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AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE MINISTERIO
DE LA JUVENTUD, LA MUJER, LA NIÑEZ Y LA FAMILIA AND The
undersigned, LEONOR CALDERÓN A., in her capacity as Minister and Legal
Representative of the Ministerio de
la Juventud, la Mujer, la Niñez y la Familia (Ministry for Youth,
Women, Children and the Family) —hereinafter THE MINISTRY— and
ALEJANDRO BONASSO LENGUAS, in his capacity as Director General and Legal
Representative of the Inter-American Children’s Institute —hereinafter
THE IIN— hereby agree on the following Cooperation Agreement for the use
of the Site for the Coordination of Child-related Actions as per the
following terms and conditions: WHEREAS: The
IIN is a Specialized Organization of the Organization of American States
created through a resolution adopted by the Fourth Pan American Child
Congress in 1924 and formally established in 1927 for the purpose of
promoting cooperation programs among the countries in the Americas aimed
to improve the living conditions of children, youth and the family on the
health, education, social, cultural and juridical areas. The
IIN has assigned a priority to the search for effective solutions to
child-affecting problems and to watching over the compliance with and
enforcement of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since
its inception, the IIN has permanently provided for technical cooperation,
information, diffusion and training on various child-related issues in the
hemisphere and has performed joint activities with other public and
private entities in the inter-American system. Within
the framework of its Information Program the IIN has designed a set of
tools aimed to promoting a management culture based on reliable
information, fostering horizontal cooperation among countries and creating
links that allow for information to become a supportive element in the
enhancement of children’s living conditions. The
IIN –within the framework of its Agreement with the Canadian
International Development Agency, CIDA—has created a safe Internet site
for the following purposes: -
To
produce integral information contributing to generating processes of
change in the living conditions of children in the Americas. -
To
allow, through site-related working mechanisms and procedures, for the
coordination of actions among entities in various countries enabling to
monitor and match over the enforcement of children’s rights, with a
special emphasis on those situations involving more than one country. The
Law 42 of 19 November, l997 established the Ministerio
de la Juventud, la Mujer, la Niñez y la Familia for the main purposes
of fostering human development through participation and equity promotion,
as well as organizing, managing, coordinating and implementing policies,
plans and programs addressing the strengthening of the family, the
community and population sectors that should be dealt with on a priority
basis. The
MINISTRY is responsible for coordinating plans, policies and programs for
children’s care and the promotion of their rights, as well as for
providing for and collecting statistical and any other information
facilitating the design of plans and the assessment of results. IT
IS HEREBY AGREED:
ARTICLE
ONE:
The purpose of this Agreement is to establish the basis for using the Site
for the Coordination of Child-related Actions (hereinafter “CA Site”). The
goal of the CA Site is contributing to solve such situations as: -
The
international abduction of children by one of their parents. -
Maintenance
obligations of parents domiciled in countries other than their
children’s. -
International
adoption. -
Missing
children. -
Child
trafficking and trade. -
Commercial
and non commercial sexual exploitation involving children living outside
their countries. -
Any
situation implying the violation of the basic rights of children living in
a country other than their parents’ ARTICLE
TWO:
The IIN will make available to the MINJUMNFA the usage license of the CA
Site —especially designed by the IIN— as well as the relevant
documentation. ARTICLE
THREE:
The IIN will be responsible for the education, training and technical
support required for the proper operation of the National Site Node
(hereinafter “The Node”). By “Node” is understood the Site
organization by THE MINISTRY, which will perform as the national visible
facility of this international Site. ARTICLE
FOUR:
The
IIN
will authorize the Node to use all available and currently operational
tools developed by the IIN: Legal Database containing the full texts of
regulatory provisions on children and the family; OPD Database:
Organizations, Projects and Documents, and Web site:
www.iin.oea.org. ARTICLE
FIVE:
The IIN will provide, through the competent services in its Legal Program,
at-distance advice on the queries sent in writing by the participants in
the CA Site for the resolution of cases involving international regulatory
frameworks. In such connection, the role to be assumed by the IIN
exclusively relates to technical assistance and information supply,
without implying any resolving power on specific cases which solely
corresponds to the national authorities participating in the CA Site. ARTICLE
SIX:
The IIN, through the services in its Program for the Integral Promotion of
Children’s Rights, will provide the Node upon request training on issues
related to children’s rights and intervention strategies to applied in
cases of violation of rights ARTICLE
SEVEN:
The
IIN will permanently assess the operation of the CA Site and adopt any
necessary corrective measures for the achievement of the objectives agreed
upon. ARTICLE
EIGHT:
The
IIN may use the statistical information container in the CA Site for
research, promotion and education purposes in coordination with the
various parties involved in the CA Site. ARTICLE
NINE:
The
CA Site will be physically located at the Internet server facilities in
the headquarters of the Organization of American States in Washington, DC
and will be featured as a secure Site (https).
