International adoption agency sets up in Guadalajara

International adoption agency sets up in Guadalajara
Written by GR Staff
Saturday, 24 January 2009
GUADALAJARA - The global humanitarian organization Amici dei Bambini,
a standard-setter in the world of international adoption, has
announced the start of operations in Mexico, with headquarters in
Guadalajara.

Marco Griffini, president of the international non-profit group, this
week met with Felipe de Jesus Alvarez Cibrian, head of Jalisco's Human
Rights Commission to promote cooperation and a pooling of resources.
Alvarez said the commission will research ways to improve adoption
processes, particularly international adoption, as global commitments
in Mexico often fall by the wayside when confronted with local legal
roadblocks.

Amici dei Bambini was established in January 1986 by a group of
adoptive parents. The organization operates in Italy and 29 countries
around the world to promote international cooperation and adoption to
help millions of children who grow up in orphanages. Amici dei Bambini
is an authorized agency for intercountry adoptions, accredited by the
United Nations Public Information Department.

The group works to complete all legal requirements and paperwork for
international adoptions, train and prepare adoptive parents for their
new arrival, and create and promote networks of foster families. Amici
dei Bambini's self-professed goal is to put children's rights first,
giving all orphaned and abandoned children a chance to live with a
true family, outside an institutional environment.

The recently ratified Hague Convention for Intercountry Adoption –
intended to prevent the abduction, exploitation, sale and trafficking
of children – has also complicated the already intricate legal process
in Mexico.