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The
INTER-AMERICAN CHILDREN’S INSTITUTE, a specialized organization
forming part of the Organization of American States (OAS), duly
represented by LIC. ALEJANDRO BONASSO, bearer of OAS
passport Nº 26827, acting in his capacity as Director General of the
Inter-American Children’s Institute, which shall be named I.I.N.
for the purposes and consequences of this agreement, and the CONSEJO
NACIONAL PARA LA NIÑEZ Y LA ADOLESCENCIA, a decentralized Institution
of the Dominican State, created by Law 136-03 –which created the code
for the System of Protection and Fundamental Rights of Children and
Adolescents–, with an office located on Mexico Avenue and 30 de Marzo
Street, government offices, block D, duly represented by the President of
its National Directorate, MRS. LOURDES ISABEL MEJÍA DE GRULLÓN,
Dominican, of legal age, married, bearer of identity card and electoral
card Nº 001-0201514-6, domiciled in the city of Santo Domingo, National
District of the capital city of the Dominican Republic, and resident in
the said city, which shall be hereinafter named CONANI for the
purposes and consequences hereof, hereby sign this agreement, which is
subject to the following considerations and clauses:
WHEREAS:
Art.
1.
The
IIN is a Specialized Organization forming part of the Organization of
American States, created by resolution passed by the 1924 Fourth Pan-American
Child Congress and
founded in 1927 in order to promote cooperation programs between countries
in America which are aimed at improving the condition of children, young
persons and families as far as sanitary, educational, social, cultural and
legal aspects are concerned.
Art.
2.
It
is a priority for the IIN to search for effective solutions for the
problems affecting children, and therefore to ensure compliance with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and to safeguard the validity of the
said Convention.
Art.
3.
The
IIN has, since its foundation, permanently carried out tasks concerning
technical cooperation, information, diffusion and training on different
subjects related to children in this hemisphere, as well as joint
activities with other public and private organizations from countries that
form part of the Inter-American system.
Art.
4.
Within
its Information Program, the IIN has developed a series of tools intended
for promoting a management culture based on reliable information, as well
as for fostering horizontal cooperation between countries and creating
links which enable information to be transformed into an element that
supports the improvement of the living conditions of children and
adolescents.
Art.
5.
As
part of an agreement signed with the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA), the IIN has developed a safe Site on the Internet which has
the following objectives:
-
to generate spaces of comprehensive information which contribute to
the gestation of change processes affecting the condition of children and
adolescents in the Americas.
-
to enable action coordination between organizations belonging to
different countries through the use of mechanisms and work procedures
connected with the Site, in order to make it possible to monitor and
oversee the situation concerning the rights of children and adolescents,
placing emphasis on those situations involving more than one country
Art.
6.
In
accordance with article 417 and following of Law 136- 03,
the Consejo Nacional para la Niñez y la Adolescencia (CONANI) is a
decentralized institution of the Dominican State, with legal personality
and property of its own; and being the administrative body of the National
System for the Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents, and
as the principal body in charge of directing the System, CONANI is
competent to sign this agreement.
By
virtue of the foregoing, the
PARTIES agree as follows:
CLAUSE
1 - OBJECTIVES
The
objective of this agreement is to establish the bases for the use of the `Site
for Action Coordination in favor of Children and Adolescents’,
hereinafter called `CA Site’.
The
objective of the CA Site is to contribute to the resolution of situations
such as the following:
-
international abduction of minors by one of their parents,
- child support that
those parents who are not domiciled in the same country as Their children’s
are obliged to provide,
- international
adoptions,
- children and
adolescents who are missing,
- trafficking and trade
involving children and adolescents,
-
situations concerning either commercial or non-commercial sexual
exploitation involving
children and adolescents living outside the country
- any kind of situation in which the basic rights of a child
or adolescent have been violated
and he/she is in a different country from that where one of his/her
parents is.
CLAUSE
2 – TERMS
Art.
1.
The
IIN shall grant a user’s license for the CA Site –which has been
especially developed by the IIN– to CONANI; and shall also hand over the
documentation in connection with the Site.
Art.
2.
The
IIN shall be responsible for the training and technical support needed for
the adequate operational functioning of the Site’s National Node, which
will hereinafter be named `Node’. `Node’ means the counterpart
organization signing this agreement, which will act, at national level, as
a visible instance in this international Site.
Art.
3.
