TRAINING SESSION ORGANIZED BY THE OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS OF THE PROVINCE OF CÓRBODA AND RELAF: SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES.

The training session ‘The right of children and adolescents to family- and community- based care. Foster Care and other alternatives’ was organized by the Ombudsman's Office for Children and Adolescents of Córboda and jointly promoted with RELAF. It was held on Thursday, May 14 in the seat of the Ombudsman's Office. The issues dealt with during the training session were:

-’Legal and conceptual framework: the right to family- and community- based care and the practices to guarantee it’, presented by Ombudsman María Alba Navarro, RELAF Project Leader Matilde Luna, and the representative of the Family Sub-secretariat for the Woman, Childhood, Adolescence and Family Secretariat, Juan José Castellanos.

-’The importance of the paternal and maternal roles in psychic structuring’, ‘A child's construction: maternal and paternal roles’, presented by Liliana González; and ‘Experiences of Foster Care from children deprived of parental care’ presented by NGO representatives Mrs. Ruth Fontaine de Frete of Programa Nazaret, Mercedes Ansoldo of SOS Children's Villages, and Silvia del Castillo (foster family).

-’Updating on the right to live in a family. Examining the Latin American and Argentine experiences’, presented by Mg. María Matilde Luna and Carlos A. Gallo, member of the RELAF Advising Commission.

When the presentations were over, there was an opportunity for the audience to participate. The participation of local organisations was fruitful and committed to planning future provincial strategies. They were divided into five working groups, which identified obstacles and strengths for the realization of the right of children to family-based care, and presented proposals.

The professionals in the Ombudsman's Office have systematised participants' contributions. The conclusions reached by this team have been uploaded to the Ombudsman's Office web page: www.deninezcor.org.ar

Reciprocal cooperation Agreement between RELAF and the Ombudsman's Office for Children and Adolescents of the province of Córboda.

In the framework of the Training Session and after the opening words, Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents of the Province of Córboda, Dr. Héctor David, and RELAF Project Leader, Mg. Matilde Luna, signed a reciprocal cooperation agreement with the purpose of carrying out activities to promote the right of children to live and grow up in a family. The provincial Ombudsman’s Office is the only body that officially defends ‘children’s rights’ in Argentina. Through this agreement, RELAF intends to encourage the development of a local response by the local actors involved.