Addressing UNICEF

If you are like me, you grew up to think that UNICEF does great things. But if you asked me what great things they did, I wouldn't know and would probably say something like, "Ummm, they help children?" UNICEF is a very misunderstood organization. In the eyes of adoptive parents like us, they DON'T really help children. They don't operate the way I suspect most of you would assume they do.

I am using this to help educate you on UNICEF. It was written by Kelly, who is an adoptive mother (from Guatemala) and she maintains a website (www.guatadopt.com) that helps keep adoptive parents aware of what is going on in Guatemala. It is especially crucial to know this now as adoptions are currently closed in Guatemala. There are many, many children who need nutrition, supplies, help and love. And there is no government agency in place to help them. My heart breaks for the children of Guatemala. I am currently working to post a listing of really good agencies that do wonderful work.

If you have a few minutes to read, please do! And pass it on. (It was written in October.)

It is the season, where thousands of trick-or-treaters take up the all to familiar can with a child's forelorn photo pasted on the side...all in the name of collecting for UNICEF. It is also a time where I personally feel betrayed along with thousands of other adoptive families. Now before I explain, I'll admit that before our adoption, I would gladly donate to UNICEF who "represented" the needs of children around the world...but the UNICEF I knew and respected is not the UNICEF of today.

UNICEF has moved from being a child assistance program and has turned their focus on "advocacy". I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with being primarily an advocacy group, but I do object that their donations are often from people who THINK that the funds are going to assist children with shelter, food, medicine, etc.

I am sure there are those who will agree with their advocacy and their methods of achieving them. That is fine, you should always honor your beliefs and support causes you feel strongly about. However, I believe most individuals are blind to where the money is going. When I have asked other parents, they immediately answer "Well, it goes to the children...." Unfortunately, it does not.

UNICEF is primarily an advocacy organization. They have a number of advocacy projects aimed at protecting children's rights. One of these rights where billions of your donations are spent is to advocate that "right" of a child to stay in his/her own culture/country. Might sound OK at first glance, but at what cost? UNICEF believes (and has often voiced) that it is better for a child to starve to death in their own country than to be adopted and "exported" to another country. Sorry, but I object to this terminlogy. My daughter immigrated to this country, she is a human being not an object. If an organization uses insulting terminology about human beings, you might want to question how they VIEW these human beings they supposedly represent.

It is a very hands-off position that I do NOT support. The medical missions and hundreds of orphanages in Guatemala will tell you that UNICEF does not assist these children as many donators are led to believe. Instead, the money is used to pressure the government to stop letting so many children leave the country. They are more concerned with decreasing the numbers of adoptions than addressing the poverty that sufficates the country's poorest. I, personally, do not think that adoption is the answer to poverty problems and I advocate for stronger enforcement in keeping adoptions ethical.

However, once a child is born (no matter the circumstances of their birth), they are deserving of a life and should NOT be deprived of love and care because it might "look bad" if the child leaves the country. Furthermore, I do not support an organization who uses money to pressure governments INSTEAD of using their money for improving education or providing immediate relief during natural disasters.

During the Tsunami, UNICEF was there to worry about children being stolen (I heard of one suspected incident) from the relief centers. Certainly, child exploitation is a prime concern that should not be minimized. Yet, we did not hear of them trying to assist the orphanages and organizations who were providing emergency relief.

Many of these small organizations were outraged that UNICEF took so much money in the name of relief and provided little to none (but did have absolutely luxurious accomodations there). UNICEF used the limelight to insinuate that the stolen children would somehow be attached to adoption even though international adoption was somewhat unheard of in the region. If a child was stolen, it was MOST likely unrelated to adoption, but for prostitution or human slavery. That is the case in MANY third world countries...But though it has been the focus of UNICEF's mission (addressing child exploitation), it has been overshadowed by their methodology and anti-adoption stance.

If the money was used for assistance (as they insinuate every Halloween), the need for adoption would be drastically diminished. If the money was used for assistance, the cases of human slavery and other attrocities would drastically decrease as the populations were empowered.