Bulletin IINfancia N° 2 December/2016

Second Season - December 2016

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Luis Almagro OAS Secretary General Néstor Méndez OAS Assistant Secretary General Ricardo Gonzáles Borgne IIN Directing Council Vice President Raúl Escalante IIN Directing Council Vice President Víctor Giorgi IIN Director General Daniel Claverie - Coordinator Ingrid Quevedo - Coordinator Sara Cardoso - Desing IIN Communication Area

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The IIN is as Specialized Organization of the Organization of American States (OAS) in childhood and adolescence, which assists the States in the development of public policies to be taken for the benefit of children and adolescents, contributing in the field of their design and implementation in the perspective of the promotion, protection and full respect of the rights of children and adolescents in the region. Special assistance is aimed at the needs of the Member States of the Inter-American System and at the particularities of the regional groups.

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SUMM

Editorial: Director General, Victor Giorgi.

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Interview: Jorge Cardona - Committee Expert, United Nations Commit- 14 tee on the Rights of the Child, Professor of Public International Law at the University of Valencia The Convention on the Rights of the Child, The Path to the New Social Contract - Dr Norberto Liwski

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Childhood, considerate treatment and the new social pact - Alejandro Cussianovich

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The implementation of alternative measures and penalties to deprivation of liberty: legal relevance and methodological recommendations in Chile (First Part) - Osvaldo Vรกzquez Rossoni

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MARY 91st Regular Meeting of the Directing Council of the IIN

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Commemorative Activities in the 90th Anniversary of the IIN

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150th birth anniversary of Dr. Luis Morquio

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Stockholm +20: Looking Back, Moving Forward PhD Virginia Caputo

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Early Childhood in Guatemala, a further Dimension - Otto Rivera

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Factors associated with the quality of early education in the frameork of comprehensive care: keys to development in early childhood - Carolina Turriago Borrero

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Mexico´s General act on the Rights of Children and Adolescents Elva Leonor Cårdenas Miranda

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Communication channel institutional

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Víctor Giorgi

Director General

A few months ago – when we were celebrating the IIN’s 89th anniversary – we published the first issue of the IINfancia journal, a historical recovery of the journal which, for 74 years, had been a means of dissemination of scientific knowledge related to children, as well as of the ethical and political positions on the rights of children in the hemisphere.

In keeping with our commitment to provide continuity to this publication, we are now delivering the second issue. On this occasion, we are deliberately timing publication to coincide with the 27th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

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This instrument of international law represents a break with former ways of viewing children, their social position and, most especially, the responsibilities of families, communities and States in relation to the comprehensive protection of their rights.

In the Americas and the Caribbean, the implementation of the CRC began with the incorporation of its mandates in legal frameworks. Initially, the process was not accompanied in most of the States by budgetary allocations commensurate with the new responsibilities, nor the necessary institutional transformations to enable the shift from targeted policies in populations whose rights had already been breached, to comprehensive protection policies capable of safeguarding the rights of all children.

It was only towards the first decade of the new century that public spending on children began to increase and rights began to go beyond the discursive level to become the focal point of public policies.

Despite these developments, today, 27 years after that historic event, we still have a significant way to go on the always unfinished road that leads from the voicing and recognition of rights to rights in a state of daily and universal enjoyment.

In addition to this, in the last few months we have noted worrying signs of regression in the field of rights guarantees. This can be linked primarily to two phenomena. On the one hand, discourse on safety and the simplistic proposals with which it is attempted to address complex and multicausal issues. These policies, which are known as involving a “heavy hand”, or “zero tolerance”, promote repressive punitive responses without addressing the root causes of the different expressions of violence, holding the most at-risk adolescents responsible for insecurity and aggravating the discrimination and exclusion they suffer, which feeds back into the spiral of violence.

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A second threat derives from the cyclical nature of the economies and the decline in the levels of investment that the States make for the implementation of public policies through which they promote and protect the rights of children.

The problem of financial resources as an obstacle to the implementation and sustainability of quality public policies and their impact and coverage was noted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child both in their comments made to the States on the basis of their “country reports” and in their general comments.

In 2007, the Committee held a Day of General Discussion on “Resources for the Rights of the Child: Responsibility of States”, and recently issued General Comment Nº 19 (2016) on Public Budgeting and the Realization of Children’s Rights (Art. 4).

It points to the States’ obligation to ensure that public budgets are sufficient, effective, efficient and equitable, in order to respect, promote, protect and comply with the Convention and its Optional Protocols. In other words, to ensure that public budgets can make children’s rights a reality.

From the point of view of the doctrine of comprehensive protection, the actions that a society undertakes on behalf of the well-being of children cannot be understood as isolated, short-term and charitable acts, which are financed with surpluses; that is, with the leftovers of State budgets or the contributions of private actors who are willing to engage in charity.

These are rights that States have an obligation to guarantee, and this requires genuine budgetary allocations to make public policies sustainable over time, as well as comprehensive, universal in scope and including quality benefits.

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Policies for children are redistribution policies. The intervention of the State in the redistribution of wealth implies making a number of deductions which will affect the higher-income sectors in order to sustain programmes, actions and direct transfers that will have a positive impact on the access of the more at-risk sectors to the goods and services through which they can realize their rights. This implies “removing from the market” certain goods and services in order to regulate them with a social interest rationale, viewing them as rights, and, therefore, subject to State guarantees regarding their accessibility, and not merchandise regulated by the market.

However, there are countries that prefer to perform merely timid, and even regressive tax interventions, which have little impact on the distribution of wealth and the construction of equity. Their argument is that harsh fiscal policies deter investment; however, we should ask ourselves what the point is in attracting capital if it is not to have an impact on the well-being of the whole population.

That resources should be available to the States for the implementation of public policies is consistent with political decisions which, in a democracy, are possible and sustainable through two mechanisms: the level of “social cohesion”, that is, of “inclusion” and “sense of belonging” reached by the whole of society, which underpins solidarity, and the strengthening of individuals taking part in these programmes, enabling them to participate actively in the defence of their rights.

We at the IIN have insisted on a number of occasions that, inasmuch as investment is a necessary condition for the promotion and protection of rights, the principle of non-regressivity should be applied to investment in childhood. Economies – most particularly in our region – undergo cycles with periods of recession in which there tend to be budget cuts or austerity policies, which affect the standard of services and, therefore, rights which have already been enshrined.

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A new aspect introduced by the Convention is children’s right to participation. This applies to the processes of producing, discussing, adopting and executing budgets.

Including children as full and active social subjects requires appropriate methodologies which facilitate access to information and open the way for children’s organizations to express their views.

This transparency offers greater safeguards to processes and limits the potential for diversion or misuse of funds, which is a significant concern in the region.

Again, this brings us back to an issue which those of us who work from the perspective of children’s rights have often confronted. I refer to the power structures that regulate inter-generational relations and the difficulty which the “adult world” finds in recognizing and accepting children’s capacity to give their opinions and make contributions.

It is in this context that we are now sharing Issue Nº 2 of the IINfancia newsletter, with contributions from a number of regional reference points regarding issues involving children.

In keeping with the policy that the IIN has been following for many years, we have attempted to include contributions from the different subregions that make up the Inter-American System.

It is our intention that IINfancia should be a tool for discussion, sharing and the socialization of contributions and reflections to help us move forward in this complex, but unavoidable challenge of making our region an area where the rights of children are a daily reality. And this is a task in which we must include the capabilities, creativity and commitment of all of those collectives and individuals who are willing to walk towards the construction of a culture of rights.

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Jorge Cardona Committee Expert, United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Professor of Public International Law at the University of Valencia

What are your views on the realization of children’s rights, both worldwide and in the Americas and the Caribbean, 25 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child?

My assessment of the 25th anniversary of the Convention is bittersweet. If we compare the situation in 1990 and the situation today, we have obviously improved enormously. Children’s access to education, health, water and sanitation; their right to participate in decisions that concern them; their right to be heard; access to justice; the proportion of children registered in the States; our achievements in the fight against discrimination and gender stereotypes; all of this seen from a perspective of twenty-five years is highly positive. Without a doubt, we have moved forward on the path to changing the paradigm of considering children as objects of protection to considering them holders of rights.

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However, if we examine what remains to be done for this paradigm shift to be complete, for children to be viewed, not as citizens of the future, but as citizens of the present, with rights today, without being discriminated against for being children and without discriminating between them on the grounds of social origin, ethnic group, sex, capacity or sexual orientation, the road ahead is still very long. There are still many things that we need to achieve; many children’s rights are still being breached every day; many children have not been registered; many children have no access to education, water and sanitation, and justice; many children are not considered holders of rights, but the property of their parents.

But we need to be optimistic. We know that if we do nothing to prevent it, by 2030 there will be 167 million boys and girls who will be living in extreme poverty; 69 million boys and girls who will die of preventable causes before the age of 5; 60 million boys and girls who will still have no schooling; 750 million women who will be married while they are still children over these 15 years. But we also know that in the past 15 years, global mortality rates for children under the age of five have dropped by more than half; in 24 low and medium-low income countries, child mortality rates have fallen by two thirds or more; immunization programmes have led to a 79% decline in infections caused by measles, preventing more than 17 million deaths between 2000 and 2014; malaria deaths among children have declined by 58% since 2000; girls and boys attend primary school on an equal footing in 129 countries. And the international community has adopted an ambitious agenda with 17 Sustainable Development Goals to achieve by 2030, which incorporates all of the rights of children across their 169 targets.

In other words: there is much still to be done, but the good news is that we know what needs to be done, and the political commitment to achieve it is increasing.

We should not forget that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most highly ratified international treaty in history: 196 States. We can say that it has been ratified by all of the States in the world ex-

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cept one. And if we can achieve that single ratification, it will become the first international treaty which has been universally ratified. All of which shows the international community’s political commitment.

What is the Committee on the Rights of the Child currently focusing on with regard to children’s rights in the Americas and the Caribbean?

The challenges facing the region of the Americas and the Caribbean are very diverse and not homogeneous. The situation is different in each of the States. The problems of inequality and violence in Central America are not the same as the challenges facing Colombia in its peace process, which are, at the same time, different to those that Chile or Peru must confront. However, in its discussions with the States, the Committee has noted that there are certain common aspects that cross-cut the region.

In the first place, violence. The culture of violence against children and adolescents and between them is a huge challenge which the region must face. A kind of violence that is often armed violence. As well as this, and often linked to it, is the criminalization of adolescence. We have seen pronounced trends in the region according to which, rather than adolescents being viewed as victims, they have been criminalized merely for the fact of being teenagers. Attempts have been made to lower the age of criminal liability, and penalties for adolescents in conflict with the law have become tougher. That is, rather than address the root, structural causes which have led to this situation, a “heavyhanded” policy has been favoured in order to attack the effects of the situation. All experiences have shown that this is a sterile policy, since not only is it ineffective in putting an end to this situation, but it makes it worse.

But the challenges in the region include many others (participation, inclusive and good quality education, poverty eradication...) and crosscutting all of them is the lack of investment in policies for children.

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What are the main obstacles that you would highlight in the attempt to advance towards a “Culture of Rights” to protect children?

If we consider the developments which have taken place over the last 25 years in the Americas and the Caribbean, we observe that Children’s Statutes have been adopted in nearly all of the States, which recognize children as holders of rights. With the exception of Chile and Panama, where such statutes are currently being drafted, in all of the other States in Latin America there are now comprehensive laws on childhood.

Similarly, there are comprehensive policies, national plans, etc. But, in effect, we continue to find that the “culture of rights” is not progressing as it should. And this is due to the deep convictions rooted in the mentality of adults, which are difficult to change. Awareness-raising policies are required, as well as training, in order to change mentalities. We have made a great deal of progress (although there is still a long way to go) in some areas such as, for example, the field of gender violence.

Most of the population has begun to understand that husbands do not have the “right” to beat their wives. But it is still difficult to make parents understand that they do not have the “right” to hit their children in order to correct them. Awareness-raising and training in this area is a great challenge.

When did the new General Comment on “Public Expenditure” emerge and how was it drafted?

In discussions we hold regularly with the 196 States party to the Convention, we frequently find that the delegations of the States, usually chaired by the minister responsible for social policy, express their willingness to do more in relation to the rights contained in the Convention, but refer to the lack of resources with which to do this. We have noted that there is a kind of perception that the entire State is bound by the Convention, except for the Ministry of Economy, which decides what resources are available and for what purpose. It is as if this mi-

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nistry were not bound by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and was able to set the limits of its application. So we realized that it was necessary to explain to the States the content of the obligations which, by having ratified the Convention, they had undertaken in budgetary terms. That it was necessary to explain that in the preparation of budgets, in addition to the general principles of the Convention (non-discrimination, best interests of the child, their right to be heard and the right to life and to development), States should also understand that the principles of effectiveness, efficiency, equity, transparency and sustainability have important implications in childhood-related issues.

Likewise, civil society, and especially (but not exclusively) organized civil society in Latin America had remarked upon the same situation, which also contributed to the Committee’s decision to draft this General Comment.

Once this decision was made, we initiated a process which has taken three years and which involved, it can be said unreservedly, the most extensive consultation process that the Committee has ever conducted. We consulted experts from around the world, civil society organizations in the Americas, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia; the 196 States party to the Convention; the agencies of the United Nations system and regional agencies; and, naturally, children. Over three thousand children from more than seventy countries in the world expressed their opinion on the General Comment. And all of their opinions were taken into account. We can state that this is the most widely consulted General Comment of all that the Committee has issued to date. Although, of course, its contents and drafting are the Committee’s responsibility, we are proud to be aware that it is underpinned by a very wide civil, political and economic consensus.

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What meaning and significance do you attach to this General Comment in the process of strengthening the implementation of the Convention?

As I have pointed out, there are no rights which have no cost at all.

If there is no investment in participation, children will not be able to exercise their right to participate. It is not only education, health and social policies that need investment. The whole set of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights need to be made visible in budgets.

And sufficient resources need to be allocated to them; effectively, efficiently, equitably, transparently and sustainably.

The General Comment’s primary aim is to improve understanding of the obligations originating in the Convention in relation to budgeting for children’s rights, with a view to strengthening the exercise of those rights. However, it is, undoubtedly, also an undeniable aim to promote a real shift in how budgets are planned, enacted, executed and monitored in order to promote the implementation of the Convention and its Optional Protocols.

How will this General Comment be circulated, with a view to influencing the situation in the States Party?

We have already carried out two launches for this General Comment.

The first was in Geneva, in September; this was actually the Comment’s world launch, before the Member States of the United Nations. The second was in Mexico, in October; it was the launch for Latin America, during the biennial meeting held on investment in childhood in Latin America. In addition to these two, we have been conducting country presentations to State and civil society authorities and a number of presentations are planned in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Our aim is to reach most of the political and civil society authorities in as many States as possible, and to this end, we shall spare no efforts.

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What are the priorities of the Committee on the Rights of the Child for the near future?

The Committee’s work is overwhelming. Every five years we must examine all 196 States, we are in the process of completing two new General Comments, the Third Protocol has begun to be applied and, as a result, we have begun to receive communications on possible breaches of the Convention. In view of this, one of the Committee’s priorities is to improve its working methods so that we too become more effective, more efficient, more transparent; and to ensure that children’s voices are heard in this fascinating task which is the defence of their rights.

What is your assessment of the current relationship between the Inter-American Children’s Institute and the Committee on the Rights of the Child?

It was, in fact, on the occasion of this General Comment on public budgets that relations between the Institute and the Committee were enhanced. This relationship has great potential in many areas. It is not just that the Institute will be able to influence the work of the Committee, but also that it can help the States of the region to follow up on the recommendations of the Committee. There are many areas of possible collaboration and I am confident that relations are going to continue to strengthen.

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T he Convention on the Rights of the Child T he Path to the New Social Contract Dr Norberto Liwski

Twenty-eight years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations General Assembly, there is a need to reaffirm the value and significance of this Human Rights Treaty – the most highly ratified of treaties – and at the same time to do some thinking upon the road we have travelled and the outstanding challenges and targets in the region of Latin America.

This Convention has been ratified by most of the countries in the InterAmerican System, and in the case of the State that has not ratified it, its Supreme Court of Justice has, nonetheless, adhered to the doctrine established in it in several significant rulings, all of which indicates that the principles and provisions of this still fairly recent Convention have been taken up and mark the value of a new stage as regards our responsibility towards the younger generations.

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The experience of these twenty-eight years has enabled us to recognize that it is indispensable, although not sufficient, for the States to submit their regular reports the United Nations Committee, as well as to subject themselves to its consideration, with the comments and recommendations arising from this activity.

In this respect, when a significant number of States Parties submitted their third and even fourth reports, it was remarked that they needed to implement the recommendations that had previously been made to them. These reiterations, which range over different areas of public policy, are evidence of the need to ensure that the Comments that countries receive are viewed as being politically binding.

Overcoming this aspect requires delving into the causes which hinder or prevent the provision of appropriate treatment and, consequently, the transformations needed in order to find the key to implementation.

In this regard, the General Comments produced by the Committee to date indicate the possibility of having extensive conceptual, technical and methodological arguments available to reach these objectives.

