La Plataforma NNAPES incorpora nueva integrante: Fundación Tiempo de Juego de Colombia

Esta organización fue creada en 2006 en Altos de Cazucá, precisamente en el barrio de Soacha, ubicado en la periferia de Bogotá, a partir de las problemáticas que vivían y viven los niños, niñas y adolescentes en esa zona. Desde sus inicios, el fútbol fue una herramienta para la inclusión social, que forjó la misión de la Fundación: activar el poder del juego para generar esperanza, autonomía y pertenencia. Actualmente, la organización desarrolla más de 20 propuestas, nucleando a más de 1500 niños, niñas y adolescentes.

En los últimos años, la organización ha incorporado una línea programática vinculada al sistema de responsabilidad penal adolescente, a partir de que algunos jóvenes con los que trabajaban fueron privados de libertad. En este sentido, se desarrolló una metodología en contextos de privación de libertad, donde los propios adolescentes lideran propuestas artísticas y culturales, acompañándolos en su egreso. A su vez, el equipo de Tiempo de Juego también ha desarrollado propuestas de atención para los/as jóvenes que han estado institucionalizados una vez que egresan.

En este proceso, se han encontrado con que muchos jóvenes tienen historias donde sus familiares están o han estado privados de libertad. Al mismo tiempo, varios de estos jóvenes privados de libertad tienen hijos e hijas pequeños/as.

La realidad que identifica Tiempo de Juego es la realidad de cientos de organizaciones en América Latina y El Caribe. Incorporar su mirada y su experiencia en esta problemática contribuirá al fortalecimiento y expansión de las acciones de nuestra Plataforma.

ACIFAD lanza video "¿Qué llevan en las mochilas?"

El equipo de Niñez y Adolescencia de ACIFAD elaboró este audiovisual dirigido a docentes y educadores/as con el objetivo de visibilizar la situación de niñas, niños y adolescentes con referentes adultos privados de libertad.

El video además se propone brindar una herramienta que ayude a concientizar e invitarlos/as a reflexionar sobre las dificultades que viven diariamente las niñas, niños y adolescentes en esta situación.

Para acceder a más materiales de ACIFAD, pueden visitar su web y el sitio Que no se corte, un espacio virtual que visibiliza el derecho que tienen las niñas, niños y adolescentes a una comunicación adecuada a través de herramientas lúdicas e interactivas pensadas para facilitar la vinculación en el contexto de encierro.

Plataforma NNAPEs and the Inter American Institute of the Child (IIN-OAS) launch course on Children with Incarcerated Parents

Olu Olgunlade, a former member of the Osborne Association´s Youth Action Council (YAC) turned on her camera and unmuted her mic. She shared with a global audience her story and how the incarceration of her father impacted her and isolated her. 

She shared as well how important it was for her to find a place like the YAC and how it helped her and encouraged her to meet others who were also navigating life with family member that had was incarcerated.

Olu knows that losing a parent due to incarceration can be traumatic and challenge the proper development of these children so providing adequate support during this period is critical, it is why she believes that there should be more organizations and programs that welcome these children.

Thankfully, the issue is gaining attention and there is now another resource available for public institutions and civil society actors to better understand the challenges facing Children with Incarcerated Parents.

Plataforma NNAPES and the Inter American Institute of the Child (IIN-OAS) had invited Olu to be one of many speakers at the launch of the first English language version course on the protection, promotion, and fulfillment of the rights of children and adolescents with incarcerated parents that took place on September 6th.

While this is the first time this course is being held in English it is worth noting that five cohorts have completed the Spanish language version. More than 200 representatives of child protection, justice, penitentiary systems and civil society organizations from 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have participated in those editions (About 42% finalization rate).

Víctor Giorgi, IIN-OAS´ Outgoing General Director, who has been instrumental in this partnership and creation of the course said: "The state as a whole must assume the need to minimize the damage they can create when they send a mother or father to prison. They are also responsible for protecting the rights of the children that are left behind”. 

This course will help public institutions to be better able to do that. Professor Ann Skelton, from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child also provided a key address where she stressed that this problem is of great interest to the Committee. She also acknowledged that since the day of general debate in 2011, in which she participated, the issue has gained more attention and is starting to become part of the agenda of key children protection actors. She believes that this happens thanks to actions such as "this one that Plataforma NNAPEs is carrying out" so she hopes that others will follow suit.

Vivienne Chin, representative of the Canadian Coalition for Children with Incarcerated Parents also highlighted the important role that civil society has in making visible, supporting, and advocating for the rights of these children. She also stressed the importance of collaboration between government agencies and civil society organizations in the planning and implementation of initiatives to address the needs of this population.

So, currently, 41 students from 9 countries are participating in this new edition that is being implemented within the framework of the agreement that was signed between Plataforma NNAPES and the Inter-American Children's Institute back in 2017. For more information on the course, and/or to get the recording of the event please reach out to Luciano Cadoni, Plataforma NNAPES´s representative to Child Rights Connect, and Co-Convener of the Working Group on Children with Incarcerated Parents.

New course “Protection, promotion and fulfillment of the rights of children and adolescents with incarcerated adult caregivers”

The Inter-American Children´s Institute (IIN) and NNAPES Platform implement the course “Protection, promotion and fulfillment of the rights of children and adolescents with incarcerated adult caregivers” in english language.

The course is aimed at state and civil society operators across the systems for the protection, promotion and fulfillment of rights, the penitentiary system, the judiciary and other actors linked to the subject.

