3. Where no parents, legal guardians or close relatives can be found, the child shall be accorded the same protection as any other child permanently or temporarily deprived of his family environment for any reason. 4. The provisions of this Article apply Mutatis Mutandis to internally displaced children whether through natural disaster, internal armed conflicts, civil strife, breakdown of economic and social order or howsoever caused. Article 24 ADOPTION States Parties which recognize the system of adoption shall ensure that the best interest of the child shall be the paramount consideration and they shall: 20 1. Establish competent authorities to determine matters of adoption and ensure that the adoption is carried out in conformity with applicable laws and procedures and on the basis of all relevant and reliable information, that the adoption is permissible in view of the child’s status concerning parents, relatives and guardians and that, if necessary, the appropriate persons concerned have given their informed consent to the adoption on the basis of appropriate counselling; 2. Recognize that inter-country adoption in those States who have ratified or adhered to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child or this Charter, may, as the last resort, be considered as an alternative means of child’s care, if the child cannot be placed in a foster or an adoptive family or cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the child’s country of origin; 3. Ensure that the child affected by inter-country adoption enjoys safeguards and standards equivalent to those existing in the case of national adoption; 4. Take all appropriate measures to ensure that, in inter­country adoption, the placement does not result in trafficking or improper financial gain for those who try to adopt a child; AFRICAN CHARTER on the Rights and Welfare of the Child