Thank You

I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for all the support and well wishes we have received over the past few weeks. It is overwhelming the amount of people who have made calls in support of Guatemalan adoptions, and have passed on the information to their families and friends. I have heard from people I haven't been in touch with in ages, and have heard through others how people we have never even met before are helping as well. It is so touching, and I don't think I could ever express how much it has meant to Greg and I to have the support of so many. We feel so blessed. There was just a new announcement made on the JCICS website, a sort of summary of what came of last weeks Guatemala 5000 Initiative. There is still more work to be done, but I believe the amount of attention that has been brought to this issue can only help the cause. We still await a definitive statement from UNICEF (their current statement is very weak), and from President Berger's administration (apparently we should hear something on Friday, no one knows what to expect). I wanted to share with you what our voices have accomplished. This is taken from the JCICS website:

GUATEMALA 5000 SUMMARY UPDATE

Your Voice Counts
The call-in, fax and email campaign generated thousands of inquiries
into the offices of the United States Congress, UNICEF and the
Guatemalan government. Initially designed for only three days, the
campaign began late last week and continued through this past
Friday. Your calls, emails and faxes resulted in Joint Council being
contacted by all involved including Congressional offices, UNICEF
Headquarters in New York, UNICEF Guatemala and the administration of
Guatemalan President Oscar Berger. As a result, Joint Council
directly advocated with all parties and found virtually all to be
very responsive to your calls, emails and faxes. Your voice most
definitely counts!

Support Grows
The Guatemalan children served through Joint Council's Guatemala 5000
initiative continue to gain widespread public attention and the
support of key stakeholders including;

United States Congressional Coalition on Adoption,
United States Department of State
The Hague Permanent Bureau,
UNICEF Guatemala.

Visibility Increases
Through the efforts of Joint Council Member Organizations and
thousands of adoptive families, the initiative has been publicized
extensively in:

24 blogs including the widely read Huffington Post,
682 web pages including the civil action site Congress.org,
21 media outlets including ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates.


The Office of President Berger
During the past seven days, Joint Council has been in frequent and
direct communication with the Office of President Oscar Berger
regarding his administration's position on the adoption cases
currently in-process. Despite the ongoing dialogue between Joint
Council and the Berger administration, we are unable to report that
President Berger supports the unencumbered completion of the
adoptions in-process. Similarly, we cannot confirm the President's
support for the amendment to Article 52 of bill #3217, which would
allow for the completion of in-process cases under current law. It
is our understanding that the administration will publish an
announcement on the transition cases on or around October 19th.

The administration has provided Joint Council with a statement and
asked that we communicate the content to the larger community. (read
the text of the statement) Unfortunately, the statement falls short
of supporting the best interest of the children whose adoptions are
currently in-process. Joint Council will continue to advocate with
the administration to ensure that all in-process adoptions are
completed and the best interest of each child is truly served.


The following reflects the actions of each organization noted above.

Congressional Coalition on Adoption
The four Co-Chairs of the Congressional Coalition strongly support
the completion of all adoptions in-process. Letters from members of
the United States Congress will be delivered to Guatemalan President
Oscar Berger and UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman on October 26,
2007. Please be sure that your congressional representatives (House
and Senate) have signed on to these two very important letters.

Unites States Department of State
On Friday September 28th, the U.S. Department of State revised its
Warning on Guatemala to include support for the transition cases.

The Hague Permanent Bureau
It is Joint Council's understanding that the Hague Permanent Bureau
supports the transition cases and has suggested specific language as
an amendment to Article 52 of the `adoption law', bill #3217.

UNICEF Guatemala
It is Joint Council's understanding that UNICEF Guatemala supports
the amendment to Article 52.

Dr. Manuel Manrique, Director of UNICEF Guatemala has notified Joint
Council that due to the large volume of calls, faxes and emails, his
office is unable to respond directly to all inquiries, especially
those who faxed their letters of concern. Dr. Manrique extends his
apologies to anyone who has not received a direct response from his
office and wants all to know of his ongoing concern for the children
of Guatemala.

UNICEF Headquarters
On Friday October 5th, UNICEF updated its stated position on
intercountry adoption to reference the best interest of the child
during a country's transition to full implementation of the Hague
Convention. In Joint Council's assessment, the statement is vague
and open to interpretation by those supporting transition cases and
those in opposition. Joint Council continues to call on the UNICEF
Executive Director Ann Veneman to directly and unequivocally support
the completion of all adoptions in-process.