Has over 15 years of experience in alternative care and adoption. She has experience working in the context of legislative, political, institutional and practical reform in these areas. In Guatemala, she contributed to the implementation of new national legislation on adoption and alternative care and international standards, provided training, and developed standard operating procedures. Likewise, she has provided training and technical support in the reforms of these systems across the globe. In the last decade, she has been a consultant for various UNICEF offices, International Social Service, the Hague Conference on Private International Law, as well as the Latin American Foster Care Network.

Is a Geneva-based international consultant on child protection policies. He founded the NGO Defence for Children International in 1979 and coordinated the inputs of the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child throughout the drafting of that treaty. Following six years leading work on child protection issues at UNICEF’s Innocenti Research Centre, he has focused mainly on enhancing policy and practice for safeguarding the human rights of children affected by intercountry adoption and alternative care. In 2017, the University of Strathclyde awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his work.

Is currently the Branch Manager of Children’s Policy Branch in the Australian Government Department of Social Services, the Australian Central Authority for Intercountry Adoption. He has worked in a number of Australian and UK government departments across a variety of different social policy areas, including social security, early childhood and school education, families, social exclusion, as well as public and mental health.

Is a human rights advocate with 20 years’ experience of working on children’s rights, starting her career as a children’s lawyer in Australia. As the Executive Director she brings with her leadership, project management and research skills to ensure that children’s identity rights are better protected worldwide. She has provided technical support, mostly on behalf of UNICEF, through evaluation missions in over 20 countries focusing on alternative care, adoption, and surrogacy. With many years of further experience and a family background from Australia, the Philippines, and Switzerland, she understands the importance of children having access to their origins.

Is internationally recognised as a leading expert in human rights. Notably she was appointed as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (2014 – 2020) and was the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe (2002 – 2012). Throughout her mandates, she has been focusing her attention on the fight against discrimination and violence, on the rights of the most vulnerable groups in society, in particular, children. In her role as President of Child Identity Protection, she will bring with her decades of experience and determination in tackling sensitive issues connected to children’s identity rights, such as those arising from illegal adoption practices, commercial surrogacy arrangements and other questionable commercial practices.

Olivier de Frouville is a Professor at the University of Paris 2 (Panthéon-Assas) and Director of the Paris Human Rights Center (C.R.D.H.). His fields of research cover mainly general international law, the theory of international law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law.

Parallel to his academic carreer, Olivier de Frouville has worked for more than twenty years as a human rights expert in the United Nations. In June 2019, he was elected as a member of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances. Previously he has been a member of the UN Human Rights Committee (2015-2018) and of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (2008-2014), of which he was the Chair-Rapporteur between April 2012 and October 2013. He was also a member of the Coordination Committee of UN Special Procedures in 2013-2014.

As special envoy of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), Olivier de Frouville has represented this organisation during the negotiations of the Declaration on human rights defenders (1995-1998) and of the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearances (2003-2006).

Was born in Sri Lanka, and adopted to Denmark after living 1,5 month with my birth mother. She is currently the vice chairman of the board of Adoption & Society, the only family organization in Denmark for adoptive families, but I have also worked as Post Adoption Coordinator at Danish International Adoption. She will be speaking about identity issues covered at the pre and post adoption services in Denmark combined with personal experiences.

Is a French jurist with over 15 years’ experience, specialising in alternative care and adoption. She has undertaken evaluation missions on these themes in Denmark, Ivory Coast and Mexico. She has also undertaken research and provided training in over ten countries. She led the research and publications unit at ISS/IRC by coordinating the drafting of multiple internationally recognised tools, as well as the Monthly Review distributed to over 5000 professionals, and finalisation of over 100 country situation analysis in these fields.

Is a Vietnamese adoptee born in the early 70s, Founder of InterCountry Adoptee Voices (ICAV). ICA is one of the largest platforms worldwide to bring together the leaders of intercountry adoptee led groups around the globe. Her network is a critical thinking space that advocates for the needs and rights of intercountry adoptees. She has been a consultant to central authorities in intercountry adoption, is an author and contributor to books on intercountry adoption, initiates and coordinates meetings with adult intercountry adoptees and government authorities, is an Observer in The Hague Working Group on Addressing & Preventing Illicit Practices in Adoption, guest speaker at training sessions and conferences for various Central Authorities and post adoption organisations worldwide.

