Inter-American Meeting on the “Exchange of experience and programs on Child Care”

In collaboration with the Government of Mexico, will take place in the city of Querétaro on 24 and April 25, 2008, the Inter-American Meeting on the “Exchange of experience and programs on Child Care”, with the participation of Delegates to the Directing Council of the IIN, persons in charge and technicians of children and adolescents public policies, representatives from the child bodies in the Member States. (See more)

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Children and Adolescents Inter-American Forum "My Right to Participate"

On 22, 23 and April 24, 2008 will take place in the city of Querétaro, Mexico, the Children and Adolescents Inter-American Forum "My right to participate" previous to the Inter-American Meeting on the “Exchange of experience and programs on Child Care”. Children and adolescents from 10 to 17 years of age from the Member States will participate at this Forum, with the accompaniment and support from responsible adults as national and international standards in force.

The aim of the forum is to create a space for expression and exchange of experiences among children and adolescents representatives of various social realities of America that will allow us to, within the framework of the rights of children to know their views and proposals on the active participation in the design of actions, plans, programs and policies for children and adolescents.

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Mr. Gary D. Robinson visits the IIN

Mr. Gary D. Robinson, Member of the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD) of the University of Victoria, Canada, visited the IIN headquarters last April 8, 2008. The IICRD has developed in various Latin-American countries the program Child Rights Education for Professionals (CRED-PRO). Currently the possibility of a joint work with the IIN for the development of activities in this area at a regional level is being evaluated.

The IICRD has worked since 1994 in implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the legislative field and for public policies programming, based on the strengths of families, communities and cultures.

More information about the IICRD

Annual Report of the Inter-American Children’s Institute to the OAS General Assembly

The Director General of the IIN, María de los Dolores Aguilar, presented in Washington on March 12, 2008, the Annual Report of the Inter-American Children’s Institute to the OAS Permanent Council, detailing major achievements and progress made by the Institute in 2007. See more

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Training day on the two Optional Protocols to the CRC

Norberto Liwski, Director of Areas of the IIN, together with Rosa María Ortiz from the Committee on the Rights of the Child, coordinated the training on the two Optional Protocols to the CRC, organized by the Foreign Ministry of Colombia, the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare, UNICEF and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. This training activity, considered as an IIN’s function, besides representing an academic collaboration, it becomes an instrument of incidence and cooperation with the public policies of the Member States. The training was oriented for government officials and the civil society.

The IIN invites Member States to establish contact for upcoming trainings, with the spirit of commitment towards children and adolescents of the region.

Mrs. Carmen Lomellin, Executive Secretary of the Permanent Secretariat of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) of the Organization of American States (OAS) and Mrs. Melissa Kopolow, Alternate Delegate of the United States of America to the Directing Council of the IIN visited the IIN’s headquarters.

During two days of work programmatic aspects were analyzed aimed to deepen and extend the mechanisms of coordination and cooperation between the Inter-American Children’s Institute and the Inter-American Commission of Women. (See more)

Institutional Technical Guidelines

The Inter-American Children’s Institute, on the basis of its mission, contributes with the authorities of the different government powers and various institutions through the construction of comprehensive guidelines on legislation, public policies and their use in favor of children and adolescents. In this regard, it has begun developing Institutional Technical Guidelines (OTI), as a mechanism of attention, analysis and reflection on the various casuistries and that for their widely incidence are considered as paradigmatic situations. They are developed based on the rules of the Inter-American system and international levels, especially the reference to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the American Convention on Human Rights.

Confident that OTI represent an area of participatory construction, the IIN will appreciate your opinion, as well as the receipt of situations that might consider guidance for the States in the hemisphere.

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Assistance to States Parties in reporting to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and in the implementation of its recommendations.

The IIN reiterates to the Member States its willingness to assist in the preparation of reports and the implementation of the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. In this regard, it thanks the Committee for its support to the Institute, to recommend the Dominican Republic, in its concluding observations on the second report at the 47th Session, that:

“c) cooperate with civil society and children’s organisations, academic centres, media and NGOs in this regard and seek technical assistance from UNICEF and the Inter-American Institute for the Child”

In order to comply with the commitments in this field, the IIN invites the States and the organizations to continue with renewed spirit this work and thus advance the full exercise of the Rights of the Child.

Child Migration

A sensitive issue that has taken relevance in the social agenda is the migration of children and adolescents. Migrant children in the region are exposed to a series of high-risk situations that restrict the exercise of their rights, undermining their dignity even to their own lives.

For the IIN, child migration, revised from the rights approach, the family and community perspective and democratic governance, is a subject that must be permanently analyzed, given the fast increase and devastating consequences of the matter.

Knowing the different edges from which the process is interpreted, represents an opportunity for decision-making and the efficient action by the authorities in monitoring and implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Conclusions of the Special Meeting of the Directing Council of IIN:

The Special Meeting of the Directing Council of the IIN - “Analysis of the implementation of the new laws on child issues, public policies and institutional reforms within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child” was held in the city of Quito, Ecuador, on 28 and 29 November 2007. Representatives of 22 Member States where present, as well as various organizations as observers.

The contributions from the three specialized Working Commissions of the Special Meeting, in addition of evaluating children situation from areas with highest incidence, present defined outlines of action for the best performance of efforts for children in relation to investment, legislation and universal and targeted public policies. The IIN is making a follow-up of these conclusions from each of their areas, in order to promote interregional cooperation.

Staff integration for institutional strengthening

On February 1, 2008 the IIN staff was completed and thus began a new institutional stage. As part of efforts to strengthen the Action Plan 2007 - 2011, an institutional meeting was held in the city of Colonia Suiza, on 14 and 15 February 2008, with the aim to design operational plans for the three organizational areas (Legal, Promotion and Protection of Rights, Communication and Information), as well as the integration of the new employees.

During the two days of work agreements and commitments were designed that represent the expected short and medium term products.

Ambassador John Biehl visited the IIN

Ambassador John Biehl, Representative of the OAS in Uruguay, visited the headquarters of IIN on February 13 to meet the new IIN employees. He pointed out in his message different problems that affect children in the region emphasizing the need to pay attention to the protection of children and adolescents migrants. He encouraged the Institute to act with commitment in this new phase.

Latin-American Meeting on the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Dr. Norberto Liwski, IIN Director of Areas, attended in Lima, Peru on 7 and 8 February 2008, the Latin-American Meeting of Experts for the preparation of documents on the 20 years of the Convention on the Rights of Child, organized by the BICE (Bureau International Catholique de l’Enfance). It covered the most important aspects of childhood and adolescence in the region with the objective of developing a hemispheric positioning before the "Geneva Call", event of the celebration.