Within the broad range of General Comments, we shall focus particularly on NÂş5, entitled, “General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Childâ€?, which refers to the principal focal points of the new ways of designing public policies for children under the rights-based approach.

Within this framework, we cannot fail to acknowledge certain advances which have been achieved, and in which the components of the new social contract posed by the Convention have led to the start of cultural changes and policy definitions regarding the responsibility of the States as guarantors of legally established rights.

Noting the very new features of this cultural transformation, in which children are recognized as holders of rights, also implies ensuring that appropriate conditions are met so that they can fully participate in the development and changes taking place in their communities.

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In putting this concept forward, we can point to experiences in the region in which the protagonist participation of children has not only contributed to making their voices heard, but also contributed to advocating for progressive transformations in the institutions responsible for ensuring that rights are upheld.

On the basis of these experiences, we must examine, within each reality, which testifies to the region’s diversity, what barriers should be removed in order to reach the goal of active protagonism for rightsholders.

In this area, civil society organizations, including children’s associations, have been able to form highly influential movements to promote public policies according to the rights-based approach, as well as to support the presentation of reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child of the United Nations. It is the responsibility of the States to establish a broad and plural line of cooperation with these organizations, acknowledging in them their specific vision and respecting their institutional autonomy.

In addition, in reviewing the achievements of these twenty-eight years, we should underscore the positive trend that it is possible to note in two sensitive indicators involving children. On the one hand, their increasing enrolment in the educational system and on the other, the reduction, although still very gradual, of infant mortality rates.

Both of these favourable circumstances become more negative when examining the adolescent age group. Here we encounter a problematic area aggravated by poverty and inequality, which is only too frequently ignored and, in consequence, lacks sufficient active policies to strengthen individual and collective development to achieve the sector’s full capabilities, as well as citizenship construction.

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Dr Norberto Ignacio Liwski Argentinian Medical Doctor, Social Paediatrician Educator; Member and Vice-President of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (2003-2007), Chair of Defence for Children International, Argentina Section. A United Nations non-governmental organization in consultative status.

Chair of the Committee for the Defence of Health, Ethics and Human Rights - CODESEDH; a civil, non-profit association. A national public good entity. Associate Professor of the Department of Culture for Peace and Human Rights. School of Social Science. University of Buenos Aires. Professor, Nobel Peace Prize Adolfo PĂŠrez Esquivel.

Head of the Department of Public Lectures on Human Rights and Citizen Participation of the National University of the Northeast; Professor, Seminar on Childhood Policies, University Diploma in Early Childhood Education, Tres de Febrero National University. Professor (appointed in a contest on merits) of the Health Sciences Department of the Degree in Specialization in Education, Public Policies and Child Rights of the Pedagogical University of Buenos Aires.

Director of the Social Legislative Observatory of the Honourable Chamber of Deputies of the Province of Buenos Aires, 2009 – 2015. Member of the Governing Body of the International Catholic Child Bureau, BICE. Member of the Council of the Presidency of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights.

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In considering this sector, we believe that it is indispensable to call upon the governments to become aware of the need for broader and more comprehensive public policies. This implies increasing investment and directing policies towards increasing the presence and solidarity of the States which, in turn, must block the way to those who, in the shadows and often as part of organized crime, represent a real threat for the adolescents and young people of the region.

As General Comment Nº 5, “General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child” rightly points out, one of the components which must be fully taken on board involves the compilation, processing and dissemination of data. To quote this Comment specifically:

“Collection of sufficient and reliable data on children, disaggregated to enable identification of discrimination and/or disparities in the realization of rights, is an essential part of implementation.

The Committee reminds States parties that data collection needs to extend over the whole period of childhood, up to the age of 18 years. It also needs to be coordinated throughout the jurisdiction, ensuring nationally applicable indicators. States should collaborate with appropriate research institutes and aim to build up a complete picture of progress towards implementation, with qualitative as well as quantitative studies. The reporting guidelines for periodic reports call for detailed disaggregated statistical and other information covering all areas of the Convention. It is essential not merely to establish effective systems for data collection, but to ensure that the data collected are evaluated and used to assess progress in implementation, to identify problems and to inform all policy development for children. Evaluation requires the development of indicators related to all rights guaranteed by the Convention.

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The Committee commends States parties which have introduced annual publication of comprehensive reports on the state of children’s rights throughout their jurisdiction. Publication and wide dissemination of and debate on such reports, including in parliament, can provide a focus for broad public engagement in implementation. Translations, including child-friendly versions, are essential for engaging children and minority groups in the process.

The Committee emphasizes that, in many cases, only children themselves are in a position to indicate whether their rights are being fully recognized and realized. Interviewing children and using children as researchers (with appropriate safeguards) is likely to be an important way of finding out, for example, to what extent their civil rights, including the crucial right set out in article 12, to have their views heard and given due consideration, are respected within the family, in schools and so on.�

The following data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean show national and regional contexts in relation to poverty and inequality, this last aspect on the basis of the annual rate of change in the Gini coefficient.

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Latin America: poverty and indigence, 1980-2015 a (Percentages and millions of persons)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of data from household surveys conducted in the respective countries. a Estimates for 19 countries of the region, including Haiti. Cuba is not included.The 2015 figures are projections.

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Latin America (16 countries): annual rate of change in the Gini coefficient, 2002-2010 and 2010-2014 a (Percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of data from household surveys conducted in the respective countries. a The figures are for the years given except in the cases of Argentina (2002, 2009 and 2012), the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (2002, 2010 and 2013), Brazil (2001, 2009 and 2014), Chile (2001, 2009 and 2013), El Salvador (2001, 2009 and 2014), Honduras (2002, 2010 and 2013), Mexico (2002, 2008 and 2014) and the Plurinational State of Bolivia (2001, 2009, 2013). b Urban areas. c No information is included for the 2002-2014 period because the data are not strictly comparable.

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Latin America (18 countries): educational attainment in the poorest quintile relative to the richest, by education level, 1997-2013

(Percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of data from household surveys conducted in the respective countries.

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A study of these charts can help perform an analysis of the region, with a special focus on some highly sensitive issues. One of them, doubtless, is the realization that in Latin American countries, only 42% of young people within the poorest quintile finish secondary education, which indicates the difficulty that these poorest young people face, not only in relation to completing the secondary education level, but also its consequences. Poverty is exacerbated by difficult conditions that hinder their entry into the labour market and, as a result, young people are trapped at the edges or in the midst of social exclusion.

It is worrying to note that the States’ investments in improving opportunities for this sector of youth are very low, and on numerous occasions tend to focus on the field of juvenile justice. It is time to redirect these policies, increasing efforts to achieve higher levels of youth citizenship, fostering activities and projects that recognize the creative capacity of young people, and at the same time, encouraging them to become active protagonists in their own innovation in the field of public policy.

In keeping with this vision, in performing my duties in civil society organizations and as a member and vice-president of the Committee on the Rights of the Child of the United Nations (from 2003 to 2007), and even when I had the opportunity to participate actively (from 2007 to 2008) in designing and planning the Inter-American Children’s Institute, I have consistently maintained that there is a pressing need

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to bring the field of juvenile justice into line with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in its Articles 37, 39 and 40, as well as with General Comment Nº 10, entitled “Children’s rights in juvenile justice”. In addition, that strong debate should be encouraged in our societies with regard to the need to boost the full social integration of adolescents.

In this brief review I have referred to only some of the achievements and progress made since the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

These must serve as the basis to ensure that, moving forward, the regional agenda should take up the outstanding challenges and targets for our children, with a high degree of responsibility assumed by States Parties and civil society.

References The Convention on the Rights of the Child.

General Comment Nº 5 - “General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child”.

General Comment Nº 10 - “Children’s rights in juvenile justice”.

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Childhood, considerate treatment and the new social pact.

Alejandro Cussianovich

Considerate Treatment cannot be reduced to a simple rule of courtesy, etiquette or good manners. It can also express a new sensithought,1 a new way of feeling, of interacting, of relating to and thinking about others, most particularly, regarding those whom we have traditionally considered insignificant, incapable and destined to be subject to us, while their chronological age still determines that they should be.

Quite the contrary, Considerate Treatment is called upon to express the quality of social relations; in particular, between generations, and is directly related to the dignity of the recipient and of the provider. The fact is that Considerate Treatment is inexorably linked to what among our originating peoples is known as respect, a synthesis of belonging, on an equal and equivalent footing, of recognition and mutual appreciation, not only between humans, but with the environment as a whole.

1 A neologism inspired in the term sentipensante [sensing/thinking] with which Víctor Manuel Moncayo describes Orlando Fals Borda in his introduction to the book, “Una sociología sentipensante para América Latina”, 2009, CLACSO, Colombia, p.919.

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One treats considerately what one values, what one acknowledges as having a meaning, a positive relevance for life. Ultimately, Considerate Treatment is related to the quality and meaning of communication. Speech, languages, the discourse we construct, all condense their underlying complexity; that is, what we do not say when we qualify something, as Agambem would say.2 This takes on a wide meaning when we move on to the educational level; that is, the unfinished processes of the humanization of our species. A society that tolerates discriminating language not only fails to comply with the demands of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, not only subverts its guiding principle, the Best Interest of the Child, but also fosters consequences in the field of social justice regarding the children of our countries, and legitimizes actions which are merely corrective, punitive and responding to unconfessed interests. Examples of this are the expressions used to describe certain realities involving children and teenagers, terms such as scourge, cause of poverty, plague, impediment to be chosen, a country that fails to combat such situations, whoever experiences such situations as a child will suffer from physical or mental impairments as an adult,3 etc. All of which gradually builds social subjectivities that are on the threshold of forms of violence against these children. These and similar types of speech represent a brand marking what H. Wallon rightly called a second skin4.

However, considerate treatment is not just a civilized way of tolerating one another, and when ill-treatment has become almost normal, or even institutionalized, we should ask ourselves whether there is not a pressing need to move towards a new social contract that makes considerate treatment of all children an ethical and political imperative, a component of the process of humanizing the human condition.

Until recently, local regulations in some countries, such as Peru, accepted moderate physical punishment.

2 Giorgio Agambem, “L’Infanzia e Storia. Distruzione dell’esperienza e origine della storia”, 2001, Einaudi, Turin, passim.

3 ILO, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Handbook for Parliamentarians, n.3-2002, to implement C.182, p.21, 31, 32, 65.

4 See, Philippe Wallon, “La relation thérapeutique et le développement de l’enfant”, 1991, Privat, p.78, 105-106.

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Alejandro Cussiánovich Villaran

He is a primary school teacher and a Catholic priest who has studied in England and in Lyon, France. He teaches a Master’s degree in Social Policies and Childhood Promotion, and also in the Faculty of Educational Psychology at the UNMSM. He is dean and teacher of the Faculty of Theology and Religion-AETE. He holds a doctoral degree honoris causa from UNFV (June 2008). He obtained the degree “Amauta” – Palmas Magisteriales 2013, awarded by the Ministry of Education (July 2013), and the “Teachers’ Medal 2013” (July 2013), a prize awarded by the municipality of Lima Metropolitana. He holds a doctoral degree honoris causa from UNMSM (May 2016).

Since 1964, he has been working with the Young Christian Workers; in 1976, he launched the Manthoc movement, and he joined IFEJANT (1992). Since 1996, he has supported the National Movement of Working Children and Adolescents of Peru (Mnnatsop, in Spanish), he is a member of the Institute of Popular Pedagogy (1984), of the Peruvian Institute for Education in Human Rights and Peace - IPEDEPH (1985), of the Institute for the Training of Child and Juvenile Workers, “Nagayama Norio”- INFANT (1996).

He has been a guest speaker at numerous international forums and conferences. Among his publications are: Nos ha liberado (1972), Llamados a ser libres (1974), Desde los pobres de la Tierra (1975). Articles in various specialized journals: “Algunas premisas para la práctica social con niños y adolescentes trabajadores” (1996), “El protagonismo como interés superior del niño” (2000), “Historia del pensamiento social sobre la infancia” (2003), as well as the current “Ensayos sobre Infancia-Sujetos de derechos y protagonista”, and “Aprender la Condición humana-Ensayo sobre Pedagogía de la Ternura”, among others.

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Considerate treatment, violence and poverty Poverty has been systematically related to forms of domestic violence; in particular, it has even been linked to parents’ low levels of schooling and so-called illiteracy, even though nobody is absolutely illiterate and we are all relatively illiterate. In addition to being a real and heartfelt need, considerate treatment is a right. A need which is an aspiration, a right. A perception which tends to dominate the social imaginary is that in the world of the impoverished and marginal sectors, those who have been excluded from the benefits enjoyed by affluent minorities – who are always willing to adjust matters in order to cling to their status – violence against children is inherent to poverty, the inheritance of pauperized people who are regarded as being barely civilized. And this is how a culture of danger, threat and social defence is fed. However, studies show that violence, the frequently cruel treatment of children, is a phenomenon that knows no social, nor ethno-cultural barriers. This is demonstrated in a highly significant United Nations report, the study on violence against children by Páulo Sergio Pinheiro,5 in its widely and solidly grounded conclusions and recommendations, which have triggered genuine concern, not only at international, regional and national official levels, but also among children’s social organizations in the countries of our Abya Yala.6 Harmonious inter-subjective relations, transmitters of respect, of recognition, are irreplaceable in the emotional development and constitution of a balanced subjectivity in every boy and girl, whether from affluent sectors or from pauperized homes.

5 Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, UN Special Rapporteur, “Study on Violence against Children”, 2009; see also, the Global Movement for Children, follow-up to the UN report on violence against children, led by Martha Pais, 2011.

6 Abya Yala, a term used in the Kuna language of the indigenous peoples to refer to what we now call America. In the various native languages, the idea exists of a mature land, full of life, of fertility, which takes care of us and nurtures us, and which we must also care for and nurture, but also recognize as Pachamama, mother earth.

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Plasticity, early childhood and the need for the bond that emancipates Plasticity refers to the brain and to what Wallon called the second skin.

But also to what he termed the contagion affectif.7 Attachment, in any of its intensities and directions, tends to be a component of the bond. To describe it implies identifying its meaning and possible consequences. The most desirable type of attachment is the healthy attachment which is included in the action of caring for and supporting children, most particularly in their early years.

Relatively recently, in the mid-twentieth century, there has been a strong focus on the study of attachment as an issue which is directly related to forms of conduct and behaviour,8 and which people who work on social issues must address in their work with children and the patterns of family upbringing, the interpersonal relationships that occur in families, schools and institutions, between peers, and between adults and the new generations.

The greatest challenge lies in the fact that bonds and their implications at all levels cannot be isolated from their context and the purpose for which they are cultivated. In this respect, Pichon-Rivière made some relevant observations regarding the complexity and conflict inherent to any relationship, and which he analysed in the framework of the conceptual, referential and operational schema (ECRO), as he called it.

7 Ibid, the author uses two terms to point out that it is a question of interaction; hence the category apport affectif, affective contribution, and contagion affective, affective contagion, communication.

8 Dr John Bowlby is acknowledged to be the first to develop a theory of attachment.

Subsequent research built up a solid approach in the field of socio-emotional development.

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The requirement that children’s foundation bonds include psychological and social aspects • It is known that there is no human development without socio-emotional development. Because of this, work involving care, nurturing, social action – the social world understood as a historical context in the widest sense – and the affective world constitute the required understanding of the horizon for all specific actions with boys and girls.

• Fathers, mothers, teachers, and all social operators are bearers, in their work, of representational models of the circumstances and of the subjects with whom they act.

These social representations need to be permanently analysed, reviewed, since it is on them that the type and quality of the bond that is established, and the actions decided upon, mostly depend. It is up to those of us who provide our professional support and who carry out these tasks, to learn and unlearn the various and changing ways of establishing bonds in a necessary and indispensably positive sense.

• Bear in mind the moral value of time.9 In the actions of parents, caregivers, teachers, hospital staff it is necessary to take into account, among the circumstances, the period of life of the subjects. It is one thing to work with children in early childhood, or with pubescent children or adolescents; it is quite another to do so with young people, adults, the elderly, people with disabilities, or with adolescent parents, blended families, etc.

One of the greatest challenges, in truth, is posed by time management, both in the field of education and in social action.

Bonds refer not only to intentions, but to attitudes and to the time involved in consolidating relationships with some stability so that they can play a role of constructive influence.

9 See, Pedro Ortiz C, “El valor moral del tiempo”, 2004, Anales de la Facultad de Medicina [Annals of the School of Medicine] UNMSM, 65(4), p.260-266.

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• It is necessary to conceptualize affectivity as a relationship and not as a substance, as something that exists in itself. But also, affectivity as experienced in a relationship is not a thing, something produced on the sidelines of circumstances, of events; which is why it is relevant to consider affectivity as a qualitative movement rather than a succession of quantifiable emotional states.10 • The struggle to decolonize affectivity. Alert, vigilant, critical and affectionate action with children is called upon to contribute to the decolonization of the affectivity which dominant capitalism is at present orienting towards ensuring the production of economic added value and the objective fostering of individualism.

• Permanent vigilance of our actions, in our roles as parents, teachers, caregivers, etc., most particularly in populations where the social programmes of different sectors have helped to promote a welfare culture, populistically remedial and demobilizing, or sharply instrumental in tastes, whims or exclusivist interests.

