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Inter-American Children's Institute |
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"
Inter-American Democratic Chart "
1.
Introduction The
Inter-American Children’s Institute together with the Unit for the
Promotion of Democracy (UPD) agreed to develop a video on
the Inter-American Democratic Chart in order to promote its
diffusion and to generate greater citizenship awareness as well as a civic
engagement in the countries of the region. Ing.
Julio Rosenblatt, Coordinator of the IIN Inter-American Program of
Information on Children and the Family, was the orginator of the idea of
developing videos. The
Video on the Inter-American Democratic Chart is a 49 seconds animated
musical video interpreted by Eddie Peñalver (soloist) in Spanish with
English subtitles. RAL (the Latin American Network) produced the video and
Walter Tournier directed it. 2.
Content[1] The
approval of the Inter-American Democratic Chart (IDC) is the result of two
long thought out processes whose aim was the expansion of democracy. On
one hand it was the need to provide spaces of integration within the
continent. On the other hand there was the growing awareness of the need
to establish international normative and institutional mechanisms to
protect the stability of democracy while respecting individual States'
sovereignty and their right to self determination. On
this last point it should be stressed that the IDC would be totally
inefficient as a normative and political instrument if it would avoid or
violate the principle of self determination of peoples or if it would mask
the interventionism - open or disguised - of the powerful countries. The
IDC is the result of a new regional and international political scene and
is also the expression of an agreement among countries aware of the need
to affirm and strengthen democratic institutions and practices as the
necessary foundation for their full development. What
is the use of the Inter-American Democratic Chart in our societies? The
IDC is a valuable tool for the promotion of democracy in the region. Its
usefulness can be clearly understood when analyzing its different areas of
influence. In the first place, the IDC promotes multilateral action still
respecting, as previously mentioned, the sovereignty of the Countries and
the principle of self determination of peoples. This multilateral action
can be taken to face an institutional crisis, a democratic breakdown or to
deal with flagrant human rights violations of national populations, since
it establishes the parameters within which the States should act. The IDC
clearly and unequivocally defines what the American countries understand
as democracy and also shows an advanced vision in matters pertinent to
civil liberties and human rights. In
second place, the IDC is a very useful instrument for the education of the
younger generation of political and social leaders. Historically, in the
majority of the region's political systems, the leaders grew up accustomed
to practices and habits that today are considered alien, and even opposed,
to democratic values. As a consequence, the socialization of the young
political leaders from the perspective of affirming democracy is one of
the main challenges for the consolidation of democracy in the region. The
articles of the IDC contain the guiding principles and the political
agreements within which the leaders of the next decades must be formally
educated. They include the shared and wholehearted adhesion to a
conception of the democratic values that radically transcends all
diversities, even the legitimate diversity of origin, political parties
and ideologies. In
third place, the diffusion of the IDC through mass media will make a good
portion of the population aware of their rights and of the forms to
exercise those rights. In other words, the massive diffusion of the IDC is
one of the main strategies for the development of a higher citizenship
awareness and civic engagement. To sensitize public opinion through mass
media - making citizens aware of their rights and able to demand them -
implies the recognition that it is not possible to build solid and stable
democratic institutions without the support of a public opinion imbued
with democratic values and able to exercise them. In
this regard, the analysis of the polls carried out by the Latinobarómetro
give us a relevant and illustrative perspective. This network for pulsing
the public opinion in the continent shows today some worrisome trends: a
good portion of Latin American public opinion does not consider that
democracy is functioning properly in their countries and does not consider
it "the best system of
government" when compared with other kinds of political regimes.
Only 56% of the Latin American public opinion backed democracy last year
as the best system, compared with 61% in Asia, 69% in Africa and 78% in Europe (Latinobarómetro 2002). The
degree of satisfaction with the functioning of democracy in the countries
of the region was even lower: 32%, compared with 55% in Asia, 58% in
Africa and 53% in Europe. Finally
the IDC has a fourth function: the consolidation and strengthening of
democracy. We are talking about its role within the formal and informal
educational system. The usefulness of the IDC in the education of children
and adolescents, both within the formal educational systems (schools) and
the informal one (communities) is paramount. In this process, the first
step is to make teachers and community educators aware and familiar with
the IDC for them to pass on this information and awareness to all children
and adolescents. The idea is that the young generations be aware of the
CDI not just as a normative text but as a set of values and practices
incorporated into their schools, families and communities daily lives in a
concrete and specific manner. 3.
Target Public The
Video on the Democratic Chart is targets the general public and
specifically all the children in the region. The
idea is to generate a communication strategy that highlights the
importance of the Chart for all the American countries and promotes the
exercise of democracy and its values as expressed in Art. 1 "the
peoples of the Americas have the right to Democracy and their governments
have the obligation to promote and defend it". 4.
Broadcast times The
suggestion is to broadcast the Video on the Inter-American Democratic
Chart at a time when the whole family will have the opportunity to view
it. The
video's goal is "through mass media sensitize public opinion on their
democratic rights and how to exercise and demand them. It is not possible
to build solid and stable democratic institutions without a public opinion
imbued with democratic values and able to fully exercise them".[2] 5.
Diffusion The
Video on the "Inter-American Democratic Chart" will be shown by
commercial channels and cable in the different countries of the region The
video can be used by public and private networks in the different
countries as a didactic tool to promote citizenship and civic engagement.
