By Aminata Phidelia Allie
The director of gender at the ministry of social welfare gender and children’s affairs, Charles Vandi, has disclosed that all processes of adopting children orphaned by Ebola in Sierra Leone have been halted until the crisis was completely over.
In an interview with Politico, Vandi explained that his ministry was putting a hold on adoption processes because the number of people that had already applied for adoption was “scary”.
“Many people will want to take advantage of the present crisis and the diversion in our attentions towards the fight against Ebola,” he said, adding: “but we are going to ensure that nobody’s child is adopted in a hurry.”
Presently, he revealed, there were over 8,000 Ebola orphans and that it would be a dent on the country’s future if so many children were given up for adoption in a hurry. Though many parents faced a hard situation at the moment and would gladly accept help where their children were concerned, Vandi stressed that they would ensure that adoption processes went through the right procedures “and we can only concentrate on those after Ebola.”
He said a lot of sensitizations had to be done about the process before it could take effect as they would hate to have a misunderstanding with parents. He also revealed that the ministry had suspended the establishment of new orphanages in the country, adding that all the issues surrounding orphanages and adoption would be addressed once Ebola was eradicated from the country.
At the moment, the gender director revealed, the ministry was taking care of some orphans that had no close relative to look after them. These orphans, he said, were at interim facilities which could be found in every district across the country. He said the facilities were being run by partners of the social welfare ministry. For those that still had relatives, he added, they were providing a Family Tracing Reunification package for their upkeep.
“We are asking all those that are interested in adopting an Ebola orphaned child to start supporting those children through their families until the crisis ends. By so doing, they would be at a better footing with the relatives of those children before the adoption,” he stated. He said that would also lessen the probability of any misunderstanding between the ministry and the relatives of those children.
However, Vandi stated that normal adoption procedures were still ongoing but added that they were going to employ strict measures to the procedures involved.
© Politico 04/02/15