• The real risk of perverting bonds. There is no more perverse intention in relationships with children than that of treatment which is formally considerate, but aims, however, to develop a bond of dependence, of subjection. This is exacerbated when, in addition, it all has, on the surface, the appearance of affection, of feigned tenderness, and, in extreme circumstances, of required silence.

10See, E. Alfajeme et Alii, “Infancia y Escenarios de futuro”, 2004, UNMSM, p.1.

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A critical view of the transgenerational reproduction of violence A certain determinism is not uncommon in reactions, behaviours and personality traits observed in children from sectors that have been previously stigmatized, such as dysfunctional families, violent parents, family histories marked by aggressiveness, family members involved in criminal actions due to their urban territories, etc. Ultimately, any determinism that implies an invariable tendency to repeat what was closely seen and experienced in childhood,11 is actually tinged with a certain anthropological pessimism and some lack of confidence in the resilience and educability of the new generations, when they have, in fact, been capable of experiencing relationships and humanly emancipating bonds, when a relationship has intervened with some kind of enhancing bond.

Considerate treatment as a component of the pedagogy of affection But it is not only violence that needs to be addressed. On the basis of the Pedagogy of Affection as a state of the spirit and a human relations project through which we can answer the question posed by Alain Touraine, “Can we live together?”, it is time to strengthen and enhance the recoverable and positive elements in every situation, through which we can also address all sensitive and conflicting aspects. This positive vision, which is not naive nor unaware of the complexity of what is at stake, will help to decolonize subjectivities and affections which are bewitched by the lights and noise of the global and local setting, or dingy and darkened contexts obscured by the lack of considerate treatment, and thus transformed into multiple forms of violence, injustice and confinement in social insignificance and inexistence. The formal success of a shout, of humiliation, of a blow, places us in an area of development close to new forms of violence.

11 The thoughts of Boris Cyrulnik are relevant, in “Bajo el signo del vínculo. Historia del Apego,2005, Gedisa; “El murmullo de los fantasmas. Volver a la vida después de un trauma”, 2003, Gedisa.

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There is no search for or construction of meaning if bonds are not established which are marked by esteem, affection, friendship, appreciation, regard for oneself and for others; by love. The idea even involves building meaning a posteriori. It is not about making sense out of what is by nature, meaningless, or against sense, or barbaric. It is a question of seeing how individuals who experienced this senselessness can be recovered, since the scars of their experiences remain, but no longer give rise to their previous inhibiting effects if the experience can be redefined, overcoming the determinism which seemed to envelop the experience. What matters is not the actual events experienced, but how we experienced the events that it was our lot to live through; what matters is not what others have done with us, but what we do with what others have done with us.

However, the search for meaning still coincides with the effort of recognizing that “a critical analysis of what exists rests upon the assumption that the facts of reality do not exhaust the possibilities of existence and that, therefore, there are also alternatives capable of overcoming whatever is objectionable in what exists�.

It is through the formation of language that what is named is endowed with meaning and understanding. Language which communicates, which connects, is the bearer of meaning, a factor in the development of attachments and bonds from the earliest ages of children, who begin to communicate as they learn how to speak. Nonetheless, not all languages; that is, not all cultures have equivalent concepts in other cultures. This makes it necessary to develop what has come to be known as a theory of translation, as a condition to making criticism a creative and emancipatory process, which establishes and reinforces bonds.

However, the greatest challenge is that the Pedagogy of Affection, in the tasks of caring for and supporting children, should not only contribute to providing meaning to educational relationships and sharing encounters, and assistance or aid, but also endow the communicative cause with the density provided by sympathy, affection, emotion, which flow from admiration, respect, etc., so that their core insights should become common sense. While this does not occur, this peda-

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gogy will not move beyond being an interesting insight, but incapable of informing a new political culture, a meaningful way of life, with the meaning that derives from living on the horizon of the dignity of the human condition, as a condition forged in love. This is where a critical and hermeneutical perspective connects with counter-hegemonic reasoning and the utopia of a humanity that banks on a life without any restrictions on the planet.

The outcome cannot be other than a real contribution to the constitution of individuals with a resilient personality, capable of functioning efficiently whatever difficulties they may still encounter in their surroundings.12 Certainly, parents and teachers, like any person who operates with his or her fellow human beings, in this case, children, share with psychologists, therapists, cultural promoters and communicators, this task of deconstructing meanings and producing those that are positioned upon the horizon of new possibles. The experience of what is known as considerate treatment is a necessary element to unleash processes that aim to establish harmonious and balanced personalities, a necessary, but insufficient component.

Considerate treatment as a factor in democratic culture demands a new social contract Any social contract, such as that which emerged from modernity, represents, on a political and social level, a form of understanding the division of power and is part of the horizon of an ethics in which what is human can never be reduced to a means. At the same time, any social pact is the bearer of the imperative utopia of being an experience which is moving towards realizing every person’s right to be happy and experience the pleasure of being and living in harmony.

This is why the considerate treatment experience, encompassing positive relationships loaded with recognition and affection from the be12 See, Cristina Villalba Quesada, “El Enfoque de Resiliencia en Trabajo Social�, undated, 30 pp paper.

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ginning of life, constitutes a goal of public health, of well-being and human flourishing, of the search for the common good. But this also refers to a democratic culture, of necessity the daughter and mother of relations based on positive and liberating bonds. The fact is that recasting democracy within the home, in schools and communities demands advocating for ensuring the presence of bonds that express and realize that willingness.

We should point out two components of a new and necessary social pact based on children: a. Emancipatory intergenerationality: not only is there some porosity between the chronological ages assigned to social roles, usually less attached to these ages, but this also implies profound changes in intergenerational relations, added to the transformations of the paternal and maternal roles within the family. A new social contract from childhood finds in this a horizon stretching beyond the traditional chronological boundaries. A culture of considerate treatment in everyday settings as an experience of recognition, and to be viewed as valid interlocutors at their own level, prepares the new generations to build positive relationships with the adult world. b. Intergenerational solidarity: no policy or initiative that seeks to confront children to each other, or highlights discriminatory differences and extols xenophobic views and confrontations between peers, especially if organized, can be part of a new social contract enacted from childhood. Solidarity at an early age prepares for a time of understanding and promotes cultures of peace and cooperation. The achievement of bonds of solidarity between children prepares them to endow their lives with a passion for the common good.

Today, we should remember that the considerate treatment that everyone, and children most particularly, deserves constitutes a necessary base on which to assert the right and the exercise of the best interest of the child13 as a factor of collective welfare.

13 See, Camilo Bácares J, “Una aproximación hermenéutica a la CDN”, 2012, Ifejant, p.106-123.

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T he implementation of alternative measures and penalties to deprivation of liberty: legal relevance and methodological recommendations in Chile1 (F irst Part) Osvaldo Vázquez Rossoni2

After the enactment of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the States have carried out a number of amendments to their domestic laws and institutions, with a view to gradually adapting their tutelary systems based on the protection and criminal control of juveniles to the mandates issued by the Convention and the set of international instruments pertaining to the body of law on children.

1A paper presented at the International Seminar on: “Children’s rights, public safety and non-custodial measures from a socio-legal and communication perspective” UNICEF - Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, UN. Montevideo, 30 August 2016.

2 Psychologist, Project Coordinator, Corporación Opción.

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Osvaldo Enrique Vázquez Rossoni.

He is a psychologist and graduate of the University of Buenos Aires (U.B.A.). He holds a diploma in Russian scientific psychology, he is a psychologist at the University of Chile; and is pursuing a doctoral degree in psychology (U.B.A.).

Chile, 1991/1995: Coordinated the project on Animación Sociocultural Carcelaria, with juvenile offenders, Puente Alto Prison, SENAME, and the Proyecto Defensoría Jurídica providing psychosocial support to juveniles deprived of liberty, Ministry of Justice. Section Coordinator at a Specialized Deprivation of Liberty Centre, “Comunidad Tiempo Joven”, SENAME. 1995 to the present: Director of Probation Projects and national coordinator of juvenile justice projects: Legal Advocacy, Probation, Community Services, Reparation for Victims, Alternative Measures, Non-Custodial Preventive Measures, Corporación Opción.

2005 to date, Assistant Professor, School of Psychology, postgraduate education, UDD. He is a teacher and researcher at several universities in areas related to childhood and adolescence.

In Chile’s Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, he takes part in the pre-legislative and legislative stages for Law Nº 20,084, the Juvenile Criminal Liability Act, and its assessments and implementation.

He is a teacher and consultant for UNICEF, Chile and has developed specialization courses in a number of countries: Chile, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Panama.

Academic Director and teacher providing training for professionals on sexual assault control for public agencies and NGOs in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Colombia, Panama and Guatemala. IIN/OAS consultant in the field of Juvenile Criminal Liability, for Latin America and the Caribbean (2013/2014).

Consultant for the International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO), Brussels, EUROSOCIAL project, Handbook on Justice and Restorative Practices, training in secondary and tertiary prevention, infringement, adolescents and young people in Colombia (2014-2015). ovazquez@opcion.cl

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However, the response to criminal offences committed by persons under the age of eighteen and the challenges of social integration and non-recidivism for juveniles constitute an area of maximum tension for the States and a challenge to the corresponding design of laws, policies and the adaptation of justice systems and penal enforcement.

The reform process is, therefore, not free from difficulties and divides, frequently in line with the socio-political evolution of the region, and there is a significant gap between practice and regulatory discourse.3 In this scenario, regressive reforms or “penal populism”, according to Dünkel,4 in the interests of public safety and social order, have resulted in a series of setbacks in the field, such as the exclusion of persons under the age of eighteen from juvenile justice systems, an emphasis on repression and punitive control, an increase in the length and intensity of penalties, the intensification of social control and the establishment of deformalized coercive measures.

In addition, with regard to progress, the difficulties encountered by the States in the full implementation of international mandates on juvenile justice systems are heightened by the lack of comprehensive policies and the consequent criminalization and displacement of social policy, little diversification in the area of enforcement, a lack of specialization in systems and their actors, as well as the inexistence of integrated statistics and the evaluation of the initiatives applied.5

3 Palummo, J., Justicia Penal Juvenil Situación y perspectivas en América Latina y el Caribe. UNICEF. Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. Panama, 2014 4 Dünkel, F and Castro, A., Sistemas de Justicia Juvenil y Política Criminal en Europa. In http://justiciainfancia.udp.cl/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/D%C3%BCnkelCastro.pdf 5 Palummo, J., Justicia Penal Juvenil Situación y perspectivas en América Latina y el Caribe. UNICEF. Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. Panama, 2014

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International law and juvenile justice policies

Criminal justice policy can be defined as a systematic set of regulatory, institutional and programmatic responses intended to exercise social control of conducts that affect legal assets protected by criminal law, and which establishes a course of action that interprets a political will and the particular focus of the exercise of public authority in addressing the prevention, control and administration of crime on the part of the States.6 Pursuant to the Beijing Rules7 and the recommendations of the Committee, juvenile justice is an integral part of social justice, in such a way that the general policies of juvenile justice should not be limited to the basic provisions contained in Articles 37 and 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but should consider the rights and principles set forth in the CRC as a whole, and, in addition, establish measures to prevent the participation of adolescents in conflicts with the law.

Thus, penal policies are contained within a general framework of safeguards to ensure the full enjoyment of the rights of juveniles. They include positive strategies that will ensure their engagement and integration in the multiple contexts of development, such as families, communities and schools, and place a priority focus on children and families who are subjected to social exclusion.

In addition, in relation to crime control and administration, international law limits the punitive power of the State and the possible arbitrary features of the State’s coercive intervention against the rights of adolescents. This restriction is established by incorporating in material law, in criminal proceedings and in penal enforcement systems, a number of special safeguards that make it possible to boost and reinforce

6 Vázquez, Cillero, et al. “Modelo Regional de Política de Justicia Juvenil”. Eurosocial ll. OIJJ. 2015 7 United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, “The Beijing Rules”. 1985

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the general guarantees established for adults.8 In this way, a specialized juvenile justice system is created, set apart from the criminal justice system for adults and based on the central consideration of juveniles’ progressive liability, distinct from that of adults’, according to the specific stage of their development.

The characteristics of Specialized Juvenile Justice Systems A specialized justice system implies the existence of laws, procedures, authorities and institutions specifically for adolescents who are alleged to have committed, accused or found guilty of committing an offence.

This not only safeguards the rights enshrined in the general instruments, but also provides protection and special guarantees by virtue of their age and stage of development. Special guarantees include, among others, greater jurisdictional control, reduced terms, the confidentiality of the proceedings and the participation of the family or caregivers in the process to be implemented.

The ultimate purpose of the special system is the social reintegration of the adolescent.

With regard to the enforcement of measures and penalties, the Convention on the Rights of the Child indicates that they shall be applied: “Whenever appropriate and desirable, measures for dealing with such children without resorting to judicial proceedings, providing that human rights and legal safeguards are fully respected”.9 This provision establishes a specific regulatory framework for the incorporation of dejudicializing mechanisms and procedures in domestic legislation, which, according to the principles of minimal intervention and subsidiarity, promote dejudicialization and decriminalization and limit to the full the State’s intervention through criminal prosecution.

The principles of minimal intervention and subsidiarity are joined by the application of the principles of reasonableness and proportionality, 8 Vázquez, Cillero, et al. Op. cit.

9 Convention on the Rights of the Child. Art. 40.3, United Nations. 1989

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through which it is sought to avoid both conviction and the application of measures that are disproportionate in their severity.10 In particular, deprivation of liberty constitutes an exceptional measure of last resort.11 The exceptionality of deprivation of liberty results in the limitation of the preventive measure of provisional detention or temporary internment.

The Committee has emphasized the positive effects of measures to deal with offences non-judicially in the reduced stigmatizing and isolation of adolescents, which fosters the system’s educational aims and effective social reintegration.

Furthermore, incorporating the principles of flexibility and diversification, within the context of a strict respect for the principle of proportionality, makes it possible to consider the specific needs of juveniles so that penal responses may effectively fulfil the educational and social reintegration aims of the penalties. To this end, persons responsible for judicial decisions should have a wide catalogue of penalties at their disposal as well as relevant, diverse and specialized enforcement alternatives.

Programmatic safeguards: a key component of the specialized justice system The programmes and services which compose the penalties enforcement alternatives are a crucial area in the specialized justice system.

They constitute a link between juvenile rights-holders, the law and institutions, and must, therefore, incorporate, respect and comply with the safeguards provided for in laws and internal regulations, as well as in the principles of international law.

10 DĂźnkel, F and Castro, A., Sistemas de Justicia Juvenil y PolĂ­tica Criminal en Europa. In http://justiciainfancia.udp.cl/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/D%C3%BCnkelCastro.pdf 11 Convention on the Rights of the Child. Art. 37. United Nations. 1989

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The Tokyo Rules12 set out specific guidelines for the implementation of non-custodial penalties, with an emphasis on the promotion of such penalties within the framework of human rights, social justice and the offender’s rehabilitation needs. To this end it is necessary to promote a greater sense of social responsibility in offenders and greater community involvement in the justice system, in view of which, the States are urged to maintain a balance between the rights of offenders, of victims and the interests of all of the actors involved in security and crime prevention.

The Bangkok Rules address the need to establish gender distinctions in prevention and in the application of penalties, bearing in mind female adolescents’ background regarding victimization.13 The Beijing Rules establish a broad catalogue of non-custodial measures,14 with the intention that they be taken up by the States and that the specialized jurisdictions should have several alternatives for penalties other than deprivation of liberty. Included in this catalogue are: • Care, guidance and supervision orders.

• Probation.

• Community service orders.

• Financial penalties, compensation and restitution.

• Intermediate treatment and other treatment orders.

• Orders to participate in group counselling and similar activities.

• Orders concerning foster care, living communities or other educational settings.

12 United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures, adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/110 of 14 December 1990.

13 In: SRSG on Violence Against Children. Promoting Restorative Justice for Children. United Nations. 2013 14 United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, “The Beijing Rules”, Rule 18. United Nations. 1985

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On this basis, it is possible to identify a number of general core ideas for the design and implementation of this range of measures, so that they may contribute to the observance of the principles and mandates established; namely:15 1. Special justice systems have a diversity of programmes available that promote measures to deal with offences non-judicially, in accordance with domestic legislation, including restorative justice programmes.

2. Programmes meet the aims of education and social reintegration of juveniles.

3. Programmes foster synchronization with communities and the engagement of the families of juveniles within the territories in which they feel at home.

4. Programmes are designed on the basis of evidence and quality standards.

5. Programmes are subjected to periodic evaluations of results.

6. There is a diversity of programmes for the fulfilment of non-custodial penalties, according to the catalogue of penalties provided.

7. Programmes and projects include specialized staff and internal policies for the encouragement of continuing training and self-care among the working teams.

8. Deprivation of liberty centres comply with international quality standards.

It has been noted that there is a need for coordination and synchronization between juvenile justice policy and the various general and specific social policies for children, in order to meet the multiple requirements arising from breaches of rights commonly present among the juvenile population in conflict with justice. This synchronization is at its best when formalized programmatic design is manifest throughout the 15 Vázquez, Cillero, et al. “Modelo Regional de Política de Justicia Juvenil”. Eurosocial ll.OIJJ. 2015

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territory and the range of penalties to be enforced is, therefore, ensured, accessible and available to all involved – adolescents and their families – in their own local areas, with the participation of the social and community networks within their territories.

