Ethical rules

Ethical principles and rules of behaviour for mediation in international adoptions, which are mandatory for the members and persons who work at the "Society for the Children" Foundation

І. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

The main objective of the ethical rules for behaviour of the members and persons who work at the "Society for the Children" Foundation is the establishment of a common administrative culture among the employees and members of the Foundation and the achievement of professional ethical behaviour in their work.

The Rules of behaviour are mandatory in their nature and each employee, member and expert of the Foundation shall follow them.

ІІ. DUTIES

1. All the members and experts of the Foundation shall:

• Have high moral qualities, training and experience in the field of services related to the mediation in international adoptions of children; shall have professional experience and excellent knowledge of the legal framework within the field of international adoptions (on national and Community level) and shall constantly improve their skills and qualification through a self-training and participation in workshops, meetings and other organized forms of training;

• Not work in a specialized institution or social service of residential care for children or territorial division of the Agency for Social Assistance.

• Exercise their rights and duties in good faith and shall owe loyalty and respect to the clients of the Foundation when performing their activity in the Foundation.

• Not disclose facts and circumstances that became known to them on the occasion of the activity, which they perform or have performed in the Foundation. Upon the termination of their functions in the Foundation, respectively their activities they shall be deemed to be bound by the obligation of professional secrecy for the full volume of information, which they received and which was related to their activity in the Foundation.

• Not have kinship with persons working in institutions and organizations related to the international adoption.

2. The eemployees and members of the Foundation shall strive continuously to increase their professional qualifications and personal competence, shall be informed on the amendments in regulations related to their activity, shall enhance their knowledge and skills, required for the performance of their position, through various forms of training and self-study, shall develop the level of professionalism within the implementation of their main duties.

ІІІ. PRINCIPLES OF WORK

1. The members of the Foundation, its employees and experts shall respect the following principles in their behaviour:

• Legality - compliance with the international legal instruments/acts and national legislation on international adoption, and the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria;

• Loyalty - to the interests of the Foundation, the colleagues with whom it works and to all the legal entities and individuals connected with its activity;

• Honesty- shall have fair and responsible behaviour in all their activities;

• Impartiality – shall not allow their actions to be guided by personal partiality or hostility;

• Responsibility - shall be guided by the responsibility and importance of the commitments, which they carry out.

• Prohibition of discrimination - in all their activities, they shall not implement discrimination based on gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, citizenship, origin, religion, education, beliefs, political affiliation, personal or social status, age, sexual orientation, marital status, property status or any other grounds established by law or international treaty to which Bulgaria is a party.

ІV. PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOUR

1. The members and persons who work in the Foundation are guided in their activity solely by the law in order to achieve maximum protection of the interests for the adoptee and for the candidate adopters.

With regard to the children:

- Shall base their practice on the modern knowledge of childhood development and individual characteristics of each child.

- Shall understand and respect the uniqueness and potential of each child.

- Shall support the child's right for free expression of opinion on all the issues of its interest.

With regard to the candidate adopters:

- Shall respect the dignity of each family and its culture, customs, language and beliefs;

- Shall inform the family about everything related to the child (especially in terms of its health condition);

- Shall inform the family how the child is being brought up and educated;

- Shall not use the relations with the adoptive parents/adopters for personal benefit.

2. In the event of conflict between the interests of the child and the candidate adoptive parents shall work for the interest of the child, in full and correct provision of information for the adoptive parents on the supremacy of the child interest.

3. The members and the persons who work in the Foundation shall support and assist the state authorities in the performance of their duties.

4. The members and the persons who work in the Foundation shall work to improve the cooperation and interaction between the state institutions and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs), involved in the adoption proceedings.

5. Shall establish and maintain a relationship of respect, trust, cooperation and collegiality, to their colleagues from the Foundation, other NGOs and state and municipal offices. Shall not undermine their personal dignity, shall not cause conflicts and shall not violate their rights and legitimate interests.

6. Shall not allow at their workplace behaviour, incompatible to the morality and decency.

7. Shall not allow to be placed in financial or other dependency that may affect the impartial, unbiased and professional execution of their duties.

These ethical principles and rules of behaviour for mediation in international adoptions are mandatory for the members, employees and experts of the "Society for the children" Foundation, developed in accordance with and pursuant to art. 5, paragraph 3, item 3 of Ordinance No 2/24.10.2014. (SG, issue 01/2014, effective from 04.11.2014) and adopted by resolution of the Administrative Board of the Foundation dated 10.01.2015.