In yet another sad indictment of the world today, Spain is to provide Haiti with a genetic identification program to help combat the traffic in children in the wake of the devastating earthquake earlier this month.
The program, DNA-Prokids, uses saliva and drops of blood to build up a database of all those under 18 years of age who have no known family and fathers and mothers who have reported their children as missing.
The ad hoc database will then be used by the Haitian government to try and combat the trafficking in orphaned children. The actual cost of such an exercise is around €250 per case, but the program is being supplied free to the government of Haiti.
The program was designed at the University of Granada and has been introduced into twelve countries during 2009 and has so far helped in 230 cases of trafficking in children.
UNICEF has expressed concern about the possibility of illegal trafficking in children orphaned as a result of the earthquake. Adoption programmes are underway in several countries, including Spain, but UNICEF is keen to see such adoptions as a last resort and only after it is certain that the child has no other family. This program will help towards that goal.