In addition, the quality of the operators is a key aspect of programmatic safeguards, regarding both their specialization and their training in relation to the rationales and visions underlying their understanding of juveniles and the situations that affect them, with an approach based on human rights and child rights.

Other specific recommendations are provided below.16

Specific recommendations for contributory bodies This refers to specialized instrumental management with a view to ensuring the consideration of the characteristics and needs of juveniles in order to determine the suitability of the measure or penalty.

With regard to the relationship between the existing range of alternatives and the identification of measures and penalties appropriate to the needs of juveniles, with a full respect for their rights and guarantees, it is advisable to bolster cooperation between the various professional practitioners who answer to the supporting bodies of the administration of justice, with the aim of promoting comprehensive understanding of juveniles, their circumstances, resources and difficulties and their specific legal situation.

To this end, it is relevant to have teams of specialized, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary practitioners available, sufficient in number and ranging across the territory, to provide material information contingent to the task the judges must perform, and in support of whatever they may resolve.

16

Vázquez, Cillero, et al. “Modelo Regional de Política de Justicia Juvenil”.

Eurosocial ll. OIJJ. 2015

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Specific recommendations for the programmatic range of alternatives related to deviation The range of programmes and services associated with deviation implies that regulatory safeguards are in place to protect mechanisms or institutes to deal with offences non-judicially and the development of alternative measures that preserve the full respect for due process.

They involve the development and strengthening of training for the various members of the specialized system in its implementation, unifying criteria regarding the benefits and scope of these measures, as well as their informed and voluntary implementation. It is recommended that protocols be developed to guide synchronization and coordination between actors in order to ensure improved identification and enforcement of the measures.

At this level, it is imperative to design programmes and services specializing in the application of the principles and practices of restorative justice, with the participation of the victim, the offender and communities, as well as programmes providing care, information and support to victims, underscoring the voluntary nature of such processes. Such designs should be accompanied by the development of communication policies to promote the benefits of applying these measures for juveniles, victims, communities and society as a whole.

Specific recommendations in the area of penalty enforcement The penalties to be adopted by the States against juveniles who have committed an offence must be guided by educational and socializing aims.

Article 40.1 of the CRC refers to “[...] the promotion of the child’s sense of dignity and worth, which reinforces the child’s respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child’s age and the desirability of promoting the child’s reintegration and the child’s assuming a constructive role in society”.17 17 Convention on the Rights of the Child. Art. 40.1. United Nations. 1989

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As we have mentioned, Article 37 of the CRC establishes that deprivation of liberty must be applied as a measure of last resort and during the shortest period possible. If such a penalty is applied, the rights, needs and dignity of juveniles must be borne in mind, ensuring that they are held separately from interned adults, and that they can keep in touch with their families, except in exceptional cases, which must be fully justified.18 In view of the fact that this range of alternatives must comply with educational aims and the social integration of adolescents, it is necessary to ensure that psycho-social standards for specialized intervention are in place, based on evidence and relevant to the circumstances and complexities of underage persons. It is also imperative to ensure that they are present throughout the territory, in synchronization with and complementing other programmes, plans and social policies existing in specific localities.

A common feature in most of the countries in the region is the absence of quality standards for enforcement and means of evaluating the programmes and services offered. It is therefore necessary to include in their design a permanent system for quality evaluation and assessment of outcomes from the perspective of the aims of the special justice system and the safeguards for and rights of juveniles. At the same time, programmes must ensure the existence of effective means of participation for adolescents and their families and communities in the design and execution of intervention plans and in standardized evaluation processes in relation to the management and quality of programmes for the enforcement of penalties.

It is therefore possible to establish some cross-cutting standards to enable the design of programmes corresponding to the range of penalties, with an emphasis on quality and compliance with rights. These standards refer to aspects in the drafting of general procedures that will ensure the excellence of programme operations:19 18 Convention on the Rights of the Child. Art. 37. United Nations. 1989 19 Cillero, VĂĄzquez, DĂ­az, et al. EstimaciĂłn de costos y factibilidad del actual marco normativo de subvenciones en el contexto del nuevo Servicio de Responsabilidad Penal Juvenil en Chile. UDP. Santiago, Chile, 2012.

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1. Design standardized material for the different stages of the intervention process.

2. Coordinate with other protection system agencies in order to compile relevant information.

3. Ensure that diagnostic tools are in place to prioritize areas of intervention, identify breaches of rights, and identify the victimization and multiple victimization of juveniles, including methodology, objectives and clearly stated application times. Diagnosis should include the participation of adolescents and their families and should bear in mind their willingness to change.

4. Ensure that intermediate evaluation tools, as well as evaluation tools for the moment of discharge are in place, which will enable comparison with the situation at the time of the diagnosis.

5. Design standardized teaching materials for intervention, focusing on the development of competencies approach (portfolios, workshops, etc.).

6. Design intervention models with families or caregivers, with standardized working material.

7. Implement interventions with families or caregivers as a regular part of the work.

8. Establish a community network management system for social reinsertion and the increase of adolescents’ social capital. The system should handle information on the territorial range of alternatives centrally, have updated databases, publish annual reports, establish ongoing communications, and determine working protocols with public and private institutions that facilitate reintegration.

9. At this point it is essential to synchronize with municipalities and local public managers in order to generate coordinated resources that answer to the needs of adolescents.

10. Implement a team of professional practitioners to conduct applied research on the operation of the programmes, evidence generation and promotion of target innovations.

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11. Evaluate outcomes and impact.

12. Implement a management and coordination system with jurisdiction for each programme.

13. Implement an external training system with the participation of experts in interventions involving juvenile offenders and in issues involving the institutional intervention model.

14. Implement an internal training system.

15. Synthesize and manage shared information. Good practices analysis.

16. Implement an ongoing monitoring system for work methodologies, in order to ensure that they do not deviate from the standards and that they are applied in a manner consistent with their design (supervision, behaviour modelling techniques for professional practitioners, teaching skills, coherent use and application of intervention material, in keeping with the meaning of the model).

17. Develop user evaluation systems or satisfaction surveys among adolescents and their families.

18. Implement an internal auditing system to monitor the operation of the programmes, continuous improvement and the dissemination of good practices.

19. Design competency profiles and the implementation of a yearly performance evaluation system.

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References Cillero, Vázquez, Díaz, et al., Estimación de costos y factibilidad del actual marco normativo de subvenciones en el contexto del nuevo Servicio de Responsabilidad Penal Juvenil en Chile. UDP. Santiago, Chile, 2012.

Code of Criminal Procedure. Chile, 2000.

Convention on the Rights of the Child. United Nations. 1989.

Dünkel, F and Castro, A., Sistemas de Justicia Juvenil y Política Criminal en Europa. http://justiciainfancia.udp.cl/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/D%C3%BCnkelCastro.pdf In SRSG on Violence Against Children. Promoting Restorative Justice for Children. United Nations. 2013.

Juvenile Criminal Liability Law No. 20.084. Chile, 2007.

MCA Programmes Technical Guidelines. National Service for Minors. Chile, 2010.

Palummo, J., Justicia Penal Juvenil Situación y perspectivas en América Latina y el Caribe. UNICEF. Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Panama, 2014.

United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, “The Beijing Rules”. United Nations, 1985.

Vázquez, Cillero, et al. “Modelo Regional de Política de Justicia Juvenil”. Eurosocial ll.OIJJ. 2015.

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INST IT UT IONAL

91st Regular Meeting of the

The Directing Council of the IIN held its 91st Regular Meeting in Santiago, Chile, from 27 to 28 October 2016, under the chairmanship of Ms Zaira Navas, delegate of the State of El Salvador, and the vice-presidency of Ms Elizabeth Lewis, representative of Saint Lucia. Also present were Mr VĂ­ctor Giorgi, Director-General of the IIN and the delegations of 21 Member States of the Inter-American system.1

1 Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, United States of America and Uruguay.

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Directing Council of the IIN

Official photograph of the91st Regular Meeting of the Directing Council of the IIN

OPENING CEREMONY The opening ceremony was held at the Patio de las Camelias of the Palacio de la Moneda and was attended by the highest authority of the Republic of Chile, President Michelle Bachelet, together with the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Jaime Campos, of Health, Carmen Castillo, of Foreign Affairs (s), Edgardo Riveros and the National Director of Chile’s National Service for Minors, Solange Huerta Reyes.

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The President, who is a paediatrician by profession, stated that “it is a source of pride for our country to welcome you to this very significant event for the Institute” and recalled that Chile was one of its founding countries in 1927. She added that the actions that her country was conducting were in line with the IIN’s Action Plan 2015-2019, “enabling us to join efforts and achieve a consistent line of intervention”.

In her address2 she stated that a specific Action Plan had been set in motion, Compromiso con la infancia desvalida (“Commitment to Helpless Children”), which acknowledges a long-standing debt with children and adolescents whose rights have been breached and includes cross-sectoral work, the improvement of management systems, people-based policy and a set of measures to safeguard the health and the right of children and adolescents to live with a family.

Photograph: Zaira Navas, Ideli Salvatti, Michelle Bachelet, Felipe Briones 2 Address by the President of the Republic of Chile, Ms Michelle Bachelet, at the 91st Regular Meeting of the Directing Council of the IIN. http://ow.ly/TxWy306jaSY

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Mr Luis Almagro, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States,3 applauded the Institute’s work in “supporting the development of public policies in favour of making the promotion, protection and enjoyment of child rights a reality in the region” and reaffirmed the commitment to close the gaps between theory and reality.

For her part, Ms Ideli Salvatti, Secretary for Access to Rights and Equity of the OAS,4 called upon governments, specialized agencies, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, religious and cultural organizations, among others, to recognize the value of investing in the future of this important sector. She added that “we need political willingness, the development of public policies, financial commitment and the understanding that inaction in this area will only lead to further problems”.

Felipe Briones,5 a teenager who is the Chair of Chile’s Consultative Council of Children and Adolescents, took the floor and said that together with the National Advisory Council they had carried out activities to promote and increase child participation, “stressing that our voices are just as important as those of adult authorities”. On behalf of the child population, he asked the authorities to “help us to build our way towards a leading role” and, alluding to a poem by Gabriela Mistral, he stated that “the time has come for us to plant our own trees, but this time, the earth should allow the seeds that we plant to grow”.

3 Address by the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro.

4 Address by Ms Ideli Salvatti, Secretary for Access to Rights and Equity of the OAS. http://ow.ly/3NmL306jaWr 5 Address by Felipe Briones, Chair of Chile’s Consultative Council.

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INST IT UT IONAL

RESOLUT IONS As a result of the meeting’s deliberations, the resolutions6 listed below were adopted, among others: Agreements entered into by the Directorate-General of the IIN. The Directing Council unanimously adopted the agreements of cooperation signed with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the Uruguayan International Cooperation Agency (AUCI, for its acronym in Spanish), the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP); SOS Children’s Villages Latin American and the Caribbean, and the Marist International Solidarity Foundation.

The IIN’s financial situation. The Directing Council reaffirmed the significance of the IIN’s work in strengthening systems for the promotion and protection of children’s human rights in the States, and in this respect, expressed its concern regarding the impact caused by the current financial cut-backs being applied by the Organization of American States.

Venue for the 92nd Regular Meeting. The Directing Council accepted the offer of the Government of Barbados, submitted officially during the 90th Regular Meeting of the Directing Council of the Institute, to host the 92nd Regular Meeting of the Directing Council, to be held from 18 to 20 September 2017.

Thanks to the President of the Directing Council of the IIN. The Directing Council expressed its appreciation of the dedication and 6 All of the resolutions adopted during the 91st Meeting of the Directing Council of the IIN are available at: http://iin.oea.org/reunion-91.html

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commitment shown by Ms Zaira Navas Umaña, Principal Representative of El Salvador, in her position as Vice-President (2012- 2014) and President (2014-2016) of the Directing Council.

Thanks to the Vice-President of the Directing Council of the IIN. The Directing Council expressed its appreciation of the dedication and commitment shown by Ms Elizabeth Lewis, Principal Representative of Saint Lucia in her position as Vice-President of the Directing Council during the period 2014-2016.

Election of President and Vice-President of the Directing Council of the IIN. The Directing Council, by consensus, elected Mr

Ricardo González Borgne

Raúl Escalante

Ricardo González, Principal Representative of Paraguay, as President of the Directing Council of the IIN, and Mr Raúl Escalante, Principal Representative of Bolivia, as Vice-President of the Directing Council of the IIN for the period 2016-2018.

The gender perspective. The Director-General of the IIN was mandated to work in coordination with the Inter-American Commission of

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Women (CIM) and civil society in the incorporation of the gender perspective as a tool to be used in all phases of the project cycle; as well as in evaluations and assessments related to safeguarding the rights of children.

Acknowledgement of the work of Dr Sara Oviedo Fierro, VicePresident of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Directing Council expressed its appreciation of and commended the work performed by Dr Sara Oviedo Fierro in her role as Vice-President of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, most particularly her contributions from the perspective of the Americas; as well as her work in strengthening the links between the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Inter-American Children’s Institute, Acknowledgement of the work of Mr Wanderlino Nogueira Neto, member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Directing Council expressed its appreciation of and commended the work performed by Mr Wanderlino Nogueira Neto on the Committee on the Rights of the Child, with special reference to its significance in the region.

Congratulations to Mr Luis Pedernera upon being elected member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Directing Council congratulated Mr Luis Pedernera on his election as a member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and expressed its expectation that work in coordination between the IIN and the Committee should continue.

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MANIF ESTO OF SANT IAGO, 20 Y EARS AF T ER T HE STOCKHOLM DECLARAT ION

At the 91st Regular Meeting of the Directing Council of the IIN, the Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Commissioner Esmeralda Arosemena; the Director-General of the Inter-American Children’s Institute of the Organization of American States, Professor Víctor Giorgi; the member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, Mr José Ángel Rodríguez Reyes; the member elect of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, Mr Luis Pedernera; and organized civil society represented by ECPAT International, in their role as leaders in the promotion and protection of the rights of children in the Americas, have agreed to make known their concern regarding the deterioration of the situation of sexual exploitation of children in the region of the Americas, and announced their Manifesto of Santiago:

“MANIFESTO OF THE DEFENDERS OF THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN ON THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE SITUATION INVOLVING THE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN THE AMERICAS”.

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INST IT UT IONAL

Commemorative Activities in t

(1927-

On the occasion of celebrating its 90 years of existence, with the p and adolescents in the region, through artistic, expressive and

T heme: The photographs must refer to the vision that children and adolescents have of the effective exercise of their rights, and of their relation with the adult world.

Participants: The photographer must be children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 17 of the States Member of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Categories: between 6 and 12 years and from 13 to 17 years.

T he bases will be available in www.

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the 90th Anniversary of the IIN

-2017)

purpose of promoting and encouraging the participation of children d creative spaces, the IIN will carry out the following activities:

T heme: Short Stories should refer to the vision that children and adolescents have of the effective exercise of their rights, and their relationship with the adult world.

Participants: the writer must be children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 17 of the States Member of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Categories: between 6 and 12 years and from 13 to 17 years.

.iin.oea.org from December 15, 2016

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INST IT UT IONAL

Children and adolescents correspondents from Advisory Councils-IIN Promoting and protecting rights The CORIA network will allow children and adolescents members of the Advisory Councils, to exercise their right to express, associate and access to information, with the purpose of inform and communicate about promotion and protection of their rights and those issues that affect them, giving them the widest dissemination through different media especially the web page “Nuestra Voz a Colores�.

Further information at: www.iin.oea.org/www.nuestravozacolores.org

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150th birth anniversary of

Dr. Luis Morquio

Next 24 September 2017 will mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Professor Doctor Luis Morquio.

Morquio was a thinker who transcended his time and his country. In 1892 he graduated as a doctor in medicine from the University of the Republic.

From that moment, his life was an example of dedication, study and work on behalf of the promotion of what we now consider the rights of early childhood and families.

One hundred years ago, in 1916, on occasion of the First American Child Congress held in Buenos Aires, he had this to say regarding the care provided to sick babies: “With the purpose of avoiding hospitalization and isolation and, in general, of improving the conditions of sick and poor infants, clinics, Gota de Leche foundations (A Drop of Milk) and hospital outpatients departments for small children should be organized so that medical care can be duly provided at home .”

Among his many contributions to children and their families, in 1919, during the Second American Child Congress, in Montevideo, he proposed the creation of an International Office for Child Protection, a proposal which was unanimously adopted and eventually led to the establishment of this Office, on 9 June 1927 (as a direct forerunner of the current InterAmerican Children’s Institute, which celebrates its 90th anniversary next year).

Upon the unveiling of the statue that honours his work in Parque Batlle, in the city of Montevideo, Dr Ricardo Palma, of Peru, referred to him as “the great father of American children”. The patriarch of paediatrics of the American continent.

To him we extend our recognition and tribute.

