Bangladesh - war babies (1971)

Inter-country adoption of the war-babies Following a personal request of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the U.S. Branch of the Geneva-based International Social Service (ISS/AB) was the first international non-profit organisation to come forward to advise the government concerning the war-babies. Two local voluntary agencies, the Dhaka-based Bangladesh-Central Organisation for Women Rehabilitation and the Family Planning Association, had worked with the ISS throughout the consultation and implementation phases.

Canadian initiative in adopting the war-babies Canada was one of the first countries in the world which had expressed an interest to adopt the war-babies of Bangladesh. Through personal efforts of Mother Teresa and her colleagues at Missionaries of Charity, and the government of Bangladesh's Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, two Canadian organisations got involved in adoptions. They were the Montreal-based Families for Children, a non-profit adoption agency for inter-country adoption, and the Toronto-based Kuan-Yin Foundation (pursuing relief of distressed children in the world), a non-profit adoption agency initiated by a group of enthusiastic Canadians. There were other countries such as the US, the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia, to name a few. In addition, there were many organisations, such as, the US-based Holt Adoption Program, Inc. and Terre des Hommes.