the father and mother retain the right to supervise the upkeep and upbringing of their children and
must contribute to the proposal of their faculties. A right of access is granted to the spouse to whom
the custody of the children has not been entrusted. Article 186 adds that "the dissolution of the
household by divorce does not deprive the children born of this household of the rights and
advantages provided to them by the laws or marriage agreements of their father and mother; but
there is access to these rights and benefits only in the same way and under the same circumstances
in which they would have been if there was no divorce. "
f) Adoption and periodic assessment of the child’s placement (art 24)
78. In Burundi, adoption is governed by Law No. 1/004 of 30 April 1999 amending the
provisions of the Code of Persons and the Family on adoptive parentage. The novelty of this law
is that it regulates international adoption in accordance with the 1993 Hague Convention on
Protection and Cooperation in respect of Inter country Adoption, to which Burundi acceded by
Law No. 1/014 of June 6, 1998, which came into force on February 1, 1999.
79. Under this law, the Child and Family Department of the Ministry of Human Rights, Social
Affairs and Gender has been designated as the "Central Authority" to promote cooperation and
collaboration with the central authorities of other states. For this purpose, the Central Authority
shall ensure that the child is provided with the guarantees and standards equivalent to those
existing in the case of national adoption.
80. This law has filled a gap in the placement of children abroad. Currently, the same authority
follows up on the approval decision from the relevant authority of the host country in matters of
inter country adoption.
81. Also, a support unit for the Central Authority has been set up by the Ministry in charge of
child protection with the mission of assisting the Central Authority with regard to the main
decisions in relation to adoption.
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