On December 20, Matilde Luna (Director of RELAF) and Mauricio Vázquez (Coordinator of International Relations) held activity evaluation meetings with civil society organisations within the framework of the cooperation agreement with UNICEF Uruguay.

In this sense, alongside UNICEF's Protection Officer Lucía Vernazza, the continuity of trainings on alternative care and of the sensitisation about the high rate of children institutionalisation in Uruguay was planned. We'll keep you posted on the concrete impact actions that will take place during 2017.

On another note, in meetings held with Gastón Cortés, representative of the Committee on the Rights of the Child of Uruguay, and Ariel Sotelo, from AUDEC, we agreed on the design of a work strategy to bolster actions for the coming year. We'll inform on important joint activities soon.

On the same day, Matilde Luna met with Luis Pedernera, recently chosen as an independent expert for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Undoubtedly, having a Latin American representative with Luis's level of commitment in the Committee is extremely positive.

Application of the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children

Within the framework of the technical cooperation between RELAF and UNICEF Uruguay, and with support from the Committee on the Rights of the Child of Uruguay, ANONG and AUDEC, a technical assistance and advocacy plan began with different civil society organisations throughout the country. At first, it focused on the conduction of three workshops entitled "Towards an alternative care model in Uruguay. A development approach from the civil society". These workshops were carried out during 2015 and 2016 with the participation of local civil society representatives of Maldonado, Paysandú and Rivera.

In this context, a series of virtual workshops (webinars) on the Application of the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children was carried out on July 11, 15 and 21. These workshops included expositions by Uruguayan and Argentine experts and the participation of 48 persons from different social organisations from Montevideo, Soriano, Maldonado, Florida, Tacuarembó, Salto and Colonia.

The first webinar revolved around the prevention of family separation and was led by Miguel Sorbello, BA in Social Work at the University of Buenos Aires and Coordinator of the Programme of Networks and Rights of the Buenos Aires City Ombudsman Office.

The second webinar focused on the processes of family separation and alternative care, and was under the responsibility of Hernán Lago. Hernán is a Psychologist graduated at the National University of Mar del Plata, with a specialisation in Childhood and Institutions. As of 2010, he is part of the technical team of Puan Municipality's Foster Care Programme, where he collaborated in the preparation and execution phases.

The third webinar tackled the family reintegration of institutionalised children as well as their autonomy and egress from the alternative care system, and was presented by Pablo Domínguez (Uruguay) and Ezequiel Trigo (Argentina).

Pablo Domínguez is one of La Barca NGO directors, in which he currently coordinates the Anticipated Autonomy Programme that has helped restore the right to family life of several children.  

Ezequiel Trigo has a BA in Psychology at the University of Buenos Aires and, since 2007, is in charge of the trainings provided by Doncel NGO, which also works on the process of egress of children from institutions.  

We invite you to explore the bibliography available on our website and recommend you read the Guide of standards for the personnel of public and private entities in charge of the protection of children and adolescents. This series of webinars was based on this document.

Within the framework of the 25th Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee for the Niñ@SUR Initiative, which took place in Montevideo between May 25 and 26, the International Seminar "¡Niñ@Sur es hora!: Free of violence against children and adolescents by 2030" was carried out on May 23 and 24. There, experts from UNICEF and the Organisation of American States (OAS), as well as experts and representatives from governments and the civil society, met.

Víctor Giorgi, Director of the Inter-American Children's Institute of the OAS, highlighted the importance of and need for a cultural and social change regarding violence against children and adolescents, since "only the law is not enough". The issue of cyberbullying, which is suffered by many children, was also addressed, pointing out the importance of making young people aware and conscious of the way they communicate with each other and with their families, a topic seldom talked about, either by them or by their families.

We’d like to highlight the talk given by our colleague, Dr. Jorge Volnovich, who warned of the seriousness of the many institutionalisation cases that are made ​​in an effort to protect children, who are then controlled with the administration of psychiatric medication. This is an issue that has already been discussed at Niñ@Sur but that has not been taken with the seriousness it deserves yet.

On the first day of the 25th Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee for the Niñ@SUR Initiative, the initiative "It's time to end violence against children and adolescents" was presented by Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. She made special emphasis on institutional violence inflicted upon institutionalised children and adolescents, including those deprived of freedom.

On the second day, a special roundtable on alternative care was held, focusing on the progresses and challenges found in the region in relation to the prevention of separations, the adequacy of care programmes and methods, and the need to multiply and replicate foster care programmes.