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Stockholm +20: Looking Back, Moving Forward PhD Virginia Caputo

The Government of Canada’s Child and Youth section website states that “the commercial sexual exploitation of children is a heinous form of child abuse which takes many forms, including child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking in children. Canada is committed to ending the commercial sexual exploitation of children.”1 As part of its efforts to achieve this end, Canada has been involved in a number of initiatives including assisting in drafting the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography2 that requires nations that signed on to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to criminalize these activities in national laws. It has also been centrally involved in global efforts to bring attention to the issue of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Specifi1 For more information, see: http://international.gc.ca/world-monde/aid-aide/exploitation.aspx?lang=eng

2 Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPSCCRC. aspx

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cally, this paper focuses on Canada’s involvement in the First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children convened in Stockholm, Sweden in 1996. In the twenty years that have transpired since the Congress, Canadian legal, law enforcement, policy, advocacy, and research landscapes, among others with regard to CSEC, have changed. This paper briefly discusses the Stockholm Congress with specific attention to the work by the Honourable Landon Pearson. In the spring, 2016, Landon Pearson convened at Carleton University a roundtable of stakeholders across sectors at an event entitled Stockholm +20 to take stock of progress, pitfalls, and remaining challenges on the trajectory to end the sexual exploitation of children. This paper details some of the discussion at Stockholm +20 and reflects on progress made in view of the Declaration and Agenda for Action adopted by all countries present at the Stockholm Congress including Canada. The paper ends by emphasizing child and youth participation as key to addressing CSEC in a substantive way.

Background: Three World Congresses Three World Congresses addressing CSEC have been convened since 1996 with each meeting highlighting unique challenges in legal, enforcement, policy, advocacy, research and practical environments.

The First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children that took place in Stockholm, Sweden in August 1996 was a collaborative effort between ECPAT, UNICEF, the NGO Committee for the Rights of the Child, and the Swedish government.3 Over 1,300 delegates from approximately 125 countries attended the Stockholm Congress including government officials, NGOs, civil society members, and 20 youth-affiliated organizations.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, specifically article 34, 3 First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

See: http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.se/keyword/world-congress-againstcommercial-sexual-exploitation-children

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framed the discussions at the Congress. Article 34 states that State Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent: a) The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity; b) The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices; c) The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials4.

The Stockholm Agenda for Action (A4A) and Declaration resulting from the Stockholm Congress identified seven areas for action: child participation, prevention, protection, recovery/integration, information collection and dissemination, international cooperation, and follow-up.5 5The Declaration was unanimously approved.

The Second World Congress took place in Yokohama, Japan in December 2001with over 3,000 delegates, including 90 youth in attendance. The interest in child and youth participation that began at the Stockholm Congress, thanks to the efforts of Landon Pearson who insisted that experiential youth be given an opportunity to speak, played an even greater role in this second meeting with many more young people in attendance. Apart from an informed position from which to speak about their own experiences of sexual exploitation, youth collaborated to organize and launch the global anti-CSEC network. The Yokohama Global Commitment, which

4 UNCRC Article 34 available at: http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/ pages/crc.aspx 5 Stockholm Agenda for Action and Declaration available on the Unicef.org website: www.unicef.org/.../The%20Stockholm%20Declaration%20and%20 Agenda%20for%2

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PhD Virginia Caputo Biography Virginia Caputo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada where she also serves as the Director of the Landon Pearson Centre for the Study of Childhood and Children’s Rights. She received her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology at York University (1996) holding a SSHRCC doctoral fellowship. Early in her career, she was awarded the Swedish Institute’s Council of Europe scholarship, and the Sir Ernest MacMillan research award in recognition of the importance of enlarging the horizons of gender and music research to include Canadian children’s lives.

Virginia’s expertise lies in studies of girlhoods, gendered childhoods and the changing contours of young people’s lives in the context of globalization. Her recent publications include a theoretical project to rework the concept of network as a device to understand social relationships in children’s lives that appears in Thinking Through Sociality. An Anthropological Interrogation of Key Concepts, Vered Amit, ed. (Berghahn Press, 2015) and a manuscript under review that is titled: “Early and Forced Marriage of Girls: Globalized Connections and Gendered Economies of Visibility.” Virginia is currently the managing editor of the Canadian Journal of Children’s Rights.

Research Interests Gendered childhoods; girlhoods; children’s rights; feminist theories and methodologies; transnational feminisms; globalization; schooling; youth and media; violence; health.

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emerged from this gathering,6 built on the 1996 Stockholm Declaration and includes pledges from an additional 34 states. In the words of a youth delegate from the Yokohama World Congress 2001:

“When shall we have a world in which life is based on a sense of caring, sharing, true love and the protection of all societies and individuals from all forms of abuse, discrimination and exploitation—a world free from the commercial sexual exploitation of children?” 7

In November 2005, the Third World Congress against the sexual exploitation of children took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.8 This third iteration brought together over 4000 delegates, including 300 children and youth from 94 countries. Whereas the second Congress focused attention on youth participation and technology, the Rio Congress shifted to examining the issue of child abuse occurring within families and communities. The term “commercial” was removed from the title of the Congress given its interest in blurring the distinction between private and public spheres in considering sexual exploitation issues. Importantly, the Rio World Congress highlighted the role of the private sector in identifying and participating in ways to bring an end 6 Yokohama Global Commitment. Available at: http://www.unicef.org/events/yokohama/outcome.html 7 Youth quote: 2001. Document available in the Landon Pearson Resource Centre, Carleton University, A735 Loeb, Ottawa, Canada.

8 Third World Congress in Rio de Janeiro from the Child Rights International Network: https://www.crin.org/en/library/events/brazil-world-congress-iii-againstsexual-exploitation-children-and-adolescents

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to child sexual exploitation. The Rio de Janeiro Pact to Prevent and Stop Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents (The Rio Pact) resulted from this Congress.9 Similar to the culminating documents from the First and Second World Congresses, The Rio Pact cited a number of recommendations including encouraging a coordination of efforts among stakeholders, strengthening domestic and international laws and their enforcement with regard to child exploitation, focusing on education and CSEC, and devising better ways to gather data and to identify vulnerable children. New initiatives arose at this Congress including the idea for ombudsmen for children and youth as well as country offices of child protection. These important outcomes currently figure prominently in advocacy efforts in Canada to establish a Federal Children’s Commissioner. As one young delegate from the Rio Congress noted:

“The work we have begun here must not end here today when the congress rooms become empty and the heated discussions here in Rio de Janeiro become silent. We must not allow the discussion of children’s rights, particularly in the matter of sexual exploitation, to ever go silent again but we must evoke calls of change throughout the world like never done before.”10

9 The Rio de Janeiro Pact to Prevent and Stop Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents available at: http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/document/_908 10 Youth quote from Rio Congress. Document available in the Landon Pearson Resource Centre, Carleton University, A735 Loeb, Ottawa, Canada.

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Senator Landon Pearson and Canada’s Participation Against CSEC: the 1996 Stockholm World Congress and Post Congress Youth Summit

Fig. 1: Senator Pearson addresses delegates at the Congress.

As a member of the Canadian delegation to the Stockholm World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in 1996 along with the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator Landon Pearson, known as Canada’s “Children’s Senator”, insisted on the importance of hearing the voices and perspectives of young people who have experienced CSEC.11 She stressed that they should have opportunities to participate in strategizing and finding solutions to ending child sexual exploitation. Although few young people with experiential knowledge of CSEC participated in the Stockholm Congress, Cherry Kingsley who was a youth member of the 11 For more on Landon Pearson see: www.landonpearson.ca

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Canadian delegation, made a lasting and important contribution to the Congress. She had been invited to participate in the Human Values panel discussion in part because of her experience as a sexual exploitation survivor and her involvement in the sex trade since the age of 14.

Cherry challenged the panel participants on matters concerning adultcentric views of children and childhood, and tokenistic understandings of children’s participation. Cherry urged adult delegates to be accountable to children including changing the language used to address those who have been sexually exploited.

The Congress’ focus on commercial child sexual exploitation and the goals to identify child prostitution as child sexual abuse and to criminalize those who procure children for sex, among other foci, garnered substantial media and global attention. The Congress advanced these complex issues and raised awareness of the social character of the inequalities that make children vulnerable to this type of exploitation.

One of Senator Pearson’s particular contributions was to suggest that young people develop their own Declaration and Agenda for Action to parallel the one prepared by adult Congress delegates. She insisted that young people who have experienced sexual exploitation and who had experience in the sex trade should be given an opportunity to have their voices heard and considered by those developing strategies to end CSEC. Following the First World Congress, Minister Axworthy asked Landon Pearson to follow up on the recommendations made at the Stockholm Congress. Senator Pearson suggested that she and Cherry Kingsley build on the synergy that began in Stockholm by focusing on the idea of further enabling experiential youth to have their voices and perspectives heard on the matter of ending sexual exploitation. They designed Out from the Shadows,12 a project featuring youth CSEC survivors.

The project involved a nine-month consultation, international networking, and culminated in an International Youth Summit of sexually exploited youth with their own outcome report. This international fiveday Youth Summit held in March 1998 in Victoria, British Columbia, 12 Out From the Shadows final report. Available at: http://03559de.netsolhost.com/ vicreport-e.htm

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involved consultations with young people, both boys and girls, in or from the sex trade in cities across Canada as well as in the Americas and the Caribbean. In all, two experiential youth and one support person in several delegations from the Americas and the Caribbean (Brazil, Honduras, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Dominican Republic), six American experiential youth (New York, Los Angeles, Seattle), twenty experiential youth from across Canada and twenty Canadian organizers participated in the Summit. Importantly, special consideration was given to young people in the sex trade from First Nations communities who are disproportionately involved in commercial sexual exploitation and particularly vulnerable due to a number of intersecting inequalities.

Fig.2: Cherry Kingsley & Senator Pearson

The OFTS Youth Summit culminated with the release of a Youth Declaration and Agenda for Action.13 This Declaration and Agenda were presented to policy makers, government officials, NGOs and other stakeholders during the final two days of the Youth Summit. The 13 Youth Declaration and Agenda for Action. Appendix 1. Available at: http://03559de.netsolhost.com/vicreport-e.htm

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public was also invited for input in an effort to develop communitybased strategies for ending the sexual exploitation of children.

In the Declaration Cherry Kingsley pursued the change in language to address sexually exploited children that she had articulated at the Stockholm Congress two years earlier. Thanks to her efforts to initiate this discussion, the term ‘juvenile prostitute’ was replaced with the phrase ‘children exploited in the sex trade,’ which is now commonly used in the international lexicon. Two additional initiatives arose from the OFTS Youth Summit: first, the creation of the Sexually Exploited Youth Speak Out network comprising youth who had attended the Summit and second, a national five-month long consultation in 2000 of 150 Aboriginal at-risk youth who had experienced sexual exploitation and the sex trade. The report called Sacred Lives: Aboriginal Children and Youth Speak Out About Sexual Exploitation resulting from this consultation includes recommendations in five areas: prevention, crisis intervention and harm reduction, exiting and healing, public attitudes, and youth participation. 14

Stockholm +20

To mark the 20th anniversary of the Stockholm First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, Landon Pearson convened an event at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada on May 26, 2016. The design and intent of the event, apart from marking this anniversary, was to look back at the recommendations that had been made at the Stockholm Congress and to report on progress, changes and remaining challenges for Canada as well as to propose ways to continue to productively move forward on this issue.

14 Sacred Lives: Aboriginal Children and Youth Speak Out About Sexual Exploitation.

Available at: http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.647985/publication.html

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Invited to participate at the roundtable discussion were members of organizations including Justice Canada, Global Affairs Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada as well as non-governmental organizations including PLAN Canada and the Red Cross. A law enforcement representative from the RCMP as well as academic representatives were invited to speak. Three broad themes organized the discussion: prevention, youth participation, and future directions. Each participant gave a brief update on their assessment of changes over the past 20 years in their respective areas regarding CSEC. Speaking on changes in the legislative framework for addressing CSEC in Canada, Natalie Levman from Justice Canada offered a synopsis of legislative developments since Stockholm that account for Canada’s current strong legislative environment regarding CSEC with a particular focus on trafficking legislation. One significant change noted has been the introduction of new legal measures that allow Canadian citizens and permanent residents to be prosecuted for engaging in commercial sexual activities with children while abroad. Ms. Levman noted that this development is in line with the 1996 Stockholm World Congress commitment to pressure governments to adopt laws permitting countries to prosecute nationals who engage in sexual activity with children under 18 years of age while outside their home nation. She. discussed the comprehensive trafficking laws that had come into existence since the Stockholm Congress. Introduced in Canada in 2005, anyone involved in human trafficking, defined as someone who “recruits, transports, transfers, receives, holds, conceals or harbours a person, or exercises control, direction or influence over the movements of a person, for the purpose of exploiting them or facilitating their exploitation” is guilty of an indictable offence under Canada’s Criminal Code Section 279.01.15 Ms. Levman noted that it is unique because the amendment respects the perspective of the victim and not the perpetrator. She went on to discuss that in June 2012, amendments passed into law made human trafficking outside of Canada by citizens or permanent residents of Canada a criminal offence in Canada. This 2012 amendment brought 15 See http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/tp/hcjpotp-gtpupjp/fs-fi/fs1-fi1.html

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a new interpretive analysis to help courts understand trafficking more fully. A further development is that the definition of exploitation in the Criminal Code (section 279.04), criticized for narrowly focusing on victimization, has been broadened to assist courts in understanding incidents of exploitation.

Other amendments mentioned include Bill C-15, the 2001 Bill that makes Internet luring an offence; Bill C-2, the 2004 amendment to Canada’s Criminal Code that provides for child witnesses to testify against those who have exploited them. The Bill expands the scope of some existing offences and narrows the availability of defenses while increasing penalties for those convicted of such a crime. It also includes procedural reforms that facilitate testimony by young persons and broadens the courts’ ability to accommodate vulnerable witnesses, including children, in criminal justice proceedings. Finally, in 2011, Bill C-22, An Act Respecting the Mandatory Reporting of Internet Child Pornography by Persons Who Provide an Internet Service, came into force. It obligates Internet providers by law to report any instances of child pornography on the Internet. Ms. Levman noted that there has been much progress in the legislative environment in Canada and overall the interplay between international and national laws has moved forward in a productive manner.

In a discussion of the challenges to bringing child participation into child protection contexts, Professor Virginia Caputo focused on the need for conceptual clarity in practice that allows children to be viewed as fully human beings and therefore full participants in society. Caputo argued that ‘innocence’ as a framework offers a double-edged sword to analyses of CSEC. Specifically, she asked how can children be both protected and empowered in work addressing CSEC. The audience viewed the video “Sweetie”16 as an entry point to discuss the ways technology further complicates issues pertaining to CSEC. “Sweetie” is a computer generated robot imaged as a little girl designed to entrap and track down online perpetrators.

16 ‘Sweetie’ video from Terre des Hommes. Available at: https://vimeo.com/86895084

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Roberta Sinclair, from the Canadian Police Centre for Missing and Exploited Children/Behavioural Sciences Branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,17 elaborated on how the digital world and online access have exacerbated the issue of child sexual exploitation and the legislation on child exploitation. She noted the ways predators are using the Internet, masking their identity and befriending children and young people, and luring, harassing, and stalking children, placing them at risk of harm and sexual exploitation. In her comments, she stressed the strong legislative framework that is present in Canada and its importance in her work to combat sexual exploitation in digital environments. As well, she pointed out that the contexts in which CSEC occurs have changed over the past 20 years because children are living in hyper-sexualized environments that are made further accessible through increasingly sophisticated technology. She concluded her remarks by stressing the importance of understanding these contexts in which children and young people find themselves by soliciting their own views and perspectives. Ms. Sinclair noted the importance of engaging in dialogue with children rather than telling them what to do and assuming adults understand how this impacts children.

The panelists from governmental departments discussed robust developments in national and international programming and policies that address CSEC in terms of child protection. Kathleen Flynn-Dapaah, a representative from Global Affairs Canada,18 and Shannon Hurley from the Public Health Agency of Canada,19 noted a number of initiatives that their offices have launched to combat sexual exploitation. Ms. Flynn-Dapaah spoke about Canada’s role in supporting a law against trafficking in Cambodia and noted that it is important for Canada to take action now given the 2030 sustainable development agenda.20 Ms. 17 Canadian Police Centre for Missing and Exploited Children/Behavioural Sciences Branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. See http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/to-ot/ cpcmec-ccpede/index-eng.htm 18 Global Affairs Canada. More information available at: http://international.gc.ca/ world-monde/aid-aide/children-enfants.aspx?lang=eng&_ga=1.43291173.147410797 5.1476364733 19 Public Health Agency of Canada. More information available at: http://www.phacaspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/dca-dea/index-eng.php 20 More information available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/ transformingourworld

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Hurley noted the cyclical aspects of violence in children’s lives indicating that her department sees sexual violence as a health issue where health has a role in prevention.21 One of the key points they both raised is how important it is in their work to find ways to involve children meaningfully in ending sexual exploitation.

From the NGO sector, PLAN Canada’s representative Kate Waller discussed child protection programs using a multi-pronged approach to address the multi-layered complexity involved in CSEC issues.22 She described one of PLAN’s programs with a dual focus on child protection and education in Kenya that has brought about a reduction in genderbased violence by linking formal and community practices.

