That’s just South Africa. Imagine that: 2 million kids without a hope unless there is a miracle intervention. Because that’s what it will take. And it’s a story that’s repeated worldwide.

We have always wondered what is meant by children’s rights since those bodies and laws that purport to give them often do very little to advance the causes of kids. Take the Hague Convention for example. This piece of legislation was written to avoid corruption, i.e. the trafficking of children. It hasn’t managed to fulfil that remit. Instead it’s become a barrier for countries adopting out children who they themselves cannot look after. Russia closing down adoptions in an episode reminiscent of the Cold War, will mean that tens of thousands of babies live their lives in orphanages, possibly being maltreated. China has closed down adoptions because it has not the appetite to meet the the rules of the Hague Convention. Guatemala cannot deal with the bureaucracy. What do these countries have in common? They’re all riddled with corruption and poverty. This is stuff that spreads and infects across borders.

Faced with such obstacles, potential parents know they have no hope. Those who pinned their hopes on one country (as the system setup demands you do) who fail, find they have no guts left for the fight. Or money. So what happens? Kids sit in orphanages, many of those establishments not deserving of that name. Meanwhile the Hague Convention is impotent. It has stopped the potentially good actions and has not made a dent in the evil ones. How does that work?

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