Our board members have been incredibly supportive to the organization. I wish to take this opportunity to thank each board member for their dedication and hard work as the agency continues to grow, develop and respond to a growing caseload. The staff have been phenomenal and their reputation for excellent service is well known across the globe.  

As a member of the Governing Board, (Board of Directors for the ISS head office in Geneva), I have been active in my role as Chair of the Membership Committee.  It is noteworthy that in the last 3 years the ISS network has approved membership requests of Ireland, Pakistan, Malta, Lebanon, Czech Republic, Germany (Familie international Frankfurt), Italy, and Kenya.The application from France is nearing approval. 

The office in Geneva is coordinating a Network Development and Training Group. Many organizations across the globe are in the process of training and recruitment. All of our members’ AI  (former correspondents) are asked to confirm their intent to join ISS as full members prior to the next ISS International Conference, scheduled for June 2020. 

The office in Geneva has incurred cutbacks in the past two years in order to balance their budget. Currently there are projects in development planned to lead to greater vitality for the global network. 

The Governing Board is in the process of reviewing and soon finalizing a strategic plan, titled the “5 Year Transformation Proposal”. his proposal has the following highlights :
 

• Introduction of “Artificial Intelligence in social work” to the network
• Instigate a means to quantify the social impact of the ISS network
• Enhance External Communications and Fundraising
• Network Development and Training
• Development of a Knowledge and Research Institute 

I wish to take a moment to thank all of our collaborators, clients, donors, volunteers, staff and board members and to wish them my personal best for a fabulous holiday season. Your continued support will assure tremendous success for ISS Canada.

Testimony from Anne-Josée 

Intercountry Social Worker 

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There are quite a few stories that I could share, working for ISS Canada as I handle quite unique cases on a daily basis. One of the cases for which I overjoyed is a case we worked on for a local child protection agency here in Canada. 

ISS Canada was asked to obtain original birth certificates for two youth in the permanent care of the child protection agency. These siblings had been adopted from an African country when they were very young and brought to Canada by their adoptive family. Unfortunately, several years later, the adoption broke down and the children were placed into foster care. The child protection agency had found new adoptive parents for the youths. Time was of the essence as one of boys was soon going to be reaching the age of majority. The Canadian adoption agency who had handled the international adoption did not have the original birth certificate on file. They had only the birth certificate issued after the international adoption.  We reached out to the ISS Member in the country of origin. She suggested 2 courses of action : 
 

• The ISS Member was able to establish that the orphanage closed several years ago. However, she was able to locate and contact the former Executive Director of the orphanage who explained that part of the remaining files on the children who had been at the orphanage were damaged by flood and the ED would need time to search for the files. 

In the meantime, the ISS Member was able to go to the court house in Africa and retrieve information using the Power of Attorney provided by the Canadian child protection agency explaining that she was mandated by them to collect information. In the court file, there were some letters related to the children. They included the relinquishment letter from a local government ministry, the children's life history, and the documents pertaining to the local social court deciding on the genuineness of the relinquishment. But there were no original birth certificates. 

The ISS Member was able to confirm that there had never been a birth certificate for these children as they were born in a remote area and the necessity to register births was only established recently in that country.  She proceeded to provide ISS Canada with an Affidavit detailing all the steps she had taken. She added the information pertaining to birth records in her country as well as the document necessary at the time for their first adoption. The affidavit was submitted to the Supreme Court in Canada and the judge approved the adoption. 

That day and every day, I am reminded of the value of having network partners around the globe. Partners and colleagues who know about their country laws, practices and customs. Although we were unable to obtain the birth certificates, as per the original request, with the collaboration of our network partner, we were able to gather pertinent information that allowed these children to be adopted. And that is a happy ending !