Kizuna Child-Parent Reunion
Forum on Domestic Violence and the Operation of Article 13(1)(b) of the 1980 Child Abduction Convention
Chairperson John Gomez of Kizuna Child-Parent Reunion NGO was selected as 1 of 17 experts/practitioners/advocates from around the world to be a Steering Committee member and panelist at the Forum on Domestic Violence and the Operation of the Article 13 (1) (b) of the Child Abduction Convention. The venue and dates are Sandton, South Africa (near Johannesburg), June 18 - 21, 2024.
The full program is at the link shown below. He is on Session 8a on Thursday afternoon June 20.
https://assets.hcch.net/docs/ea0289ae-5164-4e21-9a17-b2870e209050.pdf
June 20, 2024
The 2024 South Africa Hague Forum proceedings report is here:
John Gomez para. 121 - 123
The principle of the advocacy is that Hague Abduction Convention article 21 Rights of Access could be repurposed to be used after a Hague Convention ruling so that children can maintain access to their parent who did not succeed in the ruling and so that children can heal and reconcile with that parent and maintain relations with both parents. This would also reduce the conflict between the parents.
The Second Hague Conference Forum was held in Fortaleza, Brazil October 27 - 30, 2025.
Information and group photo are here:
https://www.hcch.net/en/news-archive/details/?varevent=1114
The program is here
https://assets.hcch.net/docs/7ff78f65-aa6f-492f-bcad-7f717c8505d6.pdf
Once again, spoke in Session 8 on October 30.
The 2025 Brazil Hague Forum proceedings report is here:
John Gomez para. 144 -145
The principle of the Kizuna advocacy in Brazil was a continuation of the advocacy in the previous Forum.
In the Q&A session, a sharply worded question was posed. The intention of the two Fora was to have such interactions.
The advocacy was successful because the Secretary General of the Hague Conference announced that the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP) would take up the role of article 21 of the Hague Abduction Convention as a possible consequential matter.
Here are the videos
talk -- courtesy of Jeffery Morehouse
https://youtu.be/pC_7YukyAa4
response to question -- courtesy of Lorenzo and Gabe Sostre
https://youtu.be/bo-vKfryOVg