The final speaker, Lucy Vorobej, from the University of Waterloo, introduced her web-based project that accounts for the importance of history in understanding the lives of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada.23 The site is aimed at high school students who wish to learn about CSEC and the disproportionately high numbers of First Nations young people involved. The key message of the presentation was that “history matters” in fully understanding the circumstances of sexual exploitation of children in contemporary contexts.

The event concluded with a discussion of what has emerged as the key development over the past twenty years, namely, the importance of child and youth participation in fully addressing the issue of sexual exploitation. This discussion began at the first World Congress and has become increasingly central to those working to end CSEC in academic, legislative, law enforcement, programming, policy and advocacy in Canada. Landon Pearson made it a point to end the roundtable discussion with the words of young people themselves. The Declaration from “Out of the Shadows” was read aloud and the audience viewed a video showing a young woman reading her poem “A Touch of Sexual Assault” to conclude the event.24 21 Family Violence initiative of Public Health Agency of Canada: http://www.phacaspc.gc.ca/sfv-avf/initiative-eng.php 22 PLAN Canada. More information available at: www.plancanada.ca 23 Lucy Vorobej’s website available at: http://www.projectnewsworthy.com/ 24 Video available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xcCWAQnBuk

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In her closing remarks, Landon Pearson noted the progress that had been made on implementing some of the recommendations of the Stockholm Congress in legislative, law enforcement, policy, academic, and programmatic efforts. In particular, she echoed that the legislative framework in Canada for addressing child sexual exploitation had been significantly strengthened since 1996 with many of the loopholes related to CSEC now closed. She also noted two new developments over this twenty-year period. First, the importance of, and concern with, the impact of technology which she noted was, understandably, relatively absent from the 1996 Congress but which now has profound implications for the way forward to address CSEC. Second, Landon Pearson noted the prominent role that the private sector is increasingly playing in addressing the issue.25 She closed by stressing, again, the importance of enabling, hearing and listening to the voices and perspectives of children and young people who have experienced sexual exploitation and who have been in the sex trade. This focus on child and youth participation and engagement drives all of the work of the Landon Pearson Centre for the Study of Childhood and Children’s Rights, including its annual youth-led and youth-driven conference called Shaking the Movers.26 The workshop, now in its 10th year, provides an opportunity for children and young people to discuss an issue of concern in their lives as it relates to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2015, Shaking the Movers youth participants focused on the theme of child sexual exploitation in an unforgettable way demonstrating once again that youth voices, perspectives and engagement are vital to shaping constructive ways forward to ending the sexual exploitation of children.

25 Examples include ECPAT’s education and advocacy efforts with the travel and tourism industry to sign a Code of Conduct for hotels to train their staff around the world on CSEC issues, Air Canada’s public service announcements targeting awareness of CSEC for passengers on flights, and campaigns such as The Body Shop’s STOP Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People, which has raised over 3 million dollars since 2010.

26 For more on Shaking the Movers, see www.landonpearson.ca

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Early Childhood in Guatemala, a further Dimension Otto Rivera

A decade has elapsed since the politically and institutionally motivated approach to Early Childhood in Guatemala was initiated. National Encounters in favour of Early Childhood (ENPI I and II, for their acronym in Spanish)1 were held, and an Early Childhood Action Plan (PAFPI)2 and a Public Policy for the Comprehensive Development of Early Childhood3 have been designed.

Similarly, a number of Conferences on Early Childhood were held, with the technical assistance of international agencies and the participation of thematic experts interacting openly with national technical teams.

1 The National Encounters were held in 2007 and 2008, respectively, and were attended by about 600 people each. They were convened by the government authorities of the time, with the technical assistance of the offices representing UNICEF and Plan International.

2 Guatemala, 2008.

3 Guatemala, 2011.

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Otto Rivera

He is a Guatemalan sociologist with a postgraduate degree in Social Anthropology from CIESAS, Mexico; and a doctoral degree in Continuing Education from CIPAE, Puebla, Mexico. He is a member of the Grupo de Gestión por la Primera Infancia en América Latina (Steering Group for Latin American Early Childhood); of the Latin American Network to Combat Child Labour; of the Latin American and Caribbean Network for the Defence of the Rights of Children and Adolescents (REDLAMYC); of the Red Niña Niño Guatemala (Children’s Network) and Executive Secretary of the Coordinadora Institucional de Promoción por los Derechos de la Niñez (Institutional Coordination for Child Rights Promotion - CIPRODENI), Guatemala.

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Recently, the Comisiรณn del Menor y la Familia (Commission for Minors and Families)4 of the Congress of the Republic submitted a proposal for an Early Childhood Comprehensive Protection Act,5 which, however, has not yet been included in the legislative agenda for discussion and adoption.

Despite these efforts, little or no progress has been made as regards the protection and the care or comprehensive development of early childhood. This shows that good intentions are not enough and that specific and motivated actions are needed, as well as a roadmap to guide the implementation of strategies for the improvement of living conditions as from the moment of conception itself until the age of six, as a starting point in the construction of new and better models of society.

The following paragraphs contain some reflections which, based on the specific Guatemalan situation, aim to serve as a call to action for the immediate agenda.

Early Childhood Today In 2008, Roberto Aldana, a Guatemalan paediatrician, provided us with a significant contribution in this area6 and, at the time, a sombre account of the situational status of children between the ages of 0 and 5.

The report noted that on average, 1200 births were recorded per day in the country, but at the same time, 2 children were orphaned by the death of their mothers from complications arising from childbirth; 3 children died per day; 6 children died before they were a week old; 4 children died before they were a month old; 56 died before they were one year old and 64 children died before they were five.

Of the survivors, 591 were condemned to chronic malnutrition.

Unfortunately, these conditions persist today, and figures have even increased, as shown below.

4 The official name of this working group composed of deputies of different political parties elected to the Congress of the Republic.

5 Guatemala, October 2016.

6 Status Report on Early Childhood in Guatemala. UNICEF. Guatemala, 2008.

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Chart NÂş 1 Status Report on Early Childhood in Guatemala.

2008 – 20167

18 April 2008

30 November 2016

1200 births per day

3,756,0000 births

2 orphans / death of mother

6260 will be orphaned

3 die before 1 day old

9390 will die before 1 day old

6 die before 1 week old

18,780 will die before 1 week old

4 die before first month

12,520 will die before first month

56 die before first year

175,280 will die before 1 year old

64 die before they are 5

200,320 will die before they are 5

591 will suffer malnutrition

1,849,830 will suffer malnutrition

7 Data refer to the date indicated.

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These figures reveal a number of issues. First, evidence shows that the rate of chronic malnutrition has increased throughout the country by up to 52%, according to conservative figures, even figures provided by the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare8 (MSPAS) reveal that one in two children suffer from chronic malnutrition.

Worrying data have been revealed by the Food and Nutritional Security Secretariat (SESAN),9 showing that by 10 September 2016 there had been 76 deaths of children as a result acute malnutrition.

A prime example of this was the death of the child Maykol David Morales, eleven months old, in the arms of his mother, in a street of Guatemala City, as a result of acute diarrhoea, when the clinic to which he had been taken did not have an ambulance for a transfer to the nearest hospital.

Subsequent investigation showed that the diarrhoea was only the result of the severe malnutrition he was suffering from and that other members of the family were also afflicted with.

This is linked to two significant phenomena. On the one hand, relative poverty affects 60% of the population as a whole, and 23% are extremely poor, out of approximately 16 million inhabitants.

According to the National Statistics Institute (INE),10 7 of every 10 children belong to a poor family.

In addition, all of the public health system has collapsed. One of the causes, though not the only one, is the high level of corruption that has dramatically affected it.

8 In this regard, see the National Survey on Maternal and Child Health (ENSMI) 2014 - 2015.

9 Quoted from a press release published by the Red Niña Niño (Girls and Boys Network) on the occasion of the National Children’s Day in Guatemala, on 1 October 2016.

10 See: National Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI) 2015.

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In addition to health and nutrition, early childhood education still remains to be addressed.

Bearing in mind that 2015 saw the end of the period allocated for the fulfilment of two international commitments undertaken by the Guatemalan State, the Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in which early childhood education as well as affording priority care to girls were priority goals, it is evident that the targets were not met.

The official report of the Presidency’s General Secretariat for Planning and Programming (SEGEPLAN)11 states that Guatemala failed to comply with 67% of its commitments in relation to the MDGs. The Red Niña Niño’s Alternative Report on Education for All (EFA)12 states that the two main objectives related to quality education for early childhood were not achieved.

In accordance with national laws, both the Political Constitution of the Republic and the National Education Act, the State has the obligation and responsibility to provide free and compulsory education at four educational levels.

• Initial level, for children from 0 to 3 years of age; non-formal education programmes.

• Pre-primary level, children from 4 to 6 years.

• Primary level, children from 7 to 12 years, plus over grade-age.

• Middle level, composed of a basic cycle, from 13 to 15 years, plus over grade-age.

• A diversified cycle, from 16 to 18, plus over grade-age.

11 Final report on the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals. Guatemala, 2015.

12 A synchronized civil society body composed of over 36 organizations working on behalf of respect, promotion and defence of children’s rights, in keeping with the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), among them, CIPRODENI.

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However, public investment in education is scant. This is evident, at least in 2015 and 2016, in the Nation’s Income and Expenses Budget, in which the initial level had no budget allocation at all.13 School coverage is extremely low and indicators have fallen dramatically, even beyond those achieved in 2000, as we see below.14

Chart Nº 2 School Coverage 2000 - 2016

Educational Level

2000

2016

Initial (0 - 3 yrs)

4.6%

4.5%

Pre-Primary (4 - 6 yrs)

70%

45%

Primary (7 - 12 yrs)

116%

81%

Basic (13 - 15 yrs)

71%

47%

Diversified (16 - 18 yrs)

37%

24%

For 2016, the Ministry of Education’s budget per level was 12.43% for pre-primary; 57.42% for primary; 7.34% for the basic cycle, and 3.15% for the diversified cycle. Nothing was allocated to the initial level.

13 See, Rivera, Otto. Guatemala invierte en su Niñez y Adolescencia. Propuesta para el fortalecimiento del Estado. Guatemala, 2016.

14 See, Rivera, Otto. Guatemala Su educación en una encrucijada. 2000 – 2015.

Guatemala, 2016.

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This is why school coverage for this level does not increase.

In addition, in the same year, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare was only able to allocate 15% of its regular budget to the Programme for the Prevention of Chronic Malnutrition, and 7% to the Programme for the Prevention of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality.

Evidence shows that the States with the highest rate of economic return are those that invest sustainedly in their early childhood. This does not occur in Guatemala.

To this we must add the following dimension.

An Uncertain Future On the basis of the population projection, of the 16 million inhabitants, 21% are children in early childhood, 16% are children between 7 and 12 years of age, and 14% are adolescents between 13 and under 18 years.

Since the adoption in 2003 of the Comprehensive Protection of Children Act (LEYPINA), a series of regular laws have been adopted in order to better protect children.

But at present, their living conditions are much more precarious than they were thirteen years ago, or even prior to the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In her most recent visit to the country, Ms Sara Oviedo, Vice-President of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), referred to this lack of protection as “alarming�.

One of the dimensions of these causes for alarm involves the constant and increasing cases of girls and female teenagers who are victims of abuse and sexual violence, placing them in a condition of high risk regarding the phenomenon of trafficking in persons.

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As well as pregnancy and forced motherhood. According to the Observatory of Sexual and Reproductive Health (OSAR),15 by 30 June 2016, 27,004 girls and teenagers had become mothers, in an age range of between 10 to under 18.

These are worrying figures, both because of the abuse itself that girls and adolescents suffer and because of the uncertain future of the living conditions into which babies are born.

It is evident that Guatemala has neither an effective care programme nor a programme for the comprehensive development of early childhood. Because of this, these new births take place and increase the statistics mentioned above.

These are obviously “children giving birth to more children” without us doing anything to prevent it, or to prosecute and effectively punish those who incur in these acts.

One of the laws adopted is the Law against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons (LEYVET),16 as well as Decree Nº 8-2015, which raises the minimum age for marriage to 18. They were intended to provide further protection for girls and teenagers,17 but it has already been shown that the problem is not the existence or absence of laws, but the failure to implement the regulatory framework.

In the face of this situation, the real question is what should be done right now.

15 See, OSAR. First Semester Report, 2016. Guatemala 16 Guatemala, 2009.

17 Guatemala, 2015.

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A Proposed Roadmap for Action The Institutional Coordination for Child Rights Promotion (CIPRODENI) is based on the precept contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which holds that all children deserve access to ALL rights, and that these rights are unwaivable, interdependent, inalienable and non-transferable.

That as a country we must build a long-term vision, placing the best interest of children at the centre.

To this end, it is necessary to lay the foundations for a culture of intercultural, intergender, intergenerational and interreligious discussion based on respect, tolerance and reconciliation.

This implies building a common project as an inclusive, equitable and egalitarian society, at peace with social justice.

To contribute to this, we have joined the collective exercise of rethinking a new dimension for the comprehensive protection system, in order to ensure that it is truly a system and genuinely comprehensive, since what we have so far has not yielded the expected results.

From this perspective, this new system places children and adolescents, as from early childhood, in their proper dimension, at the centre.

Surrounding them, a new doctrinal framework, which can serve to underpin the work of an organic new institutionality18 on behalf of the defence and protection of the rights of children.

It also implies a new political dimension, in which the willingness to promote changes and transformations is more than necessary. It requires strategic alliances that commit the national political class to halting, reverting and reducing those negative indicators that have prevailed so far.

18 See, North, Douglas. Instituciones, cambio institucional y desempeĂąo polĂ­tico.

Fondo de Cultura EconĂłmica. Mexico, 1995

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Equally, the economic and financial dimension is key. These changes demand sustained, ongoing and increasing investment. Currently, according to the Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (ICEFI),19 the “State spends” on each child, the equivalent to eighty seven United States dollar cents (USD 0.87), which must serve to cover areas such as health, nutrition, education, comprehensive protection, culture, sports and recreation.

According to the Red Niña Niño, Guatemala should be investing the equivalent to thirty US dollars (USD 30) per child, per day.20 A further dimension is composed of a triad; family, community, society. None of the actions attempted by the Comprehensive Protection System can succeed without the full and resolute participation of families, and the community and social dynamics which constitute children’s closest environment. As Professor Fraser Mustard has rightly noted, early child development (ECD) will improve as the involvement of mothers and fathers in the psycho-bio-social development of their children increases. To this we should add, too, the participation of community leaders, whose positions will at some point be occupied by today’s children.

Finally, in the case of Guatemala and in view of its ethnic and linguistic wealth, the cultural dimension takes on particular relevance and significance. It is not possible to envisage a “system” without this important foundation.

In operational terms, we have undertaken the commitment to resume, as well as to realign a thematic working group on early childhood, which will reposition the issue on the national agenda, and advocate to make it a constitutional part of the priorities of the State.

We are currently working towards this and ratify our commitment not to surrender, in the interests of the welfare of the children of our country.

19 Guatemala, September 2016.

20 See, Estrategia de País. Red Niña Niño. Guatemala, 2015.

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Factors associated with the quality of early education in the framework of comprehensive care: keys to development in early childhood Carolina Turriago Borrero

The factors associated with the quality of early education are elements that work together with others and trigger the effectiveness of education processes in the development of children in early childhood.

However, there is an even more powerful key to empower child development, which emerges when early education and comprehensive care go hand-in-hand.

Colombia has recently taken a major step in turning its Comprehensive Care Strategy for Early Childhood into a State Policy for the Comprehensive Development of Early Childhood, De Cero a Siempre [From Zero to Forever]. This policy confirms the fact that early education must take place in a framework of comprehensive care, with the purpose of empowering the development of children’s capabilities and skills from birth to the age of six.

For this Colombian public policy, comprehensive care entails synchronizing a number of cross-sectoral actions and direct care to pro-

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Carolina Turriago Borrero

Political scientist at the University of Los Andes, Colombia, with a master’s degree in International Studies from the Complutense University and the Diplomatic School of Madrid, Spain.

In the field of child rights, and of the victims of the armed conflict and peace, she has designed, managed, coordinated and evaluated development cooperation projects for a number of Colombian State agencies, such as the Presidency of the Republic and the National Department of Planning; for credit and international cooperation agencies such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNICEF and the IIN; for the latter, as coordinator in Colombia for the project on the Promotion and Protection of Child Rights.

She took part in the design and implementation of the Policy for the Comprehensive Development of Early Childhood, De Cero a Siempre [From Zero to Forever], which is now State policy, as well as the policy for the care of the displaced population as a result of the armed conflict.

She takes an active part in academic forums on early childhood and education, and has conducted research and published on international cooperation for childhood, forced displacement, peace, early childhood, early education and the differential approach. cturriago@gmail.com

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mote early education, care, parenting, health, nutrition, culture, participation and recreation for children. The aim is that they should receive all that they require in order to develop their potential, and that stakeholders and environments should be prepared and willing to make this happen.