During the roundtable, we made a statement congratulating States due to their considering advances in family strengthening policies as one of the strategic pillars to promote deinstitutionalisation processes, and we welcomed the recognition of institutionalisation as a form of violence against children.

We also made the following recommendations:

1. RELAF emphasises that policies to strengthen families need to come from agencies specialised in childhood, from the basis of a strategy to prevent neglect, unnecessary separations and institutionalisation, using a triple approach: integrality, intersectorality and responsibility. 
2. Regarding alternative care, we advocate its adoption, as well as the creation of protocols and evaluation and monitoring mechanisms key to its effectiveness. Particularly, that foster care practices be strengthened, consolidated and expanded, which necessarily implies providing foster care programmes with higher budgets and skilled and technically prepared human resources for their successful implementation at all stages.

Another challenge in this regard is the creation of specialised programs, such as foster care programmes for children up to three years of age, children with disabilities and migrant children, among other specific groups.

On March 14, in the city of Rivera, RELAF, with the support of UNICEF Uruguay, the collaboration of ANONG, the Committee on the Rights of the Child of Uruguay and AUDEC, conducted the workshop "Towards a model of Alternative Care in Uruguay. A developmental perspective from civil society."

The workshop is the third in a series RELAF has been carrying out in Uruguay with the participation of local NGOs dedicated to working with children in critical contexts. The day was very productive, with multiple exchanges with regional players, with representatives both from the local department and from Tacuarembó. We must emphasise the talk given by Psychiatrist Jorge Volnovich, a specialist in cases of violence against institutionalised children, who shared his experience in identifying this phenomenon, as well as the performance of operators before this kind of occurrences. Mauricio Vázquez Correa (Coordinator of International Relations for RELAF) spoke about the situation of institutionalised children and the "culture of confinement" in Uruguay.

This initiative has been very well received, and we are currently planning actions that will give continuity to this series of workshops.

With the support of UNICEF Uruguay and UNICEF LACRO, on February 16 we carried out the seminar workshop entitled "Prevention model: separation of young children and early intervention to protect them" in Montevideo, with the coordination of Matilde Luna and Irene Salvo Agoglia.

The seminar consisted of two phases. The first was aimed at areas responsible for the technical coordination and programmatic decision of policies aimed at families, pregnant women and infants. The second one focused on operators and professionals from governmental and nongovernmental agencies whose task is to develop services and programmes in the area. Some of the authorities who were present: Alvaro Arroyo from UNICEF Uruguay, Beatriz Rocco from MIDES, Mirtha Guianze of the Institución Nacional de Derechos Humanos y Defensoría del Pueblo (INDDHH, National Institution of Human Rights and Ombudsman), Adriana Antúnez from Uruguay Crece Contigo, Luis Pedernera from the Comité de los Derechos del Niño Uruguay (Committee on the Rights of the Child of Uruguay), Luciano Gaiero from INAU, Andrea Fabbiani from the Ministerio de Salud Pública (Ministry of Public Health), and Azul Cordo from the Mujer Y Salud MYSU (Women and Health).

The model focuses its attention on strengthening the co-responsibility for the care of young children among those exercising early child care and within the extended family, the community, the services’ professionals and the managers of public policy. The aim is to form a community of care with varying degrees of participation and accountability, consistent with the action framework offered by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, concerning the right to live in family and community.

The workshop seminar had very good results. In the space intended for public policy makers, applying the model was very useful to show the need to build a coordinated prevention strategy, especially after the conduction of a comprehensive diagnosis that revealed the local indicators, compliance gaps, existing paradigms, policies, regulations, and available programmes and services. Regarding operators and professionals, the workshop focused on reviewing the existing paradigms of intervention and on the need to adapt and reform the practices. It also made it possible to identify the level of territorial coordination among the services and programmes, while displaying the need for greater intersectorial coordination in order to prevent separations and strengthen families.

The workshop seminar represented a very constructive sphere of discussion and exchange. The current challenges that appear with the application of the model include the projection of efforts and goals for the short, medium, and long terms in order to create a strategy and prevention mechanisms in the framework of deinstitutionalisation. Both RELAF and our partners in Uruguay are working hard to provide technical support for such purposes.

RELAF carried out a work day within the framework of the joint project with UNICEF LACRO "Development of a baseline and monitoring for deinstitutionalisation (DI) in Latin America and the Caribbean" at the Institute of the Child and Adolescent of Uruguay (INAU), organised jointly with Alejandro Retamoso and Ignacio Martínez. Moreover, we conducted two of the three workshops of the project "Towards a model of alternative care in Uruguay. A developmental perspective from civil society", which is being developed jointly with UNICEF Uruguay and with the support of ANONG, AUDEC and the Committee on the Rights of the Child of Uruguay.