The hope is to promote knowledge and adherence to the Democratic Chart
among teachers and community educators and from there to arrive at the
mass diffusion among children and adolescents. 6.
Lyrics of the "Inter-American Democratic Chart" We
all have it 7.
Information on the Inter-American Children’s Institute The
Inter-American Children’s Institute (IIN) is a specialized organization
of the OAS with headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay, founded in 1927. In
the 75th Meeting of its Directing Council held in Ottawa, the
Strategic Plan 2000-2004 was approved. In this plan, the promotion of
tools for the dissemination of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
by means of communication strategies is suggested. To
implement this, for the last two years the IIN has been promoting the
development of short videos of approximately one minute on issues related
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These videos are being shown
on commercial TV and by cable in all of Latin America. The
work of the Inter-American Children’s Institute revolves around three
important programs: a.
Program of Comprehensive Promotion of the Rights of the Child The
Program of Comprehensive Promotion of the Rights of the Child, based on
developing a Prototype of Focused Public Policies on Children, tries to
promote measures and intervention projects to deal with the problems and
needs of children and adolescents in circumstances of vulnerability, risk
and social exclusion. This
program has developed its Prototype of Focused Public Policies to deal
with the problems mentioned in articles 23 (Handicap), 32 (Child Labor),
33 (Drug Abuse) and 34 (Sexual Exploitation) of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. b.
Inter-American Program of Information on Children and the Family
(PIINFA) The
main objective of PIINFA is the production and promotion of information
systems directed to people and institutions working with children and
adolescents in order to create pools of comprehensive information that
will help generate changes in the life conditions of children and
adolescents in the Americas. The
projects of PIINFA provide focused services to deal with the primary needs
of institutions, decision makers and planners working with children and
families. They have also developed flexible information processing tools
able to generate self evaluation data to facilitate adaptations and
change. All the projects are tailored to the specific needs of each
country, avoiding the rigidity of ready made general answers. The
activities of PIINFA are centered on: -
The Latin American Information Network on Children (RIIN) c. Juridical Program The
Juridical Program (PROJUR) provides Member States of the OAS with services
such as training, information, monitoring, research and specialized
technical assistance in order to reinforce and support national systems of
protection of children in the hemisphere. It
also tries to provide modern juridical information to ruling bodies on
children, facilitate research, train people responsible for institutional
development and rights and provide technical assistance in the unfinished
task of harmonizing national legislations with the principles of modern
international norms. 8. Information on the Latin American Network RAL,
the Latin American Network, is an International non-profit Organization,
with headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay. Founded in 1996, RAL is governed
by a Board of Directors composed of personalities from various Latin
American countries. Objectives: COMMUNICATOR
FOR INTEGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT: This
would be the result of joint efforts by the Audiovisual and the Social
Communication Industries of the region to promote and diffuse Latin
American Audiovisual Production that will foster the process of
integration, cultural patrimony, development and democratic values in
Latin America. INFORMATION
AND CONNECTIVITY NETWORK: A
network in which television broadcasters and independent producers
participate in the following activities:
·
PRODUCTION
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT Sessions
of technical/creative professional development and updating of new
technologies to take place during the Encounters and through exchanges and
internships STUDIES Studies
and investigations carried on to facilitate the entry into the Latin
American television market of
high quality programs produced by independent television broadcasters and
producers whose goal is to promote integration, culture and development to
television audiences in all of Latin America. TELEVISION
STATIONS WHICH HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE RAL ENCOUNTER: Argentina:
ATC
Argentina – Televisora Color, Buenos Aires; FORMAR, Buenos Aires;
INFINITO, Buenos Aires; TV Quality, Buenos Aires. Brasil:
TV
Educativa d RS, Porto Alegre; Rede Minas, Belo Horizonte – Minas Gerais;
TV Cultura de Ouro Preto - Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais; TV Educativa RIO, Rio
de Janeiro; TV Educativa de Bahía, Salvador Bahía; TV Educativa Paraná,
Curitiba PR; TV Cultura Sao Pablo, Sao Pablo; TV Futura, Río de Janeiro;
TV SENAC, Sao Pablo; TV PUC SP, Sao Pablo; TV UNIFESP Canal Universitario,
Sao Pablo; Centro de Comunicaçao, Universidad Estadual Campinas SP. Chile:
TV
Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
Televisión Colombia:
La
Franja, Ministerio de Cultura Bogotá; Canal Capital, Bogotá;
Teleantioquia, Medellín Costa
Rica: SINART
– Canal 13 Cuba:
Televisión
Cubana ICRT, La Habana Ecuador:
TV
Más Guayaquil México:
TV
UNAM México; Canal 40, México Perú:
Canal
7 Instituto Nacional de radio y TV T.N.P – Lima Uruguay:
Canal
10, Montevideo; Canal 5 SODRE, Montevideo; TV Ciudad, Montevideo Venezuela:
Venezolana
de televisión, Caracas; Vale TV, Caracas; Art TV, Caracas 9.
Production of the
“Inter-American Democratic Chart” Credits: General
Coordination:
Julio Rosenblatt WALTER
TOURNIER – Director Uruguay
(1944)
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