The challenge that this public policy poses for early education in Colombia motivated the research which gave rise to this paper, which is underpinned by an extensive review of the literature and academic studies, reports on public programmes, evaluations, reviews and metaanalyses from various latitudes.

On this occasion, the aims are to contribute to broadening the perspective of early education and to contribute strategies based on scientific evidence to increase its quality, both in Colombia and in other countries.

In this research study, factors related to quality were classified into three categories: (i) structural early education factors, (ii) factors related to the environments in which early education takes place, and (iii) factors related to the persons involved in early education, in the understanding that these categories are inter-connected.

This classification of factors was inspired in the study entitled Quality of Early Childhood Development Programs in Global Contexts: Rationale for Investment, Conceptual Framework and Implications for Equity (Rebello, Yoshikawa and Boller, 2011), which places expectations for early childhood development into a direct relationship with actors, environments and the systems that make up the context, combined with a series of cross-cutting dimensions which are triggers for quality. In this study, the categories suggested in Rebello, et al. were adapted and complemented with lessons learned from Colombia’s public policy in the area.

The first category, Structural early education factors, includes the legal, institutional and organizational structures in which early education services occur. It involves national and subnational government

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agencies, social organizations, private enterprise and the bodies that provide early education services.

The second category, Factors related to the environments in which early education takes place, is based on the Colombian public policy’s approach, which views environments as physical, social and cultural areas, in which there is continuous interaction between individuals and the context that surrounds them (their physical and biological space, ecosystem, community, culture and society in general). This line includes home, healthcare, educational and public environments (CIPI, 2013), as well as the community (Rebello et al., 2011). All of these have multiple manifestations, depending on their geographical and cultural context.

The third category, Factors related to the persons involved in early education, is based on the assumption that children’s well-being and development are strongly influenced by their interactions with adults, be they parents, caregivers, family members, teachers or other agents. In this case, adults may be providers or recipients of care.

Below we have grouped the most significant factors identified during this research study, as well as their considerations and contributions to early education in the framework of comprehensive care.

Category 1. Structural early education factors in the framework of comprehensive care The regulation of early education: The States that have such regulation in place have better quality services, since they are able to establish binding, lasting and financially stable policies. They can also establish standards for the training of human talent, for regulations and for monitoring the services; provide links to other sectors such as health and welfare, and provide coverage to families and communities (Kagan, 2015).

Equity regarding access to and quality of early education: Socio-economic inequity is marked by major inequalities in child development, which are perpetuated in school enrolment (Chile Crece Contigo,

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2011, and OECD, 2014). Equity should occur in all of the programmes in the education system, and must be reflected by overcoming the barriers imposed by poverty, distance, culture or conditions such as disability (Rebello et al., 2011), as well as in the continuing provision of services and in the infrastructure available (Kagan, 2015).

Synchronization between early education sectors and components: The effectiveness of programmes is greater when they simultaneously address the needs of children, families and teachers (Yoshikawa, 2015). Integrated and continuous systems with holistic approaches have the greatest impact on health and learning (Engle et al., 2007).

On the other hand, gaps and a lack of alignment between programmes and sectors have a direct influence on the results achieved by boys and girls (Unesco, 2015).

Coordination between interdisciplinary teams: Aspects that make a difference in the quality of services are: the availability of time for coordination, the synchronization role taken on by the team, the periodic monitoring of work plans in order to reach targets, the participatory planning of projects, leadership, links between team members, self-care and stress management. (Chile Crece Contigo, 2011).

Leadership in management: Synchronization between early education providers and local public or private agencies bolsters stability and expands the spectrum of the care they can provide in the education environment. The strengthening of leadership and management skills is related to a timely response to material and technical needs, to increased coverage, and to the efficiency of resource distribution channels (Rebello et al. 2011), as well as to the capacity for cross-sectoral synchronization and collaborative work (CIPI, 2013).

Equitable distribution of resources: In all contexts, it is key to have all the necessary resources available so that good care can be provided, such as drinking water, healthy food, printed and manipulable materials, and others (Rebello et al. 2011 based on Tseng & Seidman, 2007, Rafique, 2010 and Raikes, 2010).

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Health in early education: Complementing early education with healthcare practices, information and staff has a greater effect on the lives of families and children than if they are provided separately (Chile Crece Contigo, 2011). Evidence shows that when early education programmes include the achievement of specific outcomes regarding health, such as connecting children to health services, promoting follow-up development consultations, or a full vaccination plan, benefits for children and their families are enhanced. This has resulted in the increase of attendance in general practice and oral health consultations (Yoshikawa, Weiland, et al., 2013); in the decline in early childhood mortality rates and the increased prevention of measles, pertussis, diabetes and respiratory diseases (Currie and Thomas, in Ludwig and Miller, 2007); as well as in falling mortality rates from chronic diseases between the ages of five and nine (Fosburg et al. 1984 in Ludwig & Miller, 2007).

Mental health through early education: Frequently, children grow up in adverse conditions such as poverty, domestic violence, alcohol or psychoactive substance abuse in their homes, or suffer the consequences of armed conflict. The psycho-social status of their principal caregivers gives rise to family stress which can affect social development and mental health in early childhood. It is essential, therefore, to bear this in mind in order to carry out interventions and incorporate additional support in strategies providing family support in the educational environment (Azzi-Lessing, L. 2010; Chile Crece Contigo, 2011).

Maternal depression must constitute a priority aspect in family support programmes issuing from the educational environment (Engle, Patrice L & Fernald, Lia C H, et al.). In all cases, support should contemplate both preventive tools and referrals to specific treatment (Gilliam, 2007).

Food and nutrition: Close to 200 million children under the age of five are not achieving their development potential because of poverty, undernutrition and malnutrition (Engle et al., 2007, in Rebello, Yoshikawa et al., 2011). Early education services which are supplemented by food and nutrition programmes help children and families improve their eating habits, and children, their caloric and nutrient intake (Fosburg et al., 1984, and Yoshikawa, Bogotรก, 2015). Food and nutrition security

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are structural elements of quality (Rebello, Yoshikawa et al., 2011).

Promoting institutional and home vegetable gardens contributes to family economy, to the quality of food and to closer bonds between families, the community and early education providers (CIPI, 2016).

Smooth transitions: Transitions occur at all stages of children’s lives and in all environments where they spend their lives; they involve the people who interact with children, and have implications for the way in which children learn and develop (CIPI, 2014). In the case of early education, transitions take place between the home and the early education service, between this service and preschool, between preschool and basic education. Because of this, continuity can be considered a principle of development which demands to be addressed by means of consistent pedagogical principles and coherent tools, and which must be institutionalized through objectives, evaluation, the curriculum, professional development and the environment, throughout the entire educational process (Kagan, 2015).

Early education with a differential approach: The diverse features of every being make it necessary to use sensitive approaches in order to provide relevant early education. Forms of care must be flexible in order to respond to requirements at each stage of development, so that culture may be expressed and so all children, regardless of their condition or situation, have access to whatever they require to strengthen their capabilities (CIPI, 2013). In the case of children with developmental delays or disabilities, it is particularly important to provide services and specialized support that complement healthy environments (Spiker, D. et al., in Zaslow, MartĂ­nez-Beck et al. 2011).

Specialized home care: A strategy for the reduction of inequity in areas with a limited range of services is specialized home visits to the homes of children with education lag, disabilities, impediments to travel or other barriers to access. These visits are carried out by professional technical teams in order to implement guidance and timely stimulation in the home (Chile Crece Contigo, 2011).

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Category 2. Factors related to the environments in which early education takes place Teaching environments: Physical and spatial characteristics are considered to be a critical dimension in the response to basic needs and to prevent accidents in the environment. Adaptations should take place in order to ensure comfort, security measures and accessibility for children and parents with disabilities. Most sources consulted agree as to the importance of age-appropriate equipment and teaching materials as an essential aspect of quality. In Colombian public policy it is also important that environments should watch over children’s emotional integrity and be sensitive to their interests and abilities (CIPI, 2013).

When natural disasters or armed conflict occur, certain minimum vital needs such as water, food, shelter and clean air should be ensured (Rebello, Yoshikawa et al., 2011).

A stable educational environment in rural and community sectors: In these contexts, the stability of human teams, support periods and appropriate infrastructure to provide care for children and their families is considered a factor that increases the quality of early education. For example, a stimulation room, a playroom, a library, a community centre or a school where the population can go, and gain access to enduring child development and family support programmes (Chile Crece Contigo, 2011).

Technological support: This has value as a tool that contributes to ensuring that information is available to early education teams, and can also be a pedagogical resource. No direct influence on quality has been attributed to it as compared to the coordination and effective communication of the teams providing the service (Chile Crece Contigo, 2011).

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Category 3. Factors related to the persons involved in early education This category includes factors related to (i) children, (ii) families, and (iii) teachers. (i) Factors relating to children The quality of interactions between children and adults: “If there is a single critical component to quality, it rests in the relationship between the child and the teacher/caregiver, and in the ability of the adult to be responsive to the child.

But responsiveness extends in many directions: to the child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical characteristics and development.” (Bowman, Donovan & Burns, 2001). The nature of interactions, such as affection, hardness, sensitivity or commitment, affect the brain’s architecture and function, and the potential for development, for the rest of children’s lives (Global Initiative for United Nations, 2014 and Kagan, 2015).

Stimulation, supportive interactions between teachers and children and an effective use of the curriculum are critical to quality. Children benefit most when teachers engage in stimulating interactions which sustain learning and provide emotional support. This type of interaction can help them to acquire new knowledge and skills, trigger verbal responses, foster commitment and the enjoyment of learning (Yoshikawa, Weiland, Brooks-Gunn et al., 2013). More or better resources do not improve children’s educational results, unless they lead to changes in their daily experiences in the educational environment (Murnane and Ganimian, 2014). (ii) Factors relating to families Supporting families; which enables practice, observation and feedback: Services targeting early development and aiming at children and families have been considered the most promising approaches in alleviating poverty and achieving social and economic equity (Engle et al., 2007; Grantham-McGregor et al., 2007; Ulkuer, 2006, in Rebello et

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al., 2011). As regards child development, deficiencies in parenting skills have implications which include communication and language delays in children (Chile Crece Contigo, 2011). Interventions focusing on families can improve the cognitive and socio-emotional capabilities of children (Engle et al. 2011).

Results in child development are not achieved by just any kind of support: merely providing information in classes and workshops is not associated with changes in the lives of children (Yoshikawa, Weiland et al. 2013). However, when support provides opportunities for practice, observation and feedback to parents, there is evidence of positive effects on children’s cognitive and social capabilities and skills, and in parents’ warmth and effective response (Grindal, Bones-Bowne et al., 2013). The frequency of the support provided to parents also has implications for children’s learning. The meta-analysis cited indicates that at least once a month is necessary for the expected effects to take place.

Programmes for children and adults, which include education, training for work and care services, trigger reflection among parents on their own education in relation to that of their children, increase their expectations regarding child development and investment in education, and improve parents’ practices (Chase-Lansdale & Brooks-Gunn, 2014).

Engagement of families in community networks: Families’ participation in community networks increases their perception of support and is associated with the construction of social capital (Chile Crece Contigo, 2011). High quality early education also provides opportunities for parents and members of the community to participate in programme management (Rebello et al., 2013) and become active participants in programmes, regardless of the language spoken at home, ethnicity, gender, poverty or education level, or disability (Yoshikawa, Bogotá, 2015).

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(iii) Factors relating to teachers and other early education agents Training human talent: A human team with comprehensive qualifications, as well as good working conditions, makes the difference in the provision of quality education (Kagan, Kauerz & Tarrant, 2007).

Teachers with poor skills need specific guidance in order to reach minimally acceptable levels of instruction (Murnane and Ganimian, 2014).

More intensive pedagogical approaches are required in order to transfer these improvements in teachers to the children (Yoshikawa, Leyva et al.). A greater degree of commitment is perceived in those who are aware of the intervention rationale from its conceptual foundations (Chile Crece Contigo, 2011).

Statistically, providing specialized training to educators in skills for interacting with children has an effect on the global competencies of teachers (Kukkink & Lont, 2007, in U.S. Department of Education, 2010). The more specific the training, the greater the impact on teachers’ practice. Support among classroom teachers bolsters a professional culture and increases the sustainability of the new techniques and skills acquired in training. The intensity and length of training should be directly related to the expected outcomes (U.S. Department of Education, 2010).

Direct support for classroom teachers: Support for teachers during practice for the implementation of teaching methods and teaching tools is the most effective method and leads to significant results in children. It is not intended as an evaluation or supervision method. It is a positive and supportive educational model which provides feedback to teachers. It can be applied directly in the classroom or through online media and videos (Yoshikawa, Weiland et al., 2013).

Results show improved interactions between teachers and children, particularly with regard to emotional support and classroom organization (FundaciĂłn Oportunidad, 2011). In children, improvements in language, health and socio-emotional development are observed (Yoshikawa, 2015).

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Working conditions: There is a great difference between the preparation and the compensation received by the average professional serving early childhood, and the expectations of parents and policy makers. Low wages and benefits for teachers in early education are linked to staff instability in programmes taking place both in care centres and in homes. Teachers in family programmes tend to have less formal education than those who work in care centres. Equitable access to training should be generated in both cases (U.S. Department of Education, 2010).

Mental health: Symptoms of stress and depression among teachers can affect the quality of care that children receive. These issues may be more sensitive for people who work in isolation, in care centres or in homes, or with children affected by exposure to violence and poverty. In view of this, subjects and activities aiming to improve the psychological well-being of teachers should be included in professional development programmes (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). It is also important to strengthen bonds between team members, and to promote self-care and stress management (Chile Crece Contigo, 2011). *********** In closing, we hope that the evidence we have provided may be a contribution to States that intend to broaden the scope of early education, as well as its impact on child development and human development.

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REFERENCES Association for childhood education. (2011). Global Guidelines Assessment: An Early Childhood Care and Education Program Assessment. adapted from the Global Guidelines for the Education and Care of Young Children in the 21st Century. Washington D.C. Azzi - Lessing, L. (2010) Meeting the mental health needs of poor and vulnerable children in early care and education settings. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 12(1). Boston.

The Inter-American Development Bank Araujo, María Caridad et al.

(2013). Panorama sobre los servicios de desarrollo infantil en América Latina y el Caribe. Washington D.C. Barbara T. Bowman, M. Suzanne Donovan, and M. Susan Burns, (Editors); Committee on Early Childhood Pedagogy, National Research Council. (2001). Eager to learn: educating our preeschoolers. Washington D.C. Chase-Lansdale, P. Lindsay and Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne, in The Future of Children, VOL. 24 / NO. 1. (2014). Two-generation programs in the twenty-first century. Princeton.

Comisión Intersectorial para la atención integral a la Primera Infancia (CIPI). by Castro, Adriana Lucía, ET. AL. (2014). Niñas y niños en primera infancia: Sus transiciones. Bogotá, Colombia.

CIPI por Corporación Voces y Saberes. (2016). Buenas prácticas de educación inicial. Bogotá, Colombia.

United States Department of Education. (2010). Toward the identification of features of effective professional development for early childhood educators (Literature review). Washington D.C. Engle, Patrice L, Fernald, LIA C H, ET. AL at Global Child Development Steering Group. (2011). Strategies for reducing inequalities and improving developmental outcomes for young children in low-income and middle-income countries.

Fundación Oportunidad (2011). Evaluación Programa Un Buen Comienzo, Chile.

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Goverment of Chile. (2011) Evaluación y monitoreo, Sistema Integral de Protección a la Infancia, Chile Crece Contigo. Santiago, Chile.

Pp 68 – 69; p 85; p 89).

Global Initiative for United Nations, Thematic Group on Early Childhood Development, Education, and Transition to Work. (2014). Young Children as a Basis for Sustainable Development.

Grindal, Todd. (2013). The Added Impact of Parenting Education in Early Childhood Education Programs: A Meta-Analysis.

Grindal, Bones - Bowne ET AL. (2013). The Added Impact of Parenting Education in Early Childhood Education Programs: A Meta-Analysis.

Aviles, Jill and Murphy, Reeva. ICF International (2008). Advancing the Early Care and Education Workforce: A State-Based Cross-Sector Approach.

Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar. (2015). Manual operativo del servicio de educación inicial, cuidado y nutrición en el marco de la atención integral a la primera infancia: Modalidad ComunitariaHogares Comunitarios Integrales. Bogotá D.C. Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar. (2015). Manual operativo del servicio de educación inicial, cuidado y nutrición en el marco de la atención integral a la primera infancia: Modalidad Familiar. Bogotá D.C. International step by step association. (2010). Educadores competentes del siglo XXI, principios de la pedagogía de calidad.

Kagan, Sharon Lynn (2015). La calidad y las transiciones en la primera infancia. Bogotá D.C. Kagan, Kauerz & Tarrant. (2007). Early Childhood Systems: Transforming Early Learning. N.Y. Ludwing, Jens and Miller, Douglas L. (2007). Does Head Start Improve Children’s Life Chances? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design.

National Ministry of Education of Colombia. (2013) Hacia la creación y consolidación de un plan de incentivos para docentes y directivos

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docentes del sector oficial, con miras al mejoramiento de la calidad de la educación en Colombia. Bogotá, Colombia.