Works as a Secretary (Lawyer) at the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). She is responsible for the post-Convention work in relation to the HCCH 1993 Convention on Child Protection and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, as well as the Parentage / Surrogacy project. Laura has also worked on children’s issues at the International Social Service (Switzerland); UNICEF (Chile); the European Commission (Belgium) and the Council of Europe (France). She received her law degree from the University of Valencia (Spain), a Master of Laws (LL.M) in International Law with a specialisation in child’s rights (University of London, UK), and a Diploma in Child Protection and Juvenile Justice (University Diego Portales, Chile).

Erika Joanna is a Psychologist specialised in the assessment and treatment of emotional and affective disorders, with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University Konrad Lorenz. She has experience as a psychotherapist and over 15 years working in international NGOs and at the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) on issues relating to the restoration of children’s and adolescents’ rights. She is currently a member of the Search for Origins team of the Deputy-Directorate for Adoptions within ICBF’S Protection Directorate.

Is a French lawyer who has worked as a Legal Officer at the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH since 2018. She works specifically on the HCCH 1993 Adoption Convention and the Parentage / Surrogacy Project. She holds a LLM in International Children’s Rights from the University of Leiden (Netherlands).

Is a professor of child psychiatry and public mental health at Vilnius University, Lithuania. Since 2018 he is a director of the Human rights monitoring institute – an NGO based in Lithuania. Among positions he held, Dainius Pūras was a President of Lithuanian Psychiatric Association and Dean of Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University. Dainius Pūras was a member of the UN Committee on the rights of the child (2007-2011) and a UN Special Rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health (2014-2020).

Edwin Javier graduated as a Social Worker at the National University of Colombia and specialised in family counselling and social networks at the University of La Salle. He has 19 years of experience in the restoration of children’s and adolescents’ rights, including 16 years and the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), within the Deputy Directorate for Adoptions and ICBF’S Protection Directorate. He is currently a member of the Search for Origins team.

Lina Patricia graduated as a Lawyer at the University of Gran Colombia and is specialised in Family Law with a Master’s Degree in Law from the National University of Colombia. She also has experience in teaching at the University of Rosario and over nine years working at the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) on issues relating to the restoration of children’s and adolescents’ rights. She is currently the Deputy Director for Adoptions within ICBF’S Protection Directorate.

Joëlle SCHICKEL-KÜNG is Deputy Head of the Private Law Division and Co-Head of the Private International Law Unit, Federal Office of Justice (OFJ), Berne. Joëlle is a trained lawyer and has been working for over 10 years in the Swiss government on issues of cross-border child protection. As Co-Head of the PIL Unit she is in charge of the child protection and family law area which includes the Central Authority function under the Hague 1993 (Adoptions), 1996 (Child Protection) and 1980 (Child Abduction) Conventions.

Mariela SR was born in Guatemala in 1986. She was kidnapped 2 days after her birth and held in captivity for 11 months before being sold under the guise of an intercountry adoption. She will become Coline FANON. After discovering her story in the heart of a scandal of stolen children, she created the Lost Roots Foundation and with a close-knit team works for the recognition of illegal adoptions on an international scale (HCCH, United Nations, Governments etc.). She also carries out the searches for the biological families in Guatemala for the adopted persons. Mariela SR – Coline FANON has written a book entitled “Maman, je ne suis pas mort” (Mummy, I am not dead) available in French, Dutch and Spanish. www.rp-rp.org

Is the Harwell G. Davis Professor of Constitutional Law, and Director, Center for Children, Law, and Ethics, at Cumberland Law School, Samford University. He has served as an independent expert for the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) on intercountry adoption issues, and has served as an external expert for the International Reference Centre for the rights of children deprived of their family, of the International Social Service (ISS/IRC), on issues related to children’s rights, adoption, and surrogacy, notably the Verona principles.