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XX PAN AMERICAN CHILD CONGRESS PRECEDED BY FORUM WITH CIVIL SOCIETY

Buenos Aires, Argentina. In preparation of the XX Pan American Child Congress to be held at the Ministerial level in Lima, Peru, in September, the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Children’s Institute recently held talks with 73 representatives from 31 civil society organizations of 11 OAS Member States.

This Forum, which took place on August 25 and 26, 2009, in the Hotel Las Naciones in Buenos Aires, Argentina, provided a space for civil society workers to discuss and share their recommendations on the achievements reached 20 years after the Convention on Children’s Rights; on the current public policy challenges involving comprehensive childhood protection mechanisms; on child/adolescent participation in the construction of citizenship and its impact on public policy; and on the leanings of international cooperation towards childhood.

During the inauguration, Claudio Franchello, the Undersecretary of Institutional Development and Federal Integration of the National Department of Childhood, Adolescence and Family (SENAF) of Argentina, underlined the importance of receiving input from those who work daily for the protection and development of childhood in the Hemisphere, so as to contrast public policy with actual reality. He referred to the programs set in motion by the government of Argentina on childhood and adolescence rooted in the promotion and protection of human rights.

Irene Klinger, Director of the Department of International Affairs of the OAS, highlighted the programs and initiatives carried out by the OAS in the spheres of law, education, drugs, the war against violence and the promotion of democratic values, among others, to improve the life conditions of children in the Americas. “It’s not a question of individual protection, but a question of social obligation,” said Dr. Klinger, referring to the importance of contributions and recommendations made by civil society organizations regarding the themes discussed in the Forum.

For her part, the IIN Director, Dolores Aguilar, referred to the significance of this first dialogue with civil society entities to make it possible for Member States to take into account their vision of childhood and recommendations during the XX Pan American Child Congress. During the Pan American Child Congress, in which high-level government authorities in matters of childhood and adolescence in the hemisphere will participate, we hope, Aguilar said, to promote the exchange of knowledge, experience and agreement among Member States, to produce the necessary transformations to improve the life conditions of children and adolescents in the Americas.

For more information about the two meetings, please visit the Web page of the Pan American Child Congress of the IIN at http:// www.xxcongresopanamericano.org or the Web page of the Civil Society of the OAS at http://www.civil-society.oas.org/indexESP.htm.

Reference: E-271/09