Above: US State Department Special Advisor for Children’s Issues Ambassador Susan Jacobs

By the Caribbean Journal staff

US State Department Special Advisor for Children’s Issues Ambassador Susan Jacobs began a visit to Haiti on Monday.

The four-day visit is focusing on the future of intercountry adoptions following Haiti’s ratification of the Hague Adoption Convention.

Jacobs will be joined by Joanna Ruppel, international operations division chief at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services to meet with Haitian officials on the country’s new laws for implementing the convention, along with plans for “transition adoption” cases.

In a statement, the State Department said the two sides would also discuss ways to partner together “to promote ethical and transparent intercountry adoptions that are in the best interests of children.”

The Department said Jacobs would also meet with NGOs in Haiti to discuss “strengthening child protection systems.”