|
THE
INTER-AMERICAN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE (hereinafter
known as the “IIN”), represented by its Director General, Lic. ALEJANDRO
BONASSO LENGUAS,
and the PATRONATO NACIONAL DE LA INFANCIA DE COSTA RICA (The
Children’s Board of Costa Rica, hereinafter known as the "PANI”),
represented
by Ms.
ROSALIA GIL FERNÁNDEZ, of age, married, holder of identity card
number one/three hundred and seventy-three/zero seventy-nine, resident of
Curridabat, Executive President and Legal Representative of the PANI, an
institution with legal identity number three/zero zero seven/zero forty
two thousand and thirty-nine, whose legal status is certified by the
Article three of the records of the Governing Council’s regular session
number one, held on the eighth of May of the year two thousand and two,
for the corresponding legal period, published in Supplement number thirty-eight
of the Official Gazette La Gaceta,
issue number ninety-one, of the fourteenth of May of the year two thousand
and two, hereby
sign the present AGREEMENT, subject to the following recitals and clauses:
CONSIDERING:
ARTICLE
1: That the
IIN is a Specialized Organization of the Organization of American States,
created by resolution of the Fourth Pan American Child Congress of 1924
and founded in 1927, to promote cooperation programs among countries of
the American Hemisphere addressed to improve the situation of children,
youth and the family in the health, education, social, cultural and legal
areas.
ARTICLE
2: That,
for the IIN, it
is a priority to search for effective solutions to the problems affecting
children, and see to the full compliance with and effectiveness of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
ARTICLE
3:
That, since its foundation, the IIN has permanently carried out
activities of technical cooperation, information, dissemination and
training on different topics related to children in the Hemisphere, as
well as joint activities with other public and private institutions in the
countries of the inter-American system.
ARTICLE
4:
That,
as part of its Information Program, the IIN has developed a set of tools
intended to promote a culture of management based on reliable information,
encourage horizontal cooperation between countries, and build bridges to
make information an element for improving the living conditions of
children and adolescents.
ARTICLE
5:
That,
within its agreement with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA),
the IIN has developed a secure Internet Site, aimed at:
-
Generating
spaces of comprehensive information that contribute to generating
processes of change in the living conditions of the children and
adolescents of the Americas.
-
Making
it possible to coordinate the activities among organizations from
different countries, through mechanisms and work procedures relative
to the Site, in order to monitor and watch over the rights of children
and adolescents, with a special emphasis on situations involving more
than one country.
ARTICLE
6:
That the PANI is the national governing body for child, adolescent
and family affairs, whose principal objective is to provide special,
integral protection to persons under the age of majority and their
families.
By
virtue of the above, the PARTIES hereby agree to the following:
CLAUSE
1 – OBJECTIVES
The
objective of the present agreement is to establish the basis for the use
of the “Site for the Coordination
of Activities for Children and Adolescents” (hereinafter known as the
“CA Site”).
The
CA Site aims to contribute to the resolution of situations such as:
-
International
abduction of minors by one of their parents;
-
Support
obligations of parents residing in different countries than their
children;
-
Intercountry
adoption;
-
Disappearance
of children and adolescents;
-
Trafficking
of children and adolescents;
-
Commercial
and non-commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents
living outside the
country;
-
All
situations in which the fundamental rights of children and adolescents
are violated and they are located in a different country than one of
their parents.
CLAUSE
2 – TERMS
ARTICLE
1.
The
IIN shall grant its specially developed user license for the CA Site to
the PANI,
along
with the related documentation.
ARTICLE
2.
The IIN shall provide training and technical support for the proper
operation of the National Site Node
(hereinafter known as the “Node”). The Node is understood as the
partner organization signing this agreement, which will act as a
nationally visible body for this international Site.
ARTICLE
3.
The IIN shall authorize the Node to use all of the currently operational
tools developed by the IIN: the Legal Database (containing full-text
legislation on children, adolescents and the family); the OPD (Organizations,
Projects and Documents) Database; and the IIN’s website (www.iin.oas.org).
ARTICLE
4.
Through the competent services of its Legal Program, the IIN shall provide
distance advisory services requested in writing by the CA Site’s
participants, for the resolution of cases involving international law. In
this respect, the IIN shall assume a role exclusively in the area of
technical assistance and provision of information, and shall refrain from
becoming involved in the resolution of the cases handled, given that this
power cannot be delegated by the national authorities participating in the
CA Site.
ARTICLE
5.
