Italy: Adoption slowed by 'bureaucracy', says minister

Italy: Adoption slowed by 'bureaucracy', says minister

Rome, 24 Nov. (AKI) - Italy's "suffocating bureaucracy" was too slow in processing adoptions and failing to meet the needs of children, the Minister for Equal Opportunity, Mara Carfagna, said on Monday. In an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI), Carfagna said change was needed but she rejected adoption for single parents.

"In terms of adoption, I believe that we must speed up the time and broaden the scope of a suffocating bureaucracy," Carfagna told AKI.

"They are elements that really do not satisfy the requirements of minors. However, certain principles must be respected: beginning with giving a child an adequate family to guarantee stable and harmonious growth."

Carfagna will head an Italian delegation to the Third World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro from 25 to 28 November.

She stressed her opposition to adoption for single parents.

"A child has a right to a mother and a father. Certainly giving an adopted child to a single would always be better than leaving children in an institution or a poor environment, but for the most part, I do not support it.

"I believe in always taking the preferential course of a mother and father. Singles are not a family."

The Third World Congress has been organised by the Brazilian government, UNICEF, Ecpat International and other groups.

The congress will consider new ways of dealing with the sexual exploitation of children including legal rights and responsibilities, integrated political approaches and the role of the private sector.