Abstract:
This revised speech characterizes the dramatic decline in international adoption since 2004 as a major child human rights tragedy, deliberately created by governmental and NGO policy-makers. It contrasts U.S. human rights policy imposing sanctions for the violation of adult human rights, to U.S. failure to act in the face of child human rights violations. It calls for a change in U.S. policy that would: (1) Hold countries accountable for the human rights violations inherent in their shutdowns of international adoption and their institutionalization of children; and (2) Stop enabling UNICEF, through our funding, to eliminate international adoption as an option for children.