National Ministry of Education of Colombia. (2014). Referentes Técnicos para la Educación Inicial. Bogotá, Colombia.

National Ministry of Education of Colombia. Sistema de gestión de la calidad de la educación inicial en el marco de la atención integral.

2015. Bogotá, Colombia.

Murnane, Richard J and Ganimian, Alejandro J. Nber. Working Paper Series. (2014). Improving Educational Outcomes in Developing Countries: Lessons from Rigorous Evaluations. Cambridge, MA. OECD. (2014), Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2014-en.

OIAS – UNICEF – BBVA. (2012). Peralta, Victoria and Hernández, Laura (coordinators). Antología de experiencias de la educación inicial iberoamericana. Madrid.

Palabra Maestra NO.17. (2007). Entrevista a Denise Vaillant: De la desprofesionalización a la profesionalización docente en América Latina. Bogotá, Colombia.

Presidency of the Republic of Colombia. Comisión Intersectorial para la Atención Integral A La Primera Infancia. (2013). Estrategia de Atención Integral a la Primera Infancia: Fundamentos Políticos, Técnicos y de Gestión. Bogotá D.C. Rebello Britto, Pia; Yoshikawa, Hirokazu and Boller, Kimberly. (2011).

Social Policy Report: Quality of Early Childhood Development Programs in Global Contexts Rationale for Investment, Conceptual Framework and Implications for Equity Washington D.C. Rebello Britto, Yoshikawa, Ponguta, Nieto ET AL., (2013). Evaluación de los Mecanismos de Implementación, Gobernanza, Financiación y Sostenibilidad de la Estrategia Integral de Desarrollo de la Primera Infancia en Colombia De Cero a Siempre. Bogotá, Colombia.

Republic of Colombia (1994) Law 115, which provides for the General Education Act. Bogotá D.C. Republic of Colombia (2016) Law 1804, which provides for the State

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policy for the Comprehensive Development of Early Childhood, De Cero a Siempre [From Zero to Forever] and other provisions. Bogotá D.C. Rivas, Sonia and Sobrino, Ángel. Autonomous University of Barcelona. Department of Sociology. (2009). Determinación de la calidad de los programas de Educación Infantil en España: un estudio de caso.

Barcelona.

Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Thematic Group on Early Childhood Development, Education, and Transition to work.

(2014). Young Children as a Basis for Sustainable Development. Washington D.C., USA Department of Health and Human Swervices-Office of Child Care, National Infant & Toddler Child Care Initiative (2010). Relationships: The Heart of Development and Learning. Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

UNESCO. Yoshikawa, Hirokazu and Kabay, Sarah. (2015). Education for All 2000-2015: achievements and challenges: The Evidence Base on Early Childhood Care and Education in Global Contexts. Paris.

Working Group on Early Childhood Education and Care under the auspices of the European Commission. (2014). Proposal for key principles of a Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care.

Brussels.

Yoshikawa, Hirokazu. (2015). Presentation for a Forum on the Quality of Early Education. Bogotá, Colombia.

Yoshikawa, Leyva AL. (2015) Experimental impacts of a teacher professional development program in Chile on preschool classroom quality and child outcomes.

Yoshikawa, Hirokazu, Weiland, Christina, ET. AL. Society for Research in Child Development. (2013). Investing in Our Future: The Evidence Base on Preschool Education. Washington D.C. p 2.

Zaslow, M, Martínez-Beck, et.al. (2011). Quality measurement in Early Childhood Settings. Washington D.C.

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Mexico´s General act on the Rights of Children and Adolescents 1

Elva Leonor Cárdenas Miranda

Children are holders of the fundamental rights enshrined in a number of international human rights instruments, and particularly in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) Rather than a catalogue of rights for children, the Convention represents the basis for a “doctrine of comprehensive protection” for children, which leads to a series of specific obligations for the States that ratify it.2

1 ∗ Director General for Protection and Care of Children and Adolescents of the National System for the Comprehensive Development of the Family.

2 The International Convention on the Rights of the Child has constituted the “foundation and bedrock” of this new doctrine, since it legally formalizes, worldwide, a new paradigm regarding children’s relationship with rights and obliges the States to adjust their national legislation to the principles it contains. Luis Foglia, Sebastian, Para que la protección integral de los menores no sea sólo un título (Making the comprehensive protection of minors more than just a phrase). In http://www.derechopenalonline.com/derecho. php?id=52,343,0,0,1,0 (Retrieved on 23 May 2016)

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Elva Leonor Cárdenas Miranda PhD in Law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and licentiate degree in Law from the Autonomous University of Baja California, where she received the “Best Students in Mexico” award for her generation.

Professor at the Graduate Studies division of the Faculty of Law of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, as well as at the Faculty of Law and Postgraduate Coordination of the La Salle University. She has been responsible for a number of research studies and publications and has lectured on the topics of child rights, adoption, child abuse, commercial sexual exploitation, child migration and disability, both nationally and internationally.

She is a member of a number of associations (Postgraduates in Law, Mexican College of Lawyers, Mexican Society of Geography and Statistics, a founding member of the Consultative Council of UNICEF Mexico, Mexican National Legion of Honour, National Public Administration Institute and honorary member of the International Who’s Who of Professionals Society.

She has held a variety of posts in public federal administration and is at present the Director General of Regulations, Promotion and Dissemination of Child Rights in the DIF National System.

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Among these obligations is the adoption of legislation and public policies that are indispensable if the rights of children are to become fully effective.

This is the UN Convention that has been most widely ratified, which enables us to measure its scope and, above all, the strong commitment of its States parties.

Among these, we should particularly note the Mexican State, which was one of the first countries to ratify it in 1990, as well as to promote it, through the World Summit for Children in that same year.

Since that time and up to the present day, several constitutional amendments have been promoted in our country, as well as secondary laws, which tend to create the necessary legal framework to recognize children and adolescents as holders of rights and not objects of pity.

It was in this context, and on the basis of the initiative submitted by the Federal Executive Branch and enhanced by in-depth analysis and discussion in the Congress of the Union, that on 4 December 2014, the General Act on the Rights of Children and Adolescents (LGDNNyA, for its acronym in Spanish) was published in the Official Journal of the Federation.

This law provides for inter-agency coordination mechanisms and concurrent action at federal, state and municipal levels, in order to safeguard the respect for, exercise, protection and promotion of the rights of children, and also provides for, primarily, the actions and mechanisms that will allow them fully comprehensive growth and development.

In essence, this Act complies with the comprehensive protection of the rights of children model and involves a genuine paradigm shift in recognizing children as holders of rights.

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The practical value of a human rights-based approach3 lies in identifying the rights holders; considering a holistic approach in complying with these rights; that is, families, communities, civil society and authorities; generating a participatory process; creating mechanisms for transparency and accountability; monitoring the realization of human rights and reviewing the outcomes. As all of these elements are considered in the General Act on the Rights of Children and Adolescents, we may conclude that it is a law which is underpinned by the rights-based approach.

In general terms, the following aspects are highlighted in this Act: 1. A National System for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents is created, as a body responsible for instruments, policies, procedures, services and actions for the protection of the rights of children.4 The System is headed by the President of the Republic and includes the Interior Secretary, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, the Secretary of Social Development, the Secretary of Public Education, the Secretary of Health, the Secretary of Labour and Social Security and the Head of the National System for Comprehensive Family Development (DIF). On behalf of the federal entities: the Governors of the States and the Head of Government of the Federal District. For the public agencies: the Attorney General of the Republic, the Chair of the National Human Rights Commission and the Head Commissioner of the Federal Telecommunications Insti3 “A human rights-based approach is a conceptual framework for the process of human development that is normatively based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights.�

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Frequently Asked Questions on a Human Rights-Based Approach to Development Cooperation, United Nations, New York and Geneva, 2006, p. 15.

4 Art. 125 of the LGDNNyA

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tute. As standing invitees, the Chairs of the Boards of Directors of the Chambers of Deputies and Senators of the Congress of the Union, a representative of the Judiciary of the Federation, as well as representatives of the National Commission of Higher Courts of Justice of the United Mexican States, and the associations of municipalities, legally constituted, who will have a voice, but no vote. Also involved are representatives of civil society, and children and adolescents, selected by the System itself.5 2. The National System for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents has a decentralized administrative body within the Ministry of the Interior, which serves as the Executive Secretariat.6 3. Protection Systems are created within the federal entities, which operate and have functions similar to the national system.7 4. The social development policies associated with the protection of the rights of children shall be evaluated by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL, in Spanish), which will periodically review the National Programme, and goals and actions in the field of children’s human rights.8 5. The law stipulates that the National Comprehensive Protection System, as well as private and social sectors, should develop a National Child Protection Programme, with policies, objectives, strategies and priority lines of action in the area of exercising, respecting, promoting and comprehensively protecting child rights.9

5 Art. 127 of the LGDNNyA 6 Art. 130 of the LGDNNyA 7 Art. 136 of the LGDNNyA 8 Art. 132 of the LGDNNyA 9 Art. 130 subsection II of the LGDNNyA

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6. The Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Union, local congresses and the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District shall allocate the necessary resources within their respective budgets in order to comply with the law.10 7. Infringements and penalties are established with regard to conduct which is contrary to the scheme for child rights protection and safeguards, as provided for in the law itself, bearing in mind intentionality, seriousness, harm, financial situation of the offender and recidivism.11 In addition, the following chapters should be particularly noted: 1. With regard to the right to live with their families,12 the law recognizes that children have the right to live with family members who have been deprived of their liberty. In this respect, the relevant jurisdictional and penitentiary authorities must ensure that this right is respected and establish the necessary conditions for this coexistence to be conducted appropriately. This right may only be restricted by resolution of the relevant jurisdictional body, provided it is not contrary to the best interest of the child.

Alternative care for abandoned children and adolescents is considered, in view of which the National DIF System or federal entities’ systems, as the case may be, shall ensure that children and adolescents: a) Are placed with their extended families whenever possible and when not contrary to their best interests; b) Are received by a foster family as a temporary measure of protection, in cases where neither the parents nor the extended family can take charge of the children.

10 Art. 2 of the LGDNNyA 11 Art. 144 of the LGDNNyA 12 Arts. 22, 23 and 24 of the LGDNNyA

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c) Are objects of pre-adoption foster care as a stage within the adoption procedure, which entails connecting children regarding whom a status of adoptability has been declared, with their new environment, and determining the suitability of families to become their adoptive families; The National DIF System, as well as federal entity and municipal DIF systems, within the scope of their respective jurisdictions, shall register, train, evaluate and certify suitable families, bearing in mind the requirements listed for pre-adoption foster care. d) Are placed, according to the specific characteristics of each case, in residential care provided by social welfare centres and for the shortest possible time.

This special protection measure is subsidiary in nature and priority shall be given to care alternatives involving a family setting. The National DIF System and the federal entities’ DIF systems shall at all times be responsible for monitoring the children’s situation once their foster care has concluded.

With regard to adoption procedures, persons interested in adopting children who are under the guardianship of the Protection Procurators, may submit their application and undergo psychological, financial and social work assessments and any other evaluations necessary to determine their suitability under the terms of the provisions of the applicable laws. The relevant Office of the Procurator for Protection shall issue the respective certificate of suitability.

2. The law contains a chapter relating to the right to a life free from violence13 and to personal integrity, with the aim of preventing, addressing and punishing situations in which children or adolescents are affected by: 13 Arts. 46 and 47 of the LGDNNyA

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a) Negligence, neglect, abandonment or physical, psychological or sexual abuse; b) The corruption of persons under the age of eighteen; c) Trafficking in persons under the age of eighteen, sexual abuse of children, child sexual exploitation, with or without commercial purposes, or any other type of exploitation, and other punishable offences provided for in the applicable provisions; d) The smuggling of persons under the age of eighteen; e) Labour engaged in by children under the minimum age of fifteen, as provided for in article 123 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and other applicable provisions; f) Labour engaged in by adolescents older than fifteen, which may be detrimental to their health or education, or prevent their physical or mental development; labour exploitation, the worst forms of child labour, as well as forced labour, in accordance with the provisions of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and other applicable provisions, and g) Inducement or coercion to participate in the commission of crimes or in criminal associations, in armed conflict or any other activity that may prevent their comprehensive development.

3. Regarding the right to education,14 chapter eleven refers to the obligation to form a multidisciplinary body in charge of establishing means for prevention, care and referral of cases of ill-treatment, harm, injury, aggression, abuse or any other form of violence against children and adolescents taking place in schools, as well as producing operating protocols in order to address situations involving school bullying or violence, for staff and persons exercising parental authority, guardianship or custody.

14 Art. 57 of the LGDNNyA

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4. A chapter is included in relation to the rights of migrant children,15 with the purpose of identifying special measures of protection which the authorities must adopt in order to safeguard the rights of migrant children; accompanied, unaccompanied, separated, national, foreign and repatriated as a result of human mobility, providing the relevant services regardless of nationality or immigration status.

While the National Migration Institute establishes the migration status of any children involved, the National DIF System, or the federal entities’ systems, as appropriate, must provide protection in accommodation venues or shelters intended for this purpose.

The National DIF System16 is mandated with the following duties, in compliance with the General Act: a) Protect the rights of children and adolescents when they have been restricted or breached, bearing in mind that residential care is a measure of last resort, keeping a National Register of Social Welfare Centres, and prioritizing alternatives providing care in a family setting (extended family, foster care, pre-adoption foster care); b) Promote cooperation and coordination in order to establish the necessary mechanisms for the protection and restoration of child rights; c) Hold collaboration agreements with the systems of the federal entities and the municipal systems, as well as with organizations and institutions in the public, private and social sectors; d) Promote the instruction, training and professionalization of the staff of institutions engaged in protecting and restoring the rights of children, as well as conduct and support studies and research in the field; and

15 Art. 89 of the LGDNNyA 16 Art. 120 of the LGDNNyA

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e) Take special steps to prevent, address and eradicate the multiple discriminations to which socially excluded, homeless and Afro-descendant children and adolescents are subjected to, as are children involved in the worst forms of child labour or any other type of marginalization, to which end measures shall be adopted for the elimination of customs, cultural practices or prejudices which are in violation of equality.

5. A Federal Procurator’s Office for the Protection of Children and Adolescents is created,17 answering to the National DIF System, and the appointment of the Procurator (a) is approved by the Board of Governors of the National DIF System. Its duties are: a) To ensure the comprehensive protection of children, including, at least: • providing medical and psychological care • monitoring academic activities and their social and cultural environment, and • including, if relevant, persons exercising parental authority, guardianship or custody of children in measures taken for rehabilitation and care. b) Provide advice and representation, standing in for children and adolescents involved in judicial or administrative proceedings, without prejudice to those that are the duty of the prosecution authorities, and intervene unofficially in a contributory representative capacity in all jurisdictional and administrative proceedings. c) Coordinate the implementation of and monitor all protective measures taken for the comprehensive restitution of rights.

17 Arts. 121 and 122 of the LGDNNyA

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d) Act as conciliator and mediator in cases of family conflict when children’s rights have been restricted or violated. e) Report to the public prosecutor any events that can be regarded as offences against children. f) Request the public prosecutor to take urgent steps to apply suitable special protection measures when there is an imminent threat to the life, integrity or freedom of children and adolescents. The following are measures to be urgently enforced, in addition to those provided for in the National Criminal Procedural Code: • The admission of a child to a social welfare centre.

• Immediate medical care provided by any institution of the National Health System. g) Order, on reasonable grounds, and under its strict responsibility, the application of urgent protective measures when there is imminent threat to the life, integrity or freedom of children, to which end, the assistance of the relevant police authorities may be requested; h) Promote the participation of the public, social and private sectors in the planning and implementation of actions on behalf of the care, defence and protection of children; i) Advise the relevant authorities and the public, social and private sectors on the fulfilment of the regulatory framework for the protection of children; j) Develop guidelines and procedures to be followed for the restitution of the rights of children; k) Contribute to the National DIF System and the federal entities’ systems in producing guidelines and procedures for registering, training, evaluating and certifying suitable families for pre-adoption foster care, and issuing certificates;

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l) Provide information in order to incorporate and synthesize the National Registry of Social Welfare Centres; m) Supervise the proper functioning of Social Welfare Centres and, if necessary, take legal action when non-compliance is detected; n) Supervise the implementation of special measures for the protection of children separated from their families of origin by judicial order; o) Undertake and promote research studies to boost action on behalf of the care, defence and protection of children, with a view to disseminating their outcomes among the relevant authorities and the public, social and private sectors; p) Promote collective action before the relevant jurisdictional body, with the purpose of preventing the media from circulating information or content that could put children at risk. q) Act as contributing representatives on behalf of children in civil, criminal or administrative proceedings. r) Immediately request measures for comprehensive protection, social welfare, and, if pertinent, the restitution of rights, and ensure that children are not subject to discrimination. s) The Procurator’s Office is competent to authorize, register, certify and supervise social welfare centres, in order to ensure the realization of the rights of children who have been deprived of parental or family care.

With the General Act on the Rights of Children and Adolescents, our country responds to the mandate of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international instruments in the field, of having a legal framework to ensure the protection of child rights. It now remains to make its provisions effective; this is the path upon which the Mexican State has now embarked.

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Vías de Comunicación:

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