GUIDANCE FOR THE SUBMISSION OF NATIONAL REPORTS TO THE
XIX PAN AMERICAN CHILD CONGRESS


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BACKGROUND: 

As provided for in resolutions CD-RES.19 (78-R/03) adopted by the IIN Directing Council and AG/RES. 1961 (XXXIII-O/03) adopted by the OAS General Assembly, the XIX Pan American Child Congress, acting as an Inter-American Specialized Conference, will be held in Mexico City next 27-29 October and its main theme will be “The Family”, since it is the basis for the integral development of children and adolescents. 

On the two days prior to the XIX Pan American Child Congress, the IIN Directing Council will hold its 79th Meeting that, according to article 18 in the Congress Regulations as approved by the OAS Permanent Council, will also perform as the Preliminary Session to the Congress.  

The Reports of the 34 OAS Member countries, among others, will be presented during that Preliminary Session; for such purpose, and in order to ensure equal conditions for the presentation of all the Reports, the following is proposed:  

GUIDANCE FOR THE SUBMISSION OF REPORTS

The Reports may be presented in two different ways:  

  1. To the plenary session of the Directing Council (during the Preliminary Session to the XIX Pan American Child Congress), for not more than ten minutes per country and supported by a PowerPoint presentation that should not exceed seven slides.

  2. Supporting document in Word not exceeding 30 pages. The Report may be accompanied by audiovisual annexes.  

The six major topics of the XIX Pan American Child Congress will be the core elements for preparing the National Reports:  

  1. “The Family as the institution that guarantees the rights of children and adolescents”;

  2. “Evolution of the Family-Child relationship”;

  3. “Children’s rights and their relation with the various types of families”;

  4. “The Integral Protection doctrine and family-related legal provisions in force; 

  5. “Family violence and its incidence on children’s development”, and

  6. “The influence of the media on the generation of a culture on children’s rights”.  

In order to enable horizontal comparison on each subject-matter the presentations should focus on:  

  • successful experience;

  • technical support requirements, and

  • lessons learnt.

In this connection, the following six questions related to each topic are proposed:  

  1. What are the mechanisms available to ensure that parents or legal representatives are given the related assistance required in order to guarantee the enforcement of the rights established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child?

  2. What intervention, mediation and resilience models are available for the protection of children’s rights whenever they are violated in the family environment?

  3. What are the various types of family in the country (taking into account ethnic and cultural diversity)? What works on children’s rights related to this typology are currently in process?

  4. Analysis of the linkage between legal provisions in force provided for in Family Law and the integral protection doctrine.

  5. How has family violence developed in the country and what is its present scope? Whenever statistical data are not available, the use of indirect information to assess such scope is suggested.

  6. What is the regulatory framework in force for regulating media operation as far as children’s rights are concerned? (images of allegedly offender children, code of ethics for social communicators, etc.)