TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITY IN ECUADOR

On the 9th, 10th and 11th, technical cooperation activities were conducted in Quito, Ecuador. Matilde Luna and Daniel Moreira took part in the activities, some of which also included the participation of Lorena Chávez and Lilian Ortiz, RELAF's persons of reference in the country.

International Seminar: “Family and the guarantee of children's rights”

On June 9 and within the framework of the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Seminar entitled “Family and the guarantee of children's rights”, organised by Ecuador's National Council on Childhood and Adolescence (CNNA), was carried out at Hilton Colón Hotel, in Quito.

The seminar was attended by over 500 persons from all Ecuador, including representatives from cantonal councils on childhood, and had the participation of Jeannette Sánchez, Minister of Social Development Coordination of Ecuador. It also had the presence of: Sara Oviedo Fierro, CNNA's Executive Secretary; Fernando López, Executive Director of DNI Ecuador; and representatives from UNICEF and from other organisations that contribute in the construction of social policies in the country.

Matilde Luna presented information regarding the issue of families and foster care from a Latin American perspective. Daniel Moreira spoke about the role of social security in relation to families. Marisa Herrera and Magdalena Bustamente, from Argentina, and Paula Castro, from Chile, also spoke at the event. Intense debate followed these interventions, with high engagement from the audience.

This Seminar provided an important setting for discussion and exchange in the path towards the reform of childhood laws, policies and institutional approaches in Ecuador, from a rights-based perspective. Sara Oviedo defined the event as a starting point and a fundamental opportunity to show and reinforce the importance of families in the guarantee of Ecuadorian children's rights.

Work meeting at Instituto de la Niñez y la Familia (Institute for Childhood and Family)

In Quito, Matilde Luna and Daniel Moreira met with Merci Arandi and Henry Betancourty, the persons in charge of the Rights Protection Directorate of the Institute for Childhood and Family of Ecuador (INFA), the office responsible for planning and developing programmes aimed at children deprived of parental care. Lorena Chávez, advisor for the Minister of Social Development Coordination and one of the pioneers in the implementation of foster care with a rights-based approach in Ecuador, also took part.

INFA has seven children's residences that house over 300 children, and also has a great number of agreements with NGOs that manage institutions that house, in all, over 3,000 children. In the last few years, the Institute has been carrying out a diagnosis on the situation of institutional care with the aim of setting up different methodologies to promote deinstitutionalisation. In this line, it has been encouraging the practice of foster care as a care alternative, as per the Children's and Adolescent's Code; however, the Code does not provide the standards and guidelines for the practice of foster care, which can bring severe difficulties. The Institute acknowledges this unresolved matter and is planning to address it.

Work meeting at CONFIE

On June 10, Matilde Luna and Daniel Moreira made a visit to the offices of CONFIE, the Ecuadorian Syndicate of Non-governmental Organisations for the Strengthening of Families and Children. They were received by CONFIE's Director, Belén Carrillo, and by professional Carmen Carro. CONFIE is a group of NGOs that work with children and families who are in critical situations in order to guarantee the children's rights to family-life, to protection, and to live in the community and in the society. Providing and promoting foster care are two of the main activities that the syndicate’s organisations are engaged in.

CONFIE hereafter joins the RELAF network in hopes of coordinating actions and exchanging experiences and knowledge with other organisations and movements of Latin America.

Work meeting at the Central University of Ecuador

To close the work agenda, the RELAF representatives were received by the President of the Central University, Edgar Samaniego Rojas, and by the Dean of the University's School of Psychological Science, Pablo Picerno.

Another meeting was also held that included the participation of graduate and post-graduate teachers and professors from the University's Research Institute. Working from the Research Institute, Martha Acosta is organising a Master's in Comprehensive Child Protection, jointly with the National Council on Childhood and Adolescence and with support from UNICEF. The Master's is planned to begin this year, with Matilde Luna as Head Professor of the subject entitled 'Children and adolescents and their relationships with families'. Daniel Moreira will also collaborate in teaching this subject, being in charge of some specific topics. A cooperation agreement between RELAF and the University is currently being prepared.

This Master's represents a great opportunity to bring together, in an academic environment, diverse professionals who work in child protection entities in Ecuador and to train these professionals so that they can advocate for children's rights with a more profound background. Likewise, this Master's is expected to bolster the dialogue, coordination and interconnection among the children's institutions' staff that shall take the course, which shall improve the Ecuadorian comprehensive child protection system.