During October and November, we worked on two lines of action to support deinstitutionalisation in Uruguay: on one side, with state entities, and, on the other, with the civil society.

RELAF carried out a work day under the project "Development of a baseline and monitoring (BLM) for deinstitutionalisation (DI) in Latin America and the Caribbean" on October 22 at the Institute of the Child and Adolescent of Uruguay (INAU). At this meeting, our consultants, Ignacio Martínez and Alejandro Retamoso, along with RELAF’s director, Matilde Luna, exchanged technical aspects of a BLM to validate this tool with the substantial experience and opinion of  INAU’s qualified personnel. That is why we want to thank the Institute and its personnel and managers: they have shown great interest and openness in carrying out this technical cooperation.

We also conducted two of the three workshops planned in conjunction with UNICEF Uruguay, entitled "Towards a model of alternative care in Uruguay. A developmental perspective from civil society", which are carried out with the participation of the civil society and with support from ANONG, AUDEC and the Committee on the Rights of the Child of Uruguay.

The first workshop was held on November 9 at the Maldonado Campus, with the participation of members of the civil society from Maldonado, Rocha and Lavalleja. Matilde Luna and Jorge Volnovich, a psychoanalyst specialising in violence prevention and child abuse, took part in this workshop.

The second workshop was held on November 20 in Paysandú,with the participation of the local civil society and dissertations by Irene Salvo Agoglia, PhD in Psychology (UBA), Technical Assistant for RELAF, and Jorge Volnovich.

Both workshops were very fruitful and are among the first critical steps in strengthening the role of NGOs to build a system that guarantees the right to family and community life, in a country where institutionalisation culture is deeply rooted (not only with regard to alternative care). We would like to once again thank UNICEF Uruguay and the NGO coalitions that have supported us.

The Uruguayan Network for the Right to Family and Community Life​ was launched on April 20. Key actors of the country’s civil society and government met at the “Teatro Solís” of Montevideo to be part of the event. In the opening speech, representatives of the Uruguayan Network presented the brand-new initiative accompanied by Matilde Luna, the RELAF Project Leader, who focused on analysing the regional context surrounding the Networks’ launch.
In addition to welcoming the new network, the event also provided an opportunity to carry out two workshops: one for operators and one for children. Both activities were led by RELAF and the Uruguayan Network and utilised the Friendly Versions of the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children.

The workshop for operators and people who work to protect children was held at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of the Republic and was coordinated by Matilde Luna. It featured the participation of 24 people from different fields, like the IACI Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, Hogar Amanecer and Psychology students, among other groups. The first part of the two-hour meeting revolved around the conception, objectives and scope of the Guidelines. The second part consisted in working in groups, with practical examples of the implementation of the standards outlined in the document.

For its part, the workshop for children, carried out in the Faculty of Psychology of the University of the Republic and coordinated by the professionals of RELAF, the IACI Foundation and Hogar Amanecer, was aimed at young people aged between 12 and 18 years old from Hogar Amanecer and from SOS Children’s Villages Montevideo and Las Flores. This workshop focused on the Friendly Versions of the UN Guidelines, using playful dynamics and providing a space to reflect on the rights of children and their relation to the situations of the participants.

These workshops were spaces of intense work and had the goal of collaborating with the training of key actors with regard to the right to family and community life. In this way, it is they who, from now on, can replicate their knowledge through new trainings and thus expand the reach of the Uruguayan network.

The launch of the Uruguayan Network for the Right to Family and Community Life was an event of great importance for RELAF. Firstly, due to the value of launching an initiative of this kind, which emerges as an opportunity to mobilise the actors involved in the care of children and to set an example for other countries of the region. Furthermore, because it provided a suitable environment to hold important meetings over the course of three days.

Within a framework of advice and cooperation, RELAF representatives met with specialists from UNICEF and with members of the Board and programme managers and advisers of INAU (Institute of the Child and Adolescent of Uruguay). The objective was to accompany the process of reform of the childcare and protection systems carried out by INAU with cooperation from UNICEF.

The meeting focused on analysing the experiences of cities in other countries of the region, such as Asunción (Paraguay), San Luis and Misiones (Argentina). While work focused on specific cases of the reform of child protection policies and the closure of children’s institutions, the experiences discussed also made it possible to reflect on the entirety of the system for the protection of children deprived of parental care or at risk of losing it.