Through the services of its Program for the Integral Promotion of Children’s
Rights, and at the request of the Node, the IIN shall provide training on
issues related to Children’s Rights and strategies for intervention in
cases of violations of rights.
ARTICLE
6.
The IIN shall perform continuous evaluations of the CA Site’s operation,
taking the necessary corrective steps to attain the mutually agreed
objectives.
ARTICLE
7.
The IIN agrees to use the individual information contained in the CA Site’s
databases exclusively for the purposes of the quality control of data.
ARTICLE
8.
The IIN may use the CA Site’s statistical information for research,
promotion and teaching purposes, in coordination with those involved in
the CA Site.
ARTICLE
9.
The CA Site shall be physically located in the Internet computer
facilities at the headquarters of the Organization of American States in
Washington, D.C., and shall have the characteristics of a Secure Site (https).
To this end, mechanisms of protection and security shall be used to
provide a maximum guarantee of the privacy and security of the data.
Transmissions shall be encrypted with a 128-bit protocol and the IIN’s
connection for maintenance purposes shall be in a VPN environment.
ARTICLE
10.
Those who perform the maintenance, the corresponding backup, and all
services required of the server at the headquarters of the Organization of
American States in Washington D.C. shall not access the data administered
by this site.
ARTICLE
11.
The IIN shall provide the Node with a single password and, in later phases,
the Node shall automatically assign the national user name and password
for the CA Site. The Node shall be responsible for the security of the
passwords.
ARTICLE
12.
The IIN shall provide an operating guide for the Opening of a Case
detected in the country and another operating guide for the Acceptance of
a Case received from another country.
ARTICLE
13.
The IIN shall provide the minimum equipment for the CA Site’s operation
in an Internet environment in the Node.
ARTICLE
14.
The Node shall be responsible for the levels of local security in the
handling of information.
ARTICLE
15.
The Node shall have the minimum human resources to ensure the operation of
the CA Site according to the attached guidelines. The Node and the
organization signing this Agreement shall be responsible for the
continuity of the services.
ARTICLE
16.
The Node shall enter and update the information pertaining to children and
adolescents within the objectives of the CA Site and in accordance with
legislation in force in the country.
ARTICLE
17.
The Node shall be responsible for the operating budget that ensures the
minimum conditions of operation for the first twelve months of activity,
and shall guarantee the project‘s sustainability.
ARTICLE
18.
The Node may install a set of nodes (either manually or using information
technology tools) all connected to the same Site, to facilitate the
capture of information and the resolution of cases in third-party
countries, according to the Node’s planning.
ARTICLE
19.
The Node agrees to enter the CA Site at least three times per day on
working days.
ARTICLE
20.
Within its competencies and in accordance with the laws in force in the
country, the Node shall administer the information on children and
adolescents from that country, and under no circumstances shall it be
authorized to handle information on children and adolescents on which it
cannot assume competencies.
ARTICLE
21.
The Node may promote research studies with the participation of the
academic sector, using data from the country and statistical data from the
Site exclusively; there shall be no access to information on the identity
of those involved.
ARTICLE
22.
Disclosure of information on the identity of children and adolescents from
third-party countries, and even the release of this information to the
public, may be done only in the best interest of the child and with the
authorization of the competent jurisdictional body.
ARTICLE
23.
The IIN, the Nodes and the CA Site’s participants shall under no
circumstances be authorized to divulge the information handled by the CA
Site to third parties, with the exception of the data administered by a
Node and which involve children or adolescents in the Node’s own country,
even if these children and adolescents are in other countries.
CLAUSE
3 – FINAL PROVISIONS
The
present Agreement shall enter into force upon its signature by the parties,
and shall be effective for a period of 12 months; its first renewal must
be specifically agreed after valid evaluation.
This
Agreement may be rescinded in writing with 90 days’ notice. In the case
of rescission, the databases and the CA Site shall continue to be the
property of the IIN; however, the information on the children and
adolescents in the country involved in the CA Site must be definitively
deleted from the Site and delivered to the Node in electronic format.
The computer equipment used in the operation shall become the property of
the Node.
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the representatives of both PARTIES, duly authorized for
this purpose, hereby sign the present agreement in two equally valid
copies on the fourth of December of the year two thousand and three.
| ROSALIA GIL FERNÁNDEZ |
ALEJANDRO BONASSO |
| EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT |
DIRECTOR GENERAL |
| PANI |
IIN |
The
Director General of the IIN signs this agreement on an ad referendum
basis, subject to the approval of the IIN Directing Council.
|