The
IIN shall authorize the Node to use all the tools developed by the IIN
which are operative: Legal Database including legislation about children,
adolescents and family in full, OPD (Organizations, Projects and Documents)
Database and website:-www.iin.oea.org.
Art.
4.
The
IIN shall provide advice for the participants in the CA Site (who must
send their request in writing), through its Legal Program, in order to
find a solution for those cases in which international legal regulations
are involved. In this case the role played by the IIN includes only the
provision of technical assistance and of the information that has been
requested. The IIN shall not be involved in matters concerning the power
to resolve the cases that have been presented, for the national
authorities participating in the CA Site cannot delegate this power.
Art.
5.
The
IIN shall provide training on subjects connected with Children’s Rights,
through the services of the Program for the Integral Promotion of Children’s
Rights, in case such training is requested by the Node. It shall also
provide intervention strategies in case of violation of rights.
Art.
6.
The
IIN shall permanently evaluate the operation of the CA Site, taking the
necessary corrective measures in order to achieve the fulfillment of the
objectives included in the agreement that has been signed by common
consent.
Art.
7.
The
IIN commits itself to using individual information contained in the CA
Site’s databases exclusively for the purpose of controlling the quality
of the data.
Art.
8.
The
IIN shall be authorized to use statistical information from the CA Site
for research, promotion and teaching purposes. These actions will be
coordinated with the several persons participating in the CA Site.
Art.
9.
The
CA Site shall be located in the Internet computer facilities that the
Organization of American States have in its Head Office in Washington, DC,
and shall have the characteristics of a secure site (https). To that end,
protection and safety mechanisms which ensure maximum privacy and safety
for the data shall be used. Transmissions shall be encrypted, with a 128
bit protocol, and the connection of the IIN for maintenance purposes shall
work in a VPN environment.
Art.
10.
Persons
in charge of maintenance and in charge of the backups and of all service
activities inherent in the server of the Organization of American States’
Head Board in Washington, DC,
shall not have access to the data administered by this site.
Art.
11.
The
IIN shall only give one password to the Node. Afterwards, the Node shall
automatically distribute the user’s name and the password at national
level within the CA Site. The Node shall therefore be responsible for the
safety of the passwords.
Art.
12.
The
IIN shall provide an operational guide for the Start of Case and for the
case that has occurred in the corresponding country, and another one for
the Acceptance of Case, for the case that has been received in the other
country.
Art.
13.
The
IIN shall hand over the minimum equipment needed for the CA Site in the
Node to operate in an Internet environment.
Art.
14.
Local
safety levels shall be the Node’s responsibility when handling the
information.
Art.
15.
The
Node shall have access to the minimum human resources needed to ensure
that the CA Site is functioning in accordance with the guidelines attached
hereto. It is the Node’s obligation as well as the obligation of the
organization signing this Agreement to ensure continuity of the services.
Art.
16.
The
Node shall commit itself to entering and updating information concerning
children and adolescents as part of the CA Site’s objectives and in
accordance with the laws in force in the country.
Art.
17.
The
Node shall be in charge of the operational budget needed for ensuring
minimum functioning conditions for the first twelve months of activity. It
will also be in charge of ensuring that the project be sustainable.
Art.
18.
The
Node shall be authorized to create a system of nodes through manual or
computer-related means. These nodes shall all be connected to the same
Site, and shall facilitate the collection of information as well as the
resolution of those cases concerning other countries, according to what
the Node shall opportunely plan.
Art.
19.
The
Node commits itself to accessing the CA Site at least three times a day on
working days.
Art.
20.
The
Node shall, within its province and according to the laws in force,
administer information on children and adolescents who are natives of the
corresponding country. Under no circumstances shall the Node be allowed to
handle information on children and adolescents when they are beyond its
competence.
Art.
21.
The
Node may promote research with the participation of the academic sector,
by exclusively using data from the respective country and statistical data
from the Site. Access to the identity of the persons involved shall be
denied.
Art.
22.
Revealing
information on the identity of children and adolescents belonging to other
countries, or making this information public shall only be allowed when
this is in the children’s superior interest, and provided the
administrative or jurisdictional body that is competent has authorized it.
Art.
23.
Under
no circumstances shall the IIN, or the Nodes, or the participants in the
CA Site, be allowed to hand over information from the CA Site to third
parties, with the exception of those data that are administered by one
Node and which involve children or adolescents from that Node’s country,
even when they are in other countries.