On the other hand, RELAF gave a lecture to operators of the various programmes of INAU, with the participation of people from all the municipalities of Uruguay and from different areas of work, such as foster care and adoption, among others. In this context, experiences were shared of the adaptation of the practices that aim to provide care and support for children without parental care in the region. Then, an exposition on specific deinstitutionalisation experiences took place. In addition, other issues were discussed, such as the financial components of a new protection system and the reallocation of the staff of children’s institutions.

Finally, a meeting was held with Jorge Ferrando, the director of INAU, and advisors of the Institute. The participants reviewed the work done during the previous days and made contributions regarding the reform of the child protection policies

The activities came to prove the value of UNICEF’s cooperation, how important it is for the government to make the decision to reform and adapt the child protection policies, and the value of the Uruguayan Network in the advancement of the country’s public policies.

Impact on the media

The interest in the right to family life brought by the launch of the Network could be seen in the local media. The Brecha journal published an article informing on the situation of children placed in institutions, which also includes an interview with Matilde Luna, the RELAF Project Leader. You can read the article here.

By Daniel Moreira and Judith Aude, members of RELAF’s Latin American Consultative Council.

To close the year 2010, we had the visit of Matilde Luna on behalf of RELAF in November. The business meeting with Matilde Luna was organised by two members of the RELAF Latin American Consultative Council, Daniel Moreira and Judith Aude, with the support of the Board of Directors of Instituto del Niño y Adolescente del Uruguay- INAU (the Institute of the Child and Adolescent of Uruguay).

A working meeting was carried out with the Board of Directors of INAU. Javier Salsamendi, the president of the body, and Directors Jorge Ferrando and Dardo Rodríguez were present. Daniel Moreira and Judith Aude and members of the advisory teams of the Board participated in the meeting as well.

This meeting was motivated by the political and institutional context of promotion of the practices of deinstitutionalisation. Therefore, during the meeting in Montevideo, the policies of protection outlined by the UN Guidelines were discussed. Matilde contributed with her vision of the Latin American context as well as with the advances and challenges that the region is currently facing. On the other side, we highlight the presence of Jorge Ferrando on behalf of the government in the RELAF Seminar in Foz do Iguaçu, where he showed great interest in making the government join RELAF’s regional task.

Uruguay faces a challenge set out by the Law 18590 of 2009, which establishes the maximum period of time for the stay of children in institutional care. Alternatives that focus on the protection of the right to community- and family-based care are being discussed. In this same line, the measures of foster care and adoption have a relevant position in the stand of the Board of Directors of the body in charge of childhood public policies in the country. The ways to recruit families are considered a subject that must be deepened.

The cultural aspects and ideas concerning families and alternative care are of worry to INAU and have to be taken into account and discussed at an institutional level and within the civil society. Matilde showed the advances in this sense: the Kit to recruit foster families and the Friendly Versions of the UN Guidelines, both suitable materials to be used in this process. The meeting was very productive, and the door was left open for the possibility of new exchanges and contributions to these subjects from the part of RELAF. Besides, the president of INAU expressed the Institute’s interest in bolstering social mobilisation via the promotion of voluntary work from the public policy, associating voluntary work with foster care.

In the afternoon, the first meeting for the establishment of the local Network for the Right to community and family life was carried out. This initiative came up based on the call of Judith Aude and Daniel Moreira as members of the RELAF Latin American Consultative Council. The meeting had the support of SOS Children’s Villages, which provided a very cozy office and the necessary devices to carry out the meeting. Having Matilde Luna’s presence was very important for this first instance.

Organisations of the civil society that have developed innovative proposals with relation to the protection of the right to community- and family-based care were called to participate in this instance. Each one of them had the opportunity to present their proposals and discuss them with the other entities.

Matilde was in charge of closing the meeting. She highlighted the importance of the movements developed in Uruguay as well as the relevance of the network as a tool to promote and articulate good practices for children and adolescents.

RELAF is committed to contribute to this process of advance in the protection of the rights through which Uruguay is going.

The Trainings and Studies Centre and the Alternativa Familiar Programme of INAU (the Institute of the Child and Adolescent of Uruguay) are organising a roundtable that will include members of INAU, MIDES and international organisations involved in the protection of children. To provide continuity to the technical cooperation process in Uruguay, RELAF will be part of the roundtable of experts, that will take place on June 8 at 1 PM at the Event Hall of Teatro Solís.

The event’s programme can be found here.