 1993 Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, will make monitoring of children placed in inter-country adoption effective.

Ghana’s accession to the 1993 Hague Convention on inter-country adoption requires that the Children’s Act be amended. For this reason, Cabinet has approved a request from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to amend the Children’s Act.

The Child and Family Welfare Policy approved by Cabinet, seeks to establish a well-structured and coordinated Child and Family Welfare system that promotes the wellbeing of children, prevents abuse and protects children from harm. The overall goal of the Policy is to help formulate child and family welfare programs and activities to more effectively prevent and protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. The Policy is guided by national and internationally-recognized principles, as well as values, beliefs and practices specific to Ghana.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography has been approved to be laid before Parliament for ratification. The Optional Protocol criminalizes the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Optional Protocol, seeks to reinforce the protection of the rights of the child and thus guarantee such rights as relate to sexual and economic exploitation and from doing any work that will interfere with the child’s education or harmful to the health, moral or social development of child.

Filed Under: Adoption, AOS Family, Family based Immigration, Family Member, Immigration

NVC No Longer Requires Original Documents

November 15, 2014 by Thomas Geygan

GeyganKeyboardSubject: National Visa Center No Longer Collecting Original Civil Documents

1. Summary. The National Visa Center (NVC) will cease collecting original civil documents in support of immigrant visa (IV) applications as of November 12, 2014. Most applicants will be required to submit photocopies of supporting documents (such as birth, marriage, and police certificates) and will be instructed to take their original documents to their interviews for review. This does not include Affidavit of Support forms, which petitioners will still submit to NVC for initial evaluation. End Summary.

New Instructions to Applicants

2. After applicants and petitioners collect the Affidavit of Support form(s), financial evidence,
and supporting civil documents, they are instructed to submit all of the documents to NVC. As of November 12, 2014, applicants at non-electronic processing posts will be instructed to submit photocopies of their civil documents by mail. NVC will review the copies and, when the case is documentarily complete, will place the copies into the file, which will be sent to post, increasing the number of cases that are documentarily qualified. When the appointment is scheduled, NVC will instruct applicants to bring their original documents to the interview for evaluation and final case processing. Original Affidavit of Support forms will still be submitted to NVC for initial evaluation. Applicants at designated electronic processing posts will continue to submit their documents via email.

3. NVC anticipates this change will maintain the integrity of the IV process, reduce customer wait times, and improve the customer experience overall.

Filed Under: Adoption, AOS Family, AOS Marriage, Employment Visas, Family based Immigration, Family Member, Family Visas, Green Card, Green Card, Immigration

NVC triples its review time

October 8, 2014 by Thomas Geygan

NewImmigrationLawsJune2013We received the following email from NVC this morning:

The National Visa Center (NVC) received your documents on 06-OCT-14.
We are currently receiving an increased number of approved petitions from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. As a result, we are experiencing increased review times for documents received.
We expect it will be at least 60 days from the date we received your mail before we complete the review of your documents. We will notify you when we review your documents.
We are working to reduce these processing times and we appreciate your patience.

Because of these increased document review times it is even more important to make sure that you submit all of the documents required by NVC. Missing documents will extend the document review phase to at least four months. If you have any questions about which documents are required please ask your attorney, or if filing pro se please check both the documents you received from the NVC and the reciprocity schedule for the country of origin.

If you would like our help, please call my office at 513-791-1673 and we will schedule a time to discuss what is needed.

Filed Under: Adoption, AOS Family, AOS Marriage, Employment, Family based Immigration, Family Visas, Green Card, Green Card, TIPs, Waiver

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