CLAUSE
3 – FINAL PROVISIONS
This
Agreement shall come into force after having been signed by the parties
and its validity will be of 12 months. It may be expressly renewed the
first time, provided the evaluation has been considered to be valid.
This
Agreement may be rescinded by expressing so in writing 90 days in advance.
In this case the databases and the CA Site will still belong to the IIN,
but the information about children and adolescents from the country that
is involved in the CA Site must be completely eliminated from the Site and
handed over to the Node on a magnetic medium.
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the representatives of both PARTIES, having been duly
authorized for the purpose hereof, sign this agreement in two copies of
the same tenor and validity, this 6th day of April of the year
2004.
Lourdes
Isabel Mejía de Grullón
Alejandro Bonasso
Executive President of CONANI
Director General of the IIN
The
Director General of the IIN has signed ‘ad referendum’ to the IIN’s
Directing Council
___________________________________________________________________________
Law 136- 03, which created the Code for the System of Protection
and Fundamental Rights of Children and Adolescents
Annex
CHARACTERISTICS
AND FUNCTIONS TO BE PERFORMED IN CONNECTION WITH THE BASIC HUMAN RESOURCES
NEEDED FOR THE CREATION OF THE AC SITE’S NATIONAL NODE
-
He/she
should have a university degree.
-
He/she
should have at least 5 years of experience in dealing with the issue
of children’s rights.
-
He/she
should be absolutely trustworthy.
-
He/she
should be capable of working in a situation where he/she would be
under considerable pressure.
-
He/she
should be very discreet and willing to receive permanent training
-
He/she
should have basic computing knowledge (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and
Internet).
-
(For
the initial phase this would not be a full-time task)
-
He/she
would be in charge of detecting problems in his/her own country.
-
He/she
would interact with the following: civil society, researchers,
decision-makers, organizations, judges, and children, among others.
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He/she
would stimulate and feed the Website by selecting the
information that would be added.
-
He/she
would have a smooth relationship with the Central Coordinator in order
to meet any possible needs, or make changes concerning the
information.
-
He/
she would carry out maintenance tasks and analyze the impact of the
tool.
-
He/she
should suggest or contribute with ideas or experience for the Site’s
continuous improvement.
-
He/she
should ensure continuous functioning of local services, even if the
site is not online.
Functions:
-
Incorporation
of cases
-
Monitoring
of the cases that he/she has been assigned and of those assigned to
others.
-
Modifying
those cases assigned to others.
-
Management
of those cases that have been assigned to him/her
-
Stimulating
action from all the important participants who are directly involved
in the cases, with the purpose of ensuring the project’s
functioning.
-
Studying
the evolution of the cases in order to create opportunities for
analysis, comparisons, and training, among other.
2.
An
assistant for research
Characteristics:
-
He/she
should be an advanced student or have a university degree in a
discipline related to the social field.
-
He/she
should have an inclination to perform teamwork
-
He/she
should have experience in connection with interviewing
-
He/she
should have basic computing knowledge (Word, Excel, Powerpoint and
Internet).
Responsibilities:
Functions:
-
Ensuring
that the information is kept private and safe.
-
He/she
would be in charge of generally managing, organizing and ensuring the
Site’s quality.
-
He/she
would provide an adequate link between technology and its use by final
users.
-
He/she
would administer, coordinate and facilitate functioning and
maintenance of the Site’s contents and global image. He/she would
also be in charge of providing training in order for the Site to
operate.
-
He/she would
ensure the technical infrastructure’s functioning.
Functions:
-
Developing
and directing the AC Site’s strategy
-
Monitoring,
facilitating and coordinating the Site’s whole administrative policy
and its standards
-
Defining
the characteristics and the training required for the Site’s
Superiors
-
Monitoring
and coordinating the Site’s requirements
-
Managing
and ensuring the fulfillment of those policies concerning access
control, safety and privacy.
-
Managing
all those tools that enable Superiors and the Web Master to maintain
and update the Site’s contents.
-
Reading
and taking the necessary measures in connection with the mail received
by the Superiors and the Web Master
-
Monitoring
the resource assigned to the AC Site’s platform
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Monitoring
the Site’s technical requirements
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Administering
the Web Master’s tasks
-
Providing
support and technical consultation for the Superiors and the
Coordinator
-
Providing
safe interfaces with the Site’s Databases
-
Implementing
and monitoring the Site’s activities through the use of tools such
as packet sniffers, system’s logs, audit logs, network monitor
alerts and performance alerts
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