For such purpose, all available data protection and security mechanisms
will be used to ensure as possible data privacy and security.
Transmissions will be encrypted by a 128-bit protocol and the IIN
connection for maintenance purposes will take place in a VPN environment. ARTICLE
TEN:
Whoever is in charge of maintenance, the corresponding backups and other
activities inherent to the server at the headquarters of the Organization
of American States in Washington, DC will not be able to access the
Site-managed data. ARTICLE
ELEVEN:
The IIN will make available to the Node one single password which in
further stages will be automatically assigned the user name and password
within the framework of the CA Site at national level. Thus, the Node will
be responsible for password security. ARTICLE
TWELVE:
The IIN will provide an operational guide for Case Filing, for those cases
occurred in the country, and for Case Acceptance, for those cases referred
from abroad. ARTICLE
THIRTEEN:
The IIN will provide the minimal equipment required for operating the
Node’s CA Site in an Internet environment. ARTICLE
FOURTEEN:
The Node will be responsible for local security levels in information
management. ARTICLE
FIFTEEN:
The Node will make available the minimal human resources required for
ensuring the operation of the CA Site in conformity with the annexed
standards, and both the Noted and the undersigned organization will be
responsible for ensuring service continuity. ARTICLE
SIXTEEN:
The Node hereby engages to enter and update child-related information
within the framework of the CA Site’s objectives and in accordance with
the domestic regulatory framework in force.
ARTICLE
SEVENTEEN:
The Node will be responsible for the operational budget required for
ensuring the basic operating conditions during the first twelve-month
activity as well as the sustainability of the Project. ARTICLE
EIGHTEEN:
The Node may install, either manually or electronically, a set of nodes
connected to the same Site in order to facilitate data capturing and the
resolution of cases in third countries in accordance with a plan to be
designed by the Node. ARTICLE
NINETEEN:
The Node engages to access the CA Site at least three times per day in
working days. ARTICLE
TWENTY:
The Node will manage information related to national children pursuant to
the domestic legal provisions in force, and by no means should manage
information on any children on whom it has no competence.
ARTICLE
TWENTY-ONE:
The Node may promote research with the participation of the academic
sector by exclusively using statistical country data stored in the Site,
without any possible access to the identity of individuals involved. ARTICLE
TWENTY-TWO: Information
on the identity of children from countries other than the undersigned
—even if the case becomes public— may only be disclosed for the
benefit of the best interest of the child and subject to prior
authorization by the competent jurisdictional or administrative organ. ARTICLE
TWENTY-THREE:
By
no means the IIN, the Nodes and the participants in the CA Site may
provide third parties information manager at the CA Site, with the
exception of those data manager by a Node that involve children from their
own country, even if domiciled in third countries. ARTICLE
TWENTY-FOUR:
This
Agreement will come into force after being signed by the Parties and will
be valid for a 12-month period, the first renewal of which should be
express and subject to a positive evaluation. ARTICLE
TWENTY-FIVE:
The
Agreement may be terminated in writing with a 90-day prior notice, in
which case the databases and the CA Site will remain the property of the
IIN, but any information on children who are nationals of the country
involved in the Site should be definitely deleted from it and delivered to
the Node in electronic means. In
witness thereof,
the duly authorized representatives of both Parties sign this Agreement in
two equally valid copies, on the fifth day of May of 2005. Ministerio
de la Juventud,
Inter-American Children’s Institute Leonor
Calderón A.
Alejandro Bonasso The
Acting Director General of the Inter-American Children’s Institute signs
ad referendum of the Directing
Council of the IIN.
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