BADAEL – ALTERNATIVES – THE RIGHT TO ORIGINS
Alternatives-Badael was founded in 2013 and advocates for the right to origins so that the child is not separated from the biological family unless it is the last resort. Our organization works in a way that the best interests of both the child and the mother are maintained throughout the separation process, which requires having the right to access to information and to reconnect. Currently 28,000 children are placed into alternative care services in Lebanon whereas recent studies have shown that only 4,000 children are in actual need for such services. Parallel to this some 10,000 children were adopted internationally as of the early 1960’s in Lebanon. Lebanon is witnessing their coming back and quest for the lost identity. Many indicators confirm that child trafficking for international adoption is still practiced and it is aggravated with the refugees’ crisis resulting from the Syrian war. The forced separation is practiced in Lebanon within the absence of any civil law that governs the separation of children in need for alternative care measures beyond the law 422, ratified in 2002, and which focuses on alternative protection measures for children at risk.
Vision
It is committed to give a voice for those affected by the separation mainly the children and their biological mother.
Mission
It is a non-governmental organization advocating for the right to origins for those who were separated from the care of their biological parents through the “Abandonment” phenomena or through placement into alternative care settings yielding separation from origins.
Objectives
Badael – Alternatives aims at providing alternatives to ensure the right to origins through:
- Prevention of separation unless it is in the best interest of the child/biological mother
- Designing new forms of alternative care
- Ensuring that separation processes and placement decision do maintain access to origins
- Providing technical and legal support for reconnecting with origins.
Goals
- Advocate for the right to origins
- Provide support to mothers at risk of separation from the child through protection and counseling services
- Give a voice to biological mothers in the decision process in the best interest of the child
- Reform policies and related executive measures so separation is governed by a civil entity
- Support persons in search for their origins
Values
Separation from the biological families is a worldwide phenomenon yielding to severe violation of child and human rights. Children are said to become invisible as they lose contact with their origins.
For millions of children, the main cause of their invisibility is a violation of their right to protection resulting from the lack or loss of formal identification; inadequate State protection for children without parental care and the mishandling of the so called unable biologic mothers and the exploitation of children through trafficking.
48 million children is the estimated number of those who were not registered as per the State of the World Children Report 2006 while 55% of births are estimated to slip out of registration every year in the Arab World including Lebanon.
Making children visible requires establishing a protective environment; hence, every child should be entitled to:
- a formal identity,
- inclusion in birth registration,
- the right to acquire a nationality
- the right to know and be cared for by the biological parents
- the right to reconnect with the biological family whenever this is made possible