The objective of this instance is to visualize and prioritize the specific problems of children and adolescents with adult caregivers deprived of liberty in the region, and identify potential actions of different nature that promote and protect the rights of these children and adolescents.

The modality is virtual, asynchronous (through the moodle platform).

More information here.

Dialogue for the rights of children with adult referents deprived of liberty

As part of the launch of the “Protection, promotion and fulfillment of the rights of children and adolescents with incarcerated adult caregivers” course in english language of the Inter-American Training Program, the Inter-American Children´s Institute (IIN) invites a discussion on the rights of children and adolescents with relevant adults deprived of liberty.

The webinar, as well as the course, is aimed at state and civil society operators across the systems for the protection, promotion and fulfillment of rights, the penitentiary system, the judiciary and other actors linked to the subject.

Children that have adult referents deprived of liberty require common and specific responses both at the normative and public policy level for the protection of their rights, which is why this meeting seeks to generate some reflections on the impact of deprivation of liberty of adult referents in the lives of children.

The objective of this instance is to visualize and prioritize the specific problems of children and adolescents with adult caregivers deprived of liberty in the region, and identify potential actions of different nature that promote and protect the rights of these children and adolescents.


Exponents:


Opening Víctor Giorgi, Director General of the IIN-OAS.


Gonzalo Salles. Member of the Executive Secretariat of the NNAPES Platform.


PanelistsVivienne Chin – Senior Associate of the International Center for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy in Vancouver, Canada which is part of the Program of Network Institutes of the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Program of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime.
Representative of SUSU Youth Fellow and Youth Action Council Alumni.


Ann Shelton, Professor UNESCO Chair: Education Law in Africa, Faculty of Law University of Pretoria and member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.


Registration form here

More information about the course here

The Inter American Institute of the Child (IIN) of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Plataforma NNAPES conducted the first pilot training course on Children with Incarcerated Parents for State officials in the Americas.

One of the highlights of the work of Plataforma NNAPEs during 2020 was the launch of the course "Promotion and comprehensive protection of children and youth with incarcerated parents" (CIP from now on). The course was designed based on the contents and  the recommendations of the homonymous publication produced and presented by both institutions in 2019. This, first of its kind course, targeted operators of the children protection systems, as well as professionals working in the justice and penitentiary systems in the different countries.

32 professionals from 11 countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay) finished the 7-weeks pilot online training that is now part of the Institute´s Inter American Training Program.

The objective of the course was to present the specific challenges and needs that usually CIP in the region face and to identify actions that can help to promote and protect their rights.

The course was officially launched with a webinar that counted with the participation of Víctor Giorgi, IIN-OAS´s General Director; Gonzalo Salles, from the Plataforma´s Executive Secretariat; Edith Avendaño, a youth representative from Nicaragua; Ricardo Pérez Manrique, a Judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; and Luis Pedernera, President of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The recording of the discussion is available here (only in Spanish).

It is expected that during 2021 two more editions in Spanish will be organized and that the contents will be translated to English so the first edition for anglophone speakers can take place during the last semester of the year.

 

 

Source consulted: IIN-OEA

 

"Children and adolescents deprived of liberty or with incarcerated parents are among the most marginalized in the world"

This statement is included in the document entitled Children speak about the impact of deprivation of liberty: the case of Latin America, which gathers information on children and adolescents deprived of liberty and on those who have incarcerated parents, and explores the intersection between two realities intrinsically linked by violence. 

This is report is result of an alliance between the United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, the NNAPES Platform, UNICEF, the governments of Paraguay and Uruguay, and the organization Gurises Unidos.

The work was carried out between 2017 and 2018 when consultations were held with a total of 504 children and adolescents who were either deprived of liberty or had a parent deprived of liberty. 

Children and adolescents with incarcerated parents (NNAPES, for its initials in Spanish), between 6 to 17 years old, from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Uruguay, were consulted for this report.

"Children deprived of liberty or with incarcerated parents are among the most marginalized in the world, living a life marked by violence and fear and seeing their rights systematically trampled on," says the report and notes that the lives of the children and adolescents from both groups are conditioned by the lack of adequate parental support and by violence, fear, insecurity and social exclusion. "Deprivation of liberty is intrinsically linked to the cycle of violence. The recourse to violence is present in their life history, in their families, at the time of arrest and throughout the entire period of imprisonment”, the document added.

Invisible children

"When your parents are in jail, who is going to help you?", says a Chilean teenager who was part of the consultation. Another teenager from Uruguay shared a similar feeling: "We are people, but for society it is as if we did not exist." The incarceration of a family member has negative effects on the family environment, impacting on the economy and on the care of children. In most cases, it is the children and adolescents themselves who have to assume adult roles, abandoning formal education and carrying out child labor activities, and are often exposed to street life, situations of violence, abuse and exploitation.

Added to this, there is an impact on a psychological and emotional level, as well as the stigmatization they sometimes suffer. Among the findings, the study indicates that many children and adolescents deprived of liberty also have a father or relative in prison. In Uruguay, this situation was identified in 67% of cases.

The report affirms that this data shows the pernicious cycle that can trigger the entry to the justice system in childhood and this is one of the powerful reasons why it is urgent to adopt preventive measures and apply the principle of remission for juvenile offenders. In this sense, the document makes a series of recommendations to the States that focus on the protection of children and adolescents regarding?? the penal system, in the establishment of supervision and surveillance mechanisms, in the training of personnel, in promoting data systematization and analysis, and in collaboration with local actors, civil society and the business sector.

Lastly, a greater investment in children and adolescents is suggested, a recommendation